soul food

[ sohl-food ]

noun
  1. traditional African American cooking, originally developed by enslaved Black people in the rural South and including such foods as chitterlings, pig’s feet, collard greens, and cornbread: The cuisine of New Orleans is heavily influenced by Creole and Cajun cooking as well as soul food.Soul food is grounded in the ways African Americans have always fashioned a way out of no way, taking scraps and creating a food tradition that has stood the test of time.

  2. the traditional cooking of a specified culture: Kimchi, the magical soul food of Korea, is popular worldwide.We talked with the restaurant’s founders about Ashkenazi soul food and the misunderstood gefilte fish.

Origin of soul food

1
An Americanism dating back to 1960–65

Other words from soul food

  • soul-food, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use soul food in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for soul food

soul food

noun
  1. informal food, such as chitterlings or yams, traditionally eaten by Black people in the southern US

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012