INNOVATIVE MEAL RECIPES TO HONOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Black History Month is here again! Celebrating black history and heritage comprises a lot of activities and includes celebrating the efforts of black heroes such as Langston Hughes, Mary Angelou and several others who brought about a sense of humanity and created a positive impact in black history, and guess what? These celebrations are not complete without discovering and appreciating the African recipe of which to commemorate Black History Month. Now before we take a glimpse into innovative recipes of which to honor black history month, let us understand what black history month is all about.



BLACK HISTORY MONTH: HOW IT ALL BEGAN

The story of Black History Month began in Chicago in 1915 when Carter G. Woodson journeyed from Washington, D.C. to participate in a national celebration of the 15^th anniversary of emancipation financed by Illinois. He noticed that thousands of African Americans travelled from across the country to watch exhibits highlighting the progress made by their fellow African Americans since the downfall of slavery. Motivated by the three-week celebration, Woodson decided to form an organization to promote the study of black life and history. On September 9^th, Woodson met with A.L Jackson and three others together forming the association for the study of Negro life and History (ASNLH). Deciding in 1925 that the association would have to popularize the findings he and the black intellectuals had published in the journal of the Negro history since he received little impact from others, Woodson sent out a press release announcing Negro History week in February 1926. It is believed that Woodson selected February because it contained birthdays of two great Americans who played a prominent role in shaping black history, namely Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. But more importantly Woodson built Negro History Week around traditional days commemorating the black past. Before his death in 1950 Negro History week appeared across the country in all schools and before the public and after his death, the association used its influence to institute the shift from a week to a month and from Negro History Week to Black History Month. Then in 1976, President Gerald Ford recognized black history month and called upon Americans to seize the opportunity to honor the neglected accomplishments of black Americans. Black History Month in the United States is known as African American History and is celebrated in February, while in the United Kingdom it is observed in October.

Honoring Black History Month celebrates diversity, it brings awareness of the fact that we all are diverse and have something unique to contribute thereby conveying the idea that black is beautiful and through celebrating diversity and recognizing its beauty we become united. Black History Month enables us to learn about persons from different backgrounds and cultures and their lifestyles like the languages they speak, their customs, their mode of dressing and of course their local meal recipes. Moving further to discuss meal recipes, the Black History Month celebration is not complete without preparing some unique African American dishes that bring back memories of the dishes deliciously savored as blacks and being delighted to share them with the world.



Some Innovative Meal Recipes to honor Black History Month and celebrate our diversity include:

• Spicy Okra and Salsa

This vegetative okra bears its origins in Africa before finding its way to America and spreading across several parts of the continent through the slave trade. The Spicy Okra and corn salsa is full of Okra, Corn, tomato, bell peppers and Cilantro. It’s full of flavour and nutritional goodness and can be served over protein or with tortilla chips

• Cornmeal Coo Coo Recipe

Pulling its heritage from the Caribbean islands, this dish was first introduced to the Caribbean by African Slaves. It consists of Cornmeal, okra, pumpkin and mixed vegetables all steamed down and mixed with coconut milk to create a coo pie-like dish. Cornmeal Coo Coo is mostly garnished with some sort of fish or some callaloo and is a healthy recipe noted for its delicious taste.

• African Stew

This is a west African delicious stew made with blended tomatoes, red ball peppers, crayfish, and onion among several other ingredients and spiced to perfection. The African stew is can be garnished as preferred with beef cuts, fish, goat meat, and chicken simmered in olive, peanut or red palm oil. The African stew is by far the most popular dish in Nigeria and is traditionally eaten with rice or boiled yam.

• Matoke

Matoke is a term used to describe a variety of bananas indigenous to southwest Uganda. Matoke is shorter than ordinary bananas, their peel is green in colour when they’re unripe and appear to be thick at the midsection. Matoke can be cooked either by boiling, steaming or roasting and can be served in so many ways: it can be served alone, served with chapati, bread, rice – name it, and for a vegetarian, meat and fish can be skipped as all other processes can still be applied.

• Moroccan Chicken Tagine

The Moroccan Tagine bears its origins from North Africa and gets its name from maraq or marqa: an earthenware pot with a cone-shaped cover in which it is traditionally cooked in. The Tagine is a spicy and savory dish of chicken pieces garnished with garlic, onion, spices, olive and preserved lemons. It can be cooked in an authentic tagine style or roasted in the oven, depending on individual preferences. Locally Moroccan is eaten directly from the tagine, using Moroccan bread to scoop up the chicken and sauce, although you can decide to add French fries or serve with rice.



These are just but an handful of meal recipes that one can try during Black History Month as there are other mouth-watering and delicious dishes available. The purpose of celebrating Black recipe during Black History Month is to appreciate the originality, skill and resourcefulness of our Black cooks, mothers, wives and sisters who despite insufficient means during slavery were able to develop special mouth-watering recipes demonstrating that good food have always been a vital part of the African culture. Black History Month is well celebrated when it evokes true feelings of belonging, family, and community and appreciates the dignity of Black cooking culture.