Kenyatte’s Favorite ‘Mom Dish’: Sweet Potato Pie
What’s your favorite ‘Mom Dish’?
Of course we had to add a Thanksgiving dish in here! In the US, Thanksgiving is a time for tradition, family…and culture. Every family’s got their favorite holiday dishes, and in our chat with Kenyatte Nelson (Chief Brand Officer at N Brown), he shared his favorite: sweet potato pie.
For Kenyatte, it brings back fond memories of family holidays spent together, and even when we can’t all be together with our loved ones this year, we couldn’t wait to share it with you just in time for the holiday season.
While we didn’t have Kenyatte’s mom’s recipe, we found this AMAZING sweet potato pie recipe from Black Foodie. And although we personally believe that you should always make your own pie crust, we won’t fault you for going store bought either!
Sweet potato pie is the beloved dessert of African American communities, and is an integral part of the menu at holidays, weddings, funerals, baptisms, and BBQs (1). It takes a lot of work and love to turn this tuber into something as sweet and comforting as sweet potato pie. It often takes Yams were Sweet potato pie was made in the Big House by slaves on plantations throughout the American South in the 1800s due to the influence of England food trends (1, 2).
In the 18th and most of the 19th century, pretty much anything that made it to America was picked, built, created, or made better by a slave (3).
But it would be a while before slaves had the culinary technology to cook pies in the slave cabins, and instead they would roast whole sweet potatoes on the embers of a fire (2). Once they had access to ovens, they were able to make it for themselves for holidays or special events (1, 2). Sweet potatoes grow well in the climate of the south, and because it is much more difficult to grow pumpkins in that area, sweet potato pie became the dessert of choice throughout southern cuisine (1, 2). During the Great Migration, an estimated 1.6 million people moved from the South to Northern industrial cities, bringing with them sweet potato pie (4).
For more inspiration and mom-dish recipes, check out our
Modern Minorities Recipe board!