The Biggest Misconception People Have About Soul Food, According To Tanya Holland - Exclusive
Joshua Resnick/Shutterstock By Jorie Mark/Sept. 3, 2021 12:04 pm EST
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. If your experience with “soul food” has been limited to fried chicken with biscuits or sauce-smothered pork, then there is a whole world of delicious and nutritious cuisine that’s never made its way to your plate. So says Tanya Holland, guest judge on this season’s “MasterChef,” who is the founder of the Oakland, California-based soul food restaurant, Brown Sugar Kitchen. She also has her own TV show, “Tanya’s Kitchen Table,” on the OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, per OWN.
“[People think] that it’s heavy and it’s fat — that it’s bad for you,” Holland told Mashed in an exclusive interview. “The origins are not very protein-centric because that wasn’t affordable,” she added, referring to the history of how this cuisine was developed, in the homes of African Americans living in the South over generations (via New York Times). “So the protein was really more of an accent to the vegetables or the beans or the rice or the potatoes.” Indeed, Holland cooks often with vegetables from her own garden. “We have squash and cucumbers and tomatoes and lots of herbs. And for me, that’s just a great summer simplicity,” she said. “Making a cucumber tomato salad, with some red onions and light vinegar, was really one of my mom’s staple condiments at the table. So it definitely sticks with me.”
The Biggest Misconception People Have About Soul Food, According To Tanya Holland - Exclusive
Joshua Resnick/Shutterstock
By Jorie Mark/Sept. 3, 2021 12:04 pm EST
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. If your experience with “soul food” has been limited to fried chicken with biscuits or sauce-smothered pork, then there is a whole world of delicious and nutritious cuisine that’s never made its way to your plate. So says Tanya Holland, guest judge on this season’s “MasterChef,” who is the founder of the Oakland, California-based soul food restaurant, Brown Sugar Kitchen. She also has her own TV show, “Tanya’s Kitchen Table,” on the OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, per OWN.
“[People think] that it’s heavy and it’s fat — that it’s bad for you,” Holland told Mashed in an exclusive interview. “The origins are not very protein-centric because that wasn’t affordable,” she added, referring to the history of how this cuisine was developed, in the homes of African Americans living in the South over generations (via New York Times). “So the protein was really more of an accent to the vegetables or the beans or the rice or the potatoes.” Indeed, Holland cooks often with vegetables from her own garden. “We have squash and cucumbers and tomatoes and lots of herbs. And for me, that’s just a great summer simplicity,” she said. “Making a cucumber tomato salad, with some red onions and light vinegar, was really one of my mom’s staple condiments at the table. So it definitely sticks with me.”
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
“[People think] that it’s heavy and it’s fat — that it’s bad for you,” Holland told Mashed in an exclusive interview. “The origins are not very protein-centric because that wasn’t affordable,” she added, referring to the history of how this cuisine was developed, in the homes of African Americans living in the South over generations (via New York Times). “So the protein was really more of an accent to the vegetables or the beans or the rice or the potatoes.” Indeed, Holland cooks often with vegetables from her own garden. “We have squash and cucumbers and tomatoes and lots of herbs. And for me, that’s just a great summer simplicity,” she said. “Making a cucumber tomato salad, with some red onions and light vinegar, was really one of my mom’s staple condiments at the table. So it definitely sticks with me.”
These are the soul food dishes home cooks get wrong, according to Tanya Holland
Linda Hughes Photography/Shutterstock
Catch chef Tanya Holland on this season of “MasterChef” on FOX.
