More than just food, a legacy.
Mahalia Jackson grew up in poverty in New Orleans and had to work hard from an early age to earn a living. But amid the hardships, her Aunt Duke was a strict but devoted teacher of cooking and housekeeping. On a wood-burning stove, Mahalia learned to prepare simple, nutritious meals that often consisted of red beans with salt pork or green beans with pig tails. Cornbread and biscuits were staples, with cornbread often accompanying cooked vegetables or beans.
Pork has been a staple of African-American cuisine in the southern United States since slavery. Aunt Duke also taught Mahalia how to prepare pork intestines (chitlins) – a task Mahalia disliked the most – and how to make pig's head cheese (sousse).
Occasionally, Uncle Emanuel would serve unusual dishes:
Baby alligators caught by the children in the swamp were prepared for breakfast, with the tail fried like chicken. However, the family was never hungry, as most of their food came from their large garden, where they grew green beans, red beans, peas, tomatoes, pumpkins, corn, okra, and mustard.
The tradition of the "pan" – sharing leftover food on Sundays and holidays with servants and the needy – was a formative experience for Mahalia and a source of deep satisfaction. It was often the difference between a filling meal and a rumbling stomach. While she sang and worked hard, Mahalia was shaped by the sounds of New Orleans, the "bon temps" (good times) and "bonne nouvelles" (good news) of gospel music, which inevitably blended into her music. She saved every penny to buy records by singers such as Grace Moore and Lawrence Tibbett, from whom she learned diction and breathing techniques – lessons she later described as the foundations of her "soul cooking."
Mahalia Jackson was not only a gifted singer, but also an excellent cook who loved welcoming guests into her home. Her kitchen was often the beating heart of her house, a place for cooking, serving, and lively conversation. She cooked traditional Southern cuisine, including fried chicken, tripe, collard greens, pig's feet, and cornbread. Her aversion to hotel menus that did not offer these dishes spoke volumes about her culinary convictions.
Amazingly, she was able to prepare an impressive variety of meals on a small, portable two-burner stove. Her kitchen was a haven of cleanliness, and Mahalia was extremely meticulous about it. She was known for feeding people, and gospel musicians always found an open door and a set table at her home to combine "eating and singing." Mahalia firmly believed that food created a sense of harmony and was a "warm, human, joyful feeling."
A humorous anecdote tells how she once brought her own plate of food to her room and said, "No, baby, this is for Mahalia. I'm so tired of these people eating all my food and not giving me a chance to try my own cooking that I'm going to eat something today." On another occasion, she devoured an entire jar of pickles with mint. Her specialties also included Creole shrimp, and her New Orleans gumbo was so sought after that it was often offered at fundraisers.
In addition to her beauty salon and flower shop, which she ran with her first husband, Ike Hockenhull, whose mother had cosmetics recipes, Mahalia later ventured into the food industry. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she founded the fast food franchise "Mahalia Jackson's Chicken System." This venture was more than just a business initiative; it was a social project aimed at providing economic and employment opportunities for African American communities. All franchises were to be black-owned and black-operated. The system offered employees paid vacation, affordable life insurance, and comprehensive medical benefits—perks that were rare in the fast-food industry at the time.
The menu included breaded fried chicken, catfish, hush puppies, fried liver, sweet potato pie, and the "Soul Bowl"—offal in gravy over rice. The recipes were developed in their own test kitchens and formulated for mass production by an in-house chemist. Mahalia's face adorned the chicken buckets, and the chicken was advertised as "tongue-licking good." The stores themselves were designed to resemble "highly styled, modern churches" and create a welcoming atmosphere. She also planned to open "Mahalia Jackson's Parlors," which would be inexpensive and offer a New Orleans-inspired menu featuring gumbo, shrimp, and red beans and rice.
In 1970, she published the cookbook Mahalia Jackson Cooks Soul, which she co-authored with Andrewnetta Jones. The book contained favorite recipes from her and her friends and emphasized courage, enthusiasm, and energy as the foundations of "soul cookery."
On her tours, Mahalia Jackson repeatedly encountered racism, which made it difficult for her to find suitable places to eat and stay, as black people were often turned away. She strictly refused to perform or eat in establishments that served alcohol—another facet of her deep moral convictions.
Despite her immense success, Mahalia had to watch her diet due to her health and was urged to lose weight. Nevertheless, she remained true to her roots. Mahalia emphasized that she considered her singing style to be natural, comparable to eating red beans and rice, which was inextricably linked to her New Orleans identity. She firmly believed that providing food (soul food) should even precede evangelism—an expression of her conviction that physical well-being and compassion are the foundation for spiritual openness.
Mahalia Jackson's life was a testament to how deeply food and culture can be intertwined. Her story is a reminder that food not only nourishes the body, but also the soul, and that the art of cooking and sharing meals can be one of the deepest forms of human connection.
In 1970, just two years before her death, legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson collaborated with Andrewnetta Jones to publish her cookbook, Mahalia Jackson Cooks Soul, with Aurora Publishers. But this book was much more than just a collection of recipes; it was a reflection of her business philosophy, her philanthropy, and her deep commitment to the Black community. A culinary legacy with principles Mahalia Jackson's cookbook fit seamlessly into her existing business ventures, which ranged from beauty salons to flower shops to real estate investments. It embodied her firm belief that providing food was a basic necessity that should even precede evangelism. The book was closely linked to Maulana Karenga's Kwanzaa holiday and its fundamental African cultural principles of unity, self-determination, and collective responsibility.
It was an expression of courage, zeal, and energy with the overarching goal of promoting economic independence and mutual aid within the Black community. Recipes from the "Soul Bowl" and beyond One highlight of the book is undoubtedly the "Soul Bowl," a hearty dish of offal and gravy served over rice. Other mainstays of their menu included breaded chicken (known for its salty and crispy taste, which was said to outshine Kentucky Fried Chicken), catfish, hush puppies, fried liver, and classic desserts such as sweet potato pie.
Although Mahalia Jackson herself came from New Orleans, surprisingly few Creole dishes can be found in her cookbook. Her personal favorite dish, oyster bread, was replaced by a recipe for oyster stew, for example. The book is full of practical tips on saving time and money and focuses on "feeding many mouths with little food" and making simple dishes tasty with clever combinations of spices. The collection of recipes is surprisingly diverse, ranging from traditional soul food dishes such as tripe, neck bones, and brains to unexpected creations such as "oven beef bourguignon" and "tuna burgers."
The book is also embellished with atmospheric photos of Mahalia at the stove, which give the book a personal touch. A lasting legacy. Although it is unclear how many of the recipes actually came directly from Mahalia Jackson or were compiled from various sources, "Mahalia Jackson Cooks Soul" remains a fascinating document of her time and vision. The original books are rare. To get a copy, you have to invest up to several hundred dollars.
©Thilo Plaesser