Anita Hill at the table

In rural African American families of the South and Oklahoma, the big weekly meal was Sunday dinner, after returning from the Baptist service. No starter-main-dessert: everything arrives at once, family-style. Slow-cooked greens, cornbread, beans, a meat, a sweet pie, and iced tea all share the table. Everyone serves themselves and takes more; they talk, give thanks, and linger at the table. This is soul food — inherited from plantation kitchens and transformed into a family celebration table.

A piece of smoked ham hock, hog jowl, or bacon tail that slowly flavors greens and beans. The cooking liquid, the "pot likker," is so precious it's sopped up with cornbread. Along with cornmeal, it is the flavorful backbone of this cuisine.