African Nova Scotians

Food

Food alone can tell a lot about the roots of African Nova Scotians, such as where they come from, what were the circumstances they dealt with, and how they used the materials they had to make up dishes. African Nova Scotian cuisine is a blend of African and Caribbean spices, mixed along with dishes and techniques brought from their southern U.S roots. While some of their well-known dishes have more distant origins, like cornbread, fried potatoes, oxtails, pigtails, curried chicken, greens, and Southern-style mac and cheese, others are regional favourites like salt-cod fish cakes, boiled dinner, baked beans, and blueberry duff (a steamed pudding). Most of the time, they would add to or substitute certain ingredients in the traditional Maritime dishes that have become a part of their repertoire. The inventive traditional cuisine of Africa in Nova Scotia frequently uses slow cooking and cuts of meat from nose to tail. Other ingredients that have endured the test of time include greens, fish, and root vegetables.