The Facebook Group Preserving Soul Food Traditions
Getty Images When I was a child, my mother taught me how to cook by demonstration. Most times she just wanted me to wash the dishes, but even with my back turned and my arms elbow deep in warm, soapy water, she explained everything she was doing to prepare my favorite feast, be it gumbo during the holidays, rice and gravy on a Sunday, or any of her mid-week meals, like red beans and rice or jambalaya, for which I had a special affinity. As I got older she allowed me to help more by seasoning the food, chopping the vegetables, and telling me why she did what she did in the kitchen. But it wasn...