Black Women's Foodways and Culturally Relevant Nutritional Knowledge

Written by Sureshi M. Jayawardene

“OASIS: Oldways Africana Soup in Stories” is a collection of Black women’s recipes and life stories, curated by Dr. Stephanie Y. Evans. In collaboration with Sade Anderson and Johnisha Levi, Dr. Evans has compiled an electronically accessible collection of “culturally-informed soup recipes” that help expand our knowledge of Black women’s nutritional practices, knowledge, and wellness. OASIS offers personal vignettes and recipes that “explore identity, geography, health, and self-care.” This recipe book brings together the “20 cooks, chefs, researchers, storytellers, foodies, farmers, nutritionists, historians, activists, food bloggers, and wellness workers” to increase our understanding of Black women’s health and wellness practices. Furthermore, Dr. Evans has taken a sweeping diasporic approach, featuring soup recipes and narratives from Nigeria to Guyana, to Tobago, the Carolinas, and New Mexico. She writes that “soup is a perfect meal that allows us to simmer down” and invites readers to draw inspiration from OASIS to document their own stories and recipes, but also to expand their own wellness menus. Dr. Evans stresses that Black women’s wellness is an afrofuturistic situation and draws on Anna Julia Cooper’s notion of “regeneration”: that we look to the past for wisdom, the interior for strength, and the future for faith and hope. 

​Dr. Evans herself offers a recipe that forms part of her self-care regimen: Green Chile Chicken Stew! She describes why it is such a staple for her, given her own busy routine and lifestyle. 

​Green Chile Chicken Stew
Ingredients
 1 whole chicken
 4 quarts low-sodium broth
 3 potatoes
 4 cans green chile (Hatch)
 1 jalapeno
 3 stalks celery
 1 bag baby carrots (halved)
 1 onion
 4 roma tomatoes
 1 tsp ginger puree or lemongrass puree
 2 bay leaves
 4 cloves garlic
 1 tsp each basil, oregano, marjoram, and
paprika
 mixed seasoning or salt to taste
 Serve with blue corn chips
 
Instructions
~ Mis en place: chop celery, potatoes, cut carrots in half, measure spices as needed.
~ Boil the chicken with bay leaves and garlic. (Substitute two bone-in chicken breast and two bone-in thighs if
you do not want to work with a whole chicken.) While the chicken is cooking, grab some tea, wine, and chatter
with a friend or family member. Chilax. Listen to music. Read. The chicken will cook, trust me. When chicken is
done, take out and debone; remove skin.
~ Replace chicken meat and add all spices and vegetables. My husband Curtis Byrd (who grew up in the kitchen
with his grandmother and who actually has one of his degree concentrations in hospitality/hotel-restaurant
management) told me that celery takes longer to cook than other vegetables. Who knew?! Put those in first,
take a sip of whatever soothes your nerves, then put in the other veggies.
~ Either while the soup is cooking or when you are sharing with others, talk about politics and make a plan to
make a difference locally, nationally, and globally. The world is a mess and we need kitchen table solutions to
sort all this out. That is the recipe for Justice Soup.
~ After dinner, when you are packing up lunch for the next day, make sure to pack an extra sample for
someone at work. Ms. Claudia Combs, our Administrator for African American Studies, Africana Women’s
Studies, and History (AWH Department) at CAU, likes when I bring her my samples (especially if I bring some of
Dr. Byrd’s cornbread or banana pudding too).
~ Spoons up!

​Dr. Evans’ recipe for Green Chile Chicken Stew is one of many easy-to-make, nutritious, and culturally grounded modes of exploring and uncovering Black women’s nutritional knowledge and practices.
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OASIS can be accessed HERE. Look, download, read the life stories, try out the soups, and help support the important work that Dr. Evans has embarked upon. In a time when nutrition, fitness, and healthy lifestyles are trendy and gaining momentum through social media platforms, OASIS and Dr. Evans’ work is critical for how Black communities approach health and wellness in culturally rooted ways. Combining age-old family recipes that Black women have passed down and newer on-the-go recipes that Black women have created as they have moved through various circumstances provide a unique platform for more Black women to participate in. Whereas physical books face the threat of obsoleting with the high saturation of digital modes of health and wellness, OASIS gives us something tangible with its compilation of Black women’s history, nutritional wisdom and practices, and Black women’s life stories. One of the potential outcomes of OASIS and the individuals involved in this work is that it doesn’t just promote health and wellness among Black women, but encourages us to look deeply at our historical and cultural stores for how to address our nutritional needs, food consumption, and overall wellness and health.