The African-American relationship with veganism may seem like a trend in recent years, but that is far from the case.

Of all the foods the South has given to the American culinary landscape, fried chicken is one of the most impactful. And for good reason. In the more than 300 years since the dish was first recorded in the American South, it has garnered international praise for the characteristic combination of textures, techniques, and flavors that go into it: Crispy, crunchy skin hides juicy and tender meat inside, and if done properly, the seasonings can be tasted to the bone.

Though other states try to stake their claim, there's much reason to believe that Virginia is the birthplace of American barbecue.

Many Americans consider Memorial Day to be the start of summer, but perhaps a better holiday that exemplifies vacations, bountiful produce, barbecues and time with family and friends is Juneteenth.

I was at work a few years ago when I came back from lunch and ran into my boss who was standing outside my office door with a worried and hesitant look on his face.

Most Americans think of peanuts in terms of peanut butter or as a snack at baseball games. The history of peanuts in America, of course, is more complicated than that, and it is often tied to the enslavement of African Americans. However, the history of peanuts in West Africa is perhaps even more complicated.

While driving outside of Richmond, Virginia, one day, I passed a seafood restaurant called Stuart’s Fresh Catch. Posted outside was a vinyl sign advertising lake trout, crabs, fresh fish, and spoonbread. Clearly one of those things wasn’t like the others, and I made a mental note to come back the next day to try spoonbread.

I asked the hardware store clerk if he had wolf urine in stock.

“What did you just say?” he asked with a puzzled look.

I cleared my throat and repeated my request. The clerk threw his head back and laughed until tears wet his eyes.

Ask someone to define soul food, and they’ll typically answer along the lines of what African-Americans eat, and include examples of popular dishes like collard greens, fried chicken, and baked macaroni and cheese. While these foods are nearly ubiquitous and universally delicious, they don’t fully represent soul food or the cooks who make it.

IN 1990, MARINA DANILENKO FOUNDED a seed business with her mother. As the owner of the first private seed company in Moscow, she purchased seeds from a network of farms and eventually sold approximately 500,000 packets through the mail to Russian gardeners.

Early in my relationship with my current partner, he threw a small birthday party for me. We went to a local bakery a few days before the party to order a cake. When the baker asked what kind I wanted, I said yellow cake with chocolate frosting. The baker had no idea what a yellow cake was, and my boyfriend said that yellow wasn’t a flavor.

On New Year’s Eve, many African-Americans make a point to cook black-eyed peas to usher in the new year, and as author John Egerton wrote in his book Southern Food, it is believed they have a “mystical and mythical power to bring good luck.”

Turn on the television or take a look at food media. Folks would have you believe there’s barbecue in every Southern state except for Virginia. The birthplace of eight American presidents just happens to be the birthplace of American barbecue, and it’s time everyone knew that Black pitmasters from Virginia got to the pits first.

My grandmother used to laugh and say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. She mainly used that quip whenever I told her some obscure fact I’d read, like why women’s shirts button on the left. Although she’s passed on, I can imagine her saying that now about my obsession with heirloom watermelons.

There’s a pepper that’s fruity and spicy, similar in texture to a serrano, but without any bitterness in its bite. It transforms from milky white to yellow to stripy green to blazing red as it matures: a sunset on the vine. This is the fish pepper, and its history is as compelling as its flavor.

IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH, MANY people have fond memories of a pot of collard greens simmering on the stove for hours, seasoned with a ham hock and stirred by a parent or grandparent.