Macon Magazine

48 maconmagazine.com | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 veteran medical professional originally from Nigeria. The spry senior's ability to go and do very well can be partly attributed to what's on her table. Because West African fare is rich in protein and carbohydrates, three full meals are not a necessity in her house, says the mother of four. Ndubuisi learned to cook from her mother and never lost her urge to eat fresh food. Growing up far from fast food, in a tradition-rich household, she rarely ate out. Ndubuisi buys local every other year when returning to Nigeria, but Macon- and Atlanta-based shops sell what she's used to in between trips home. "I'm not opposed to change, but my preference is to eat what I grew up with," she says. The results make for a healthier meal and person, she insists. While this is a departure from Western culture, there's no mistaking the ties that bind soul food and Ndubuisi's meals. She cites soul food items like mashed potatoes, okra, sweet potatoes, and various meats as being very similar to what she serves, such as jollof rice, okro or egusi soup, or plantains. Jollof rice, red rice's big brother, gets its color from tomato paste and fresh tomatoes. Okra is the base for okra soup while melon seeds anchor egusi soup, which otherwise share the same content (seasonings, meats). Plantains are a larger first cousin to the banana and are usually fried. Ndubuisi noted that soul food and West African dishes are both about providing comfort. Especially when eating greens and cornbread, in the case of soul food, and the West African duo of soup and fufu, with the hands. "Eating with your fingers makes it sweeter and better. There are so many similarities," says Ndubuisi. "Black people here and back home are still the same. We still have something that makes us one." The traditional West African dinner that the author of this article enjoyed at Nigerian native Chi Ezekwueche's home during the holidays was both familiar and foreign. The founder of the Tubman Museum's annual Pan African Festival went all out. Gracing the table of her and her husband's abode were fish stew with king fish as the dominant item, rice, mixed greens comprised of spinach and kale, black eyed peas, and yams. Bowls of chin chin (a crunchy, fried dough), avocado, and fruit (mango, tangerine) alongside a tall glass of hibiscus tea, rounded out the picturesque tabletop. I didn't know if she was finished or just getting started upon arriving. She was as busy creating BELOW Ezekwueche poses with friends at Jubilee: A Taste of Soul at the Tubman Museum in May 2023. Photo courtesy of Dean Brown. and spirituality, resulting in a culture and new creole language, Gullah, that is wholly unique in the world. Rice is especially prominent in the Gullah Geechee culture and sometimes paired with beans or peas. West Africans, the people whom many Gullah Geechee people descended from, were kidnapped and enslaved because of their skills in growing and harvesting rice. Okra and greens, including the leafy part of the rutabagas, provide vital nutrients to the Gullah Geechee. Finding the freshest available vegetables is essential. And seafood gumbo – a tasty concoction comprised of potatoes, onions, tomatoes, peppers, fish, and other items - mimics the stews and soups of West African countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. "Soul food is a connection to our past," Taylor suggested when asked about the value of the traditional Southern food source. "These foods connect us to our ancestors. They're an active legacy." On and at the tables of local West Africans To confirm the similarities between tables donning soul food dishes and those of West Africans, I began with my next- door neighbor, Lizzie Ndubuisi, a "You have to take your heritage and culture with you, or you won't recognize yourself," said Ezekwueche.

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