Virginians and people in the South love soul food and Southern-style cooking: What's the difference?

Soul FoodPhoto byTSSD/Wikipedia Screenshot

I grew up in rural Virginia. My family ate chicken from the yard, fish from the water, vegetables from the garden, and every part of the pig from the pen. The foods included fried chicken, collard greens, black-eyed peas, pork chops, liver, ham, bacon, sausage, pigs feet, and chitterlings (also known as chitlins).

About soul food

Soul FoodPhoto byYouTube Screenshot

What my family and I ate wasn't called "soul food" at the time. That expression did not become popular until the mid-1960s during the Black Power Movement when the word "soul" was used to describe African-American culture. Before being called soul food, it was known simply as down-home cooking.

Today, some popular restaurants that serve foods similar to what I used to eat down on the farm call themselves "soul food" restaurants. They serve foods with intense seasonings, various meats, and spicy and savory sauces. Some common soul foods include chicken, catfish, collard greens, black-eyed peas, and yams.

About Southern-style cooking

Southern FoodsPhoto byYouTube Screenshot

Soul food originated in the rural South because of necessity and was passed down through generations. Honestly, there is not much difference between soul food and Southern-style foods.

Southern cooking was developed in the South, including Virginia, where I live. When Southern African American families moved to larger cities, they took comforting, familiar home dishes, like fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, and candied yams.

The bottom line

Both lists include the same foods, such as chicken and fish. It might be simple to explain it this way:

• The item is "soul food."
• The way the soul food is prepared is Southern style.

Therefore, Southern food is the big umbrella that covers several different styles of Southern cooking. For example, chicken could be fried, baked, roasted, stewed, or barbecued.

Fried ChickenPhoto byNizar ZulmionUnsplash

The bottom line is that soul food is delicious, as well as food prepared in Southern style.