▁afford ▁them . ▁ ▁Soul ▁food , ▁a ▁heart y ▁cu is ine ▁commonly ▁associated ▁with ▁African ▁Americans ▁in ▁the ▁South ▁( but ▁also ▁common ▁to ▁African ▁Americans ▁nation wide ), ▁makes ▁cre ative ▁use ▁of ▁in exp ensive ▁products ▁proc ured ▁through ▁far ming ▁and ▁subs istence ▁hunting ▁and ▁fish ing . ▁P ig ▁int est ines ▁are ▁bo iled ▁and ▁sometimes ▁batter ed ▁and ▁f ried ▁to ▁make ▁ch itter lings , ▁also ▁known ▁as ▁" ch it l ins ". ▁ ▁Ham ▁h ock s ▁and ▁neck ▁b ones ▁provide ▁season ing ▁to ▁sou ps , ▁be ans ▁and ▁bo iled ▁gre ens ▁( turn ip ▁gre ens , ▁coll ard ▁gre ens , ▁and ▁must ard ▁gre ens ). ▁ ▁Other ▁common ▁food s , ▁such ▁as ▁f ried ▁ch icken ▁and ▁fish , ▁mac aron i ▁and ▁che ese , ▁cor nb read , ▁and ▁ho pp in ' ▁j ohn ▁( black - ey ed ▁pe as ▁and ▁rice ) ▁are ▁prepared ▁simply . ▁When ▁the ▁African - American ▁population ▁was ▁consider ably ▁more ▁rural ▁than ▁it ▁generally ▁is ▁today , ▁rabb it , ▁op os sum , ▁squ ir rel , ▁and ▁water f ow l ▁were ▁important ▁add itions ▁to ▁the ▁di et . ▁Many ▁of ▁these ▁food ▁trad itions ▁are ▁especially ▁pre domin ant ▁in ▁many ▁parts ▁of ▁the ▁rural ▁South . ▁ ▁Trad itionally ▁prepared ▁soul ▁food ▁is ▁often ▁high ▁in ▁fat , ▁sod ium , ▁and ▁st arch . ▁High ly ▁su