About The Recipe

Soul Food Has No Recipe

“Soul Food Has No Recipe” is not just a statement; it’s a profound insight into a culinary tradition deeply rooted in history, culture, and love.

As someone who blogs about recipes, it caught my attention when I recently heard it.

There are many soul food recipes, but I took it to mean that soul food is more than one thing: fluid, evolving, and less structured.

I wanted to learn more. As a white chef raised in Denmark, I am about as removed from soul food as possible. However, I can read about soul food, study it, research it, and even cook it. But there are some things I can never get, and that is the heritage, tradition, history, and culture.

I live in the South and am married into a black family. I also do weekly cooking classes at our community center kitchen. The cooking class participants are primarily black women, so when I suggested discussing soul food, I knew I was entering unfamiliar territory, so I baked some sweet potato pies to take with me.

During a little research, I learned a lot about the food in soul food, but finding the soul in soul food is another matter because it is so deeply rooted in history, traditions, and culture.

 ‘A recipe has no soul. You, the cook, must bring the soul to the recipe.’ -Thomas Keller.

Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor’s, “Vibration Cooking, or the Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl.” Published in 1970, encapsulates this beautifully.

Vibration Cooking

As a chef, working the line in a busy kitchen or developing recipes in a test kitchen, I have often been in ‘The Zone.’ But I felt that Vibration cooking was different.

Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor focuses on spontaneity, cooking by vibration rather than precisely measuring ingredients. “There is no mystique. Food is food. Everyone eats!” She says. “And when I cook, I never measure or weigh anything. I cook by vibration. I can tell by the look and the smell of it.”

Vibration Cooking.

It is cooking by feeling, instinct, and vibrations of the kitchen and the people you share your table with. It’s about pouring your soul into every dish, creating something that transcends mere sustenance. I can see Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor standing at her stove over a pot of stew, tasting it, adding a little of this, tasting it again, and adding a little of that until it is just right, and at the same time pouring in a lot of love into it as well, free flowing, no restrictions.

Vibration Cooking.

During our cooking class discussion, I learned that soul food is more than the food. More than environmental, economic, and social norms, more than ‘make do’ with what you have on hand. It is a feeling, an expression of love, and an ability to taste a blend of cultural experiences. It is about family and community bonding, family reunions, Sunday dinners, and Church potlucks. It is more than just a meal; it is about cultural legacy, connecting, and sharing love through food.

Vibration Cooking.

Traditionally, recipes were not written down but transferred from generation to generation orally, by show and tell. Many recipes had stories attached to them. Stories about hardship but also about resourcefulness, ingenuity, and creativity.

It is about sustainability in its truest sense, making the most of what you have and cherishing every bite. People who want to learn about sustainability should study soul food, the epidemy of sustainability. From humble beginnings, soul food is based on using every little scrap of food; nothing is wasted.

Vibration Cooking.

This resonated with me, as I realized that soul food is not about following recipes but expressing oneself through food. It’s about honoring the past, celebrating the present, and creating the future. It’s about using what you have, making the best of it, and sharing it with love.

Today, soul food is thriving. Many farm-to-table restaurants are adapting the soul food philosophy to use what is available at the moment. Sweet potatoes are now more popular than ever, and kale, collard, and mustard greens are now served at even the fanciest restaurants, whether they use recipes or not.