Easter Series: Food and African and African American Religion Part 6

Georgia Syrup Bread, recipe below



In some parts of the South before emancipation, the church was the only institution in which whites permitted African-American southerners to maintain their own peculiar way of satisfying their souls and bodies with spiritual and natural food. Freedom for many African-American southerners meant more time for church events like Easter. Soul—Africanisms, spirituality, southern style, pride, love, care, and joyous hard work—cannot be understood without taking into consideration southern American religious rituals and oral traditions. During slavery, foods cooked on special occasions like Easter played an important role in shaping southern African-American religious traditions. Oral traditions allowed slaves to pass down instructions for the next generation on the intricate preparation of foods considered sacred when eaten on religious days like Easter. In parts of rural Georgia example, a family might have freshly shot pheasant pan fried and served with gravy, deep fried mullet fish, collard greens, potato salad, and syrup bread for dessert. Try this very old Georgia syrup bread recipe below; it's good simple eating that allot of folks have forgotten over the years. I've translated the recipe a bit to make it more nutritious.

Georgia Syrup Bread

Ingredients

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter (or butter substitute)

1 cup molasses

2 cups spelt (or white) flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ginger

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup sour milk (or sour soy milk)

1/2 cup nuts and/or raisins, if desired



Method:

Combine all ingredients together and put into a large greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.