There’s a reason it’s called it soul food.
The freshness of the ingredients, the hefty plate and the tender care of Southern-style cooking almost too closely mirrors the authenticity of the human soul.
Or at least that’s what Sadaya “Daisy” Lewis says.
And who better to believe than the owner and chef of Modern Southern Table, the Southern-style restaurant located inside Budd Dairy Food Hall, 1086 N. High St., that brings a range of classic soul food to the Midwest.
For Lewis, it’s a lifelong passion to feed the human soul what it needs: a good meal.
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“Our food is fresh, every ingredient was hand-picked and it’s a decadent dish,” she said.
And she isn’t alone in this passion. The Cleveland native said making good food is ingrained in Black culture as it inspires large gatherings and community bonds.
“One thing about the Black community is we always celebrate with food,” Lewis joked. “And so, the cooking is a way of us passing along our heritage, and we pass on our stories to our families like this.”
Lewis moved to Mobile, Alabama, at the age of 9 to live with her three grandmothers —yes, three. It was there where she grew her cooking skills from the ground up, literally, learning how to garden her own produce. Upon her return to the Midwest in 1996 for college, she couldn’t help but notice how much Columbus lacked authentic Southern-style food.
“I pretty much learned every aspect of how to grow your own food, store your own food, cook your own food and I kind of fell in love with it from there,” Lewis said. “A lot of the food I noticed here (in Columbus) was processed, so I wanted to give people (something) better.”
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Though well-versed in cuisine from Alabama — her favorite foods being gumbo, chicken and rice, jambalaya and anything barbecued — Lewis also understands the regional influence on specific soul-food dishes which are rooted in the South’s rich Black history.
“I definitely feel like we rely a lot on our food to tell our family and cultural history,” Lewis said.
History of Southern-style foods
Growing up on the Gulf of Mexico, also known as the Gulf of America, Lewis said there was a strong Cajun influence. Cajuns — who are originally a French ethnic group deported from Canada in the 18th century — were mostly fishermen and farmers. They brought seafood to the region along with fish and the best gumbo in the entire South, according to Lewis.
“I know everybody is going to kill me for saying that” Lewis joked.
When thinking about food from the South, Lewis said there’s a big difference between the Deep South, which has a more seafood influence, and the mid-South. This is because of the region’s resources and the kinds of people that settled there.
Where the best soul food comes from
Here is a breakdown on where the best soul food dishes come from in the South, according to Lewis:
- Georgia is more known for red rice and chicken wings along with cabbage and peaches.
- South Carolina is known for its shrimp, grits, garlic chicken and crabs.
- Louisiana’s Creole influence is known for its jambalaya, gumbo, crawfish boils and okra.
- Texas is known for its barbecue.
- Mid-Southern states like Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi are better known for their red meat, ribs and pig dishes.
What Southern-style food means to Black culture
Unique to Southern-style food is the quality and history attached to it. Rejecting the negative view that soul food is “slave food,” Lewis said the history is something to be embraced and passed down to newer generations.
“These dishes are our history,” Lewis said. “I think it’s important to just our people in general that we keep ahold of it because I feel like a lot of things now are being washed away and the only thing we have left might be the food.”
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Lewis said it’s important for the community to preserve Black culinary heritage. Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin’s annual August Pig Roast and Fish Fry that feeds thousands is a perfect example of this and is Lewis’ favorite time of the year.
Although you may only see soul food as something deep fried and smothered in seasoning, Lewis said restaurants like her own are finding ways to make their dishes healthier with better ingredients.
Lewis invited everyone to try exploring Southern cuisine and help clear up a common misconception about soul food for those who haven’t tried it.
“It’s not all hot,” she joked. “It’s just seasoned to perfection.”
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