Help! Soul Food + Wine!

[Randy Caparoso]

Foodie, Creole is very much full of soul -- evolved from the cooking of the people of New Orleans, with their French, Spanish, African and native American influences. Although the word Creole itself originally refers to descendents of colonizers, over time it has become synonymous with mixed lineage blacks, who more than any one group -- since they most of the cooking (for themselves and in the kitchens of wealthier folks) -- defined the characteristics of Creole food. Hence, the "soul" connection -- file, okra, pan fried meats, kale, collard greens, et al.