Enslaved Wedding Reception Food in the Antebellum South

Fried okra, recipe below

I am the midst of a series on Weddings and food within Africa and African Diaspora from an historical prospective. Yesterday I talked about wedding receptions that enslaved folk held today let’s turn to those receptions that the master class hosted and bad for which happened less frequently. For why would a master fork out the money for wedding and reception that southern laws at least did not recognize? Some scholars argue masters expected gratitude, loyalty, and hard work thereafter. Others maintain perverted Christian masters thought slavery fine but marriages outside the Christian church sinful. A third interpretation is white masters supported enslaved marriages and paid for reception food because the marriage would hopefully produce children—additional property—who they would sell or exploit as laborers. I just picked up some okra and my children on my case to coke sooner rather than later. Fried okra is a favorite summer side dish that I imagine might appear on the buffet table at antebellum wedding. Here’s a southern fried okra recipe: http://www.olsouthrecipes.com/okra.html