Black History Month: The Interesting Stories Behind Foods We Love

Popular dishes and the unique origins of them.

Foods We Love - In honor of Black History Month, BET.com takes a look at popular fare from across the Black diaspora and the unique stories behind them. — Natelege Whaley (@Natelege_) Above is an image of What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking, published in 1881 by former slave Abby Fisher. The book features Southern cooking specialties.(Photo: Applewood Books)

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Foods We Love - In honor of Black History Month, BET.com takes a look at popular fare from across the Black diaspora and the unique stories behind them. — Natelege Whaley (@Natelege_) Above is an image of What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking, published in 1881 by former slave Abby Fisher. The book features Southern cooking specialties.(Photo: Applewood Books)

Fried Chicken and Waffles - A staple on any weekend brunch menu is fried chicken and waffles. The earliest known restaurant to serve the combination of the sweet, buttery, crunchy and savory dish was Wells Supper Club in Harlem, New York, in the 1930s. At the height of the jazz era, legendary musicians would head there early Sunday after performing Saturday night shows and order chicken because they missed dinner the night before. They added waffles “as the hot bread to eat with” it, according to Hog and Hominy: Soul Food From Africa to America by Frederick Douglass Opie. The meal became famous worldwide. ''People from Paris, when they'd come, would get chicken and waffles,'' the restaurant's founder Joseph T. Wells told the New York Times in 1984. (Photo: Lauri Patterson/GettyImages)

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Fried Chicken and Waffles - A staple on any weekend brunch menu is fried chicken and waffles. The earliest known restaurant to serve the combination of the sweet, buttery, crunchy and savory dish was Wells Supper Club in Harlem, New York, in the 1930s. At the height of the jazz era, legendary musicians would head there early Sunday after performing Saturday night shows and order chicken because they missed dinner the night before. They added waffles “as the hot bread to eat with” it, according to Hog and Hominy: Soul Food From Africa to America by Frederick Douglass Opie. The meal became famous worldwide. ''People from Paris, when they'd come, would get chicken and waffles,'' the restaurant's founder Joseph T. Wells told the New York Times in 1984. (Photo: Lauri Patterson/GettyImages)

Jerk Chicken - Jamaican jerk chicken is marinated to the bone with a blend of allspice and scotch bonnet peppers and grilled to perfection. Its roots date back to the slavery era on the Caribbean island. Maroons, who ran away from captivity, lived in the Blue Mountains and had to marinate their meat with spices and peppers to preserve it. They then barbecued the meat over pimento wood, Sean John, a Jamaican chef, told MensJournal.com. (Photo: Spaude, Brenda/the food passionates/Corbis)

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Jerk Chicken - Jamaican jerk chicken is marinated to the bone with a blend of allspice and scotch bonnet peppers and grilled to perfection. Its roots date back to the slavery era on the Caribbean island. Maroons, who ran away from captivity, lived in the Blue Mountains and had to marinate their meat with spices and peppers to preserve it. They then barbecued the meat over pimento wood, Sean John, a Jamaican chef, told MensJournal.com. (Photo: Spaude, Brenda/the food passionates/Corbis)

Bean Pie - Beans are not the first ingredient some would think to put in a pie. But the Nation of Islam was genius in creating a sweet treat out of navy beans that could easily compete tastewise with popular sweet potato or pecan pies. The recipe includes beans, butter, sugar, evaporated milk, eggs and cinnamon, the Chicago Reader reports.Bean pie came about because of the strict diet those in the Nation have followed since its formation in 1930. In the book How to Eat to Live by Elijah Muhammad, he wrote that God said a "diet of navy beans would give us a life span of one hundred and forty years." Members would sell the pies in bakeries and in the streets of cities such as New York. (Photo: Ericka McConnell / Getty Images)

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Bean Pie - Beans are not the first ingredient some would think to put in a pie. But the Nation of Islam was genius in creating a sweet treat out of navy beans that could easily compete tastewise with popular sweet potato or pecan pies. The recipe includes beans, butter, sugar, evaporated milk, eggs and cinnamon, the Chicago Reader reports.Bean pie came about because of the strict diet those in the Nation have followed since its formation in 1930. In the book How to Eat to Live by Elijah Muhammad, he wrote that God said a "diet of navy beans would give us a life span of one hundred and forty years." Members would sell the pies in bakeries and in the streets of cities such as New York. (Photo: Ericka McConnell / Getty Images)

Gumbo - Louisiana's creole people created gumbo, a spicy stew-like dish prepared with poultry or fish, and it is heavily tied to traditional West African okra-based soups, according to WhatsCookingAmerica.net. It is also said that French tradition added roux, a thickening agent. The name gumbo is derived from the Angolan word for okra, kingombo. (Photo: Poplis, Paul/the food passionates/Corbis)

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Gumbo - Louisiana's creole people created gumbo, a spicy stew-like dish prepared with poultry or fish, and it is heavily tied to traditional West African okra-based soups, according to WhatsCookingAmerica.net. It is also said that French tradition added roux, a thickening agent. The name gumbo is derived from the Angolan word for okra, kingombo. (Photo: Poplis, Paul/the food passionates/Corbis)

Bake and Shark - You can't go to Trinidad without having a taste of its popular dish bake and shark at street vendors or at Maracas Beach, where people line up for the popular sandwich at stands. Hot sauce, tamarind, lettuce, tomatoes and pineapple slices are usually added as toppings. Richard's Bake and Shark is said to have created the winning combination more than 20 years ago, but the story has not been confirmed. (Photo: Altin Osmanaj/GettyImages)

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Bake and Shark - You can't go to Trinidad without having a taste of its popular dish bake and shark at street vendors or at Maracas Beach, where people line up for the popular sandwich at stands. Hot sauce, tamarind, lettuce, tomatoes and pineapple slices are usually added as toppings. Richard's Bake and Shark is said to have created the winning combination more than 20 years ago, but the story has not been confirmed. (Photo: Altin Osmanaj/GettyImages)