A chronicle of the origins of Soul food cooking, with 200 authentic and delicious recipes, including rabbit fricassee, pig tail stew, cracklin" cabbage, soul succotash, Gullah rice, sweet potato pone and molasses cake. It traces native cooking from the 16th and 17th century in West Africa and shows its development in America during the slave years. The book offers rare insight into the culture and stamina of black people and their dramatic fight to survive in an alien land.