View attachment 176344
photo credit: https://www.bluewatersmtnl.com/pot-liquor/
Collards, okra, black-eyed peas, benne seeds, watermelon, and eggplant were among the foods brought by Africans to America in the 1700s. "Pot liquor is the liquid left after cooking collards or other greens." The slaves stretched this broth by adding the pot liquor left over after cooking beans or meat and topping the mixture with cornmeal or flour dumplings. Pot liquor is enjoyed as a soup and can be accompanied with cornbread for dunking.
A recipe for pot liquor:
"Thoroughly wash two pounds of fresh greens, trim off the stalks, and immerse the leaves a few at a time in one and a half gallons of boiling water, to which has been added a quarter-pound piece of seasoning meat (ham hock or salt pork). Stir in one tablespoon of salt. Cover the pot and simmer for one hour or more, or until the greens are tender. As with cabbage or beans, additional seasonings such as onions and red pepper pods may be put into the pot. This amount of greens will boil down from a large mass to a more manageable amount--about enough to serve four people. After removing the greens, serve the liquid remaining in the pot as soup."
Recipe from: "Southern Foods" by John Egerton, New York, 1987.
Other information from "North Carolina's Soups and Stews" at
http://ncmuseumofhistory.org/workshops/geography/soup.htm