Igbo Culinary Tradition: Southeast Nigeria to the Chesapeake
I
Origin
The Igbo people of Southeast Nigeria (the Bight of Biafra region) were transported primarily to the Chesapeake Bay colonies of Virginia and Maryland, making them one of the most significant African ethnic groups in the formation of African American cooking in the upper South. The Igbo culinary tradition — with its specific emphasis on yam (not sweet potato — the true African yam Dioscorea rotundata), its palm oil foundation, and its specific egusi and okra soup traditions — shaped the cooking of Virginia and Maryland plantations.
II
Description
The Igbo culinary tradition and its diaspora transmissions.
III
The Thread
—Virginia and Maryland plantation cooking (direct Igbo influence), soul food chitterlings and offal traditions (same whole-animal Igbo principle), American "yam" usage (Igbo linguistic preservation)
IV
Flavour Context
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