Cornmeal: What Ingredient Replaced African Staple Starches in the Traditional Black Southern Diet?
                                
                                
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                                    3 min read                                
                            
                                Over 7,000 years ago, corn was first domesticated in what is now Mexico, later becoming a foundational crop for enslaved Africans who adapted their culinary heritage with available ingredients. This ingenuity led to cornmeal replacing African staple starches, reshaping the traditional black southern diet.