Dirty rice

During this period, the individuals working the slave trade brought crops from black people and captives with the knowledge to cultivate them in the colonies.

Captive farmers from the coast of West Africa, who included rice in many aspects of their diets, were brought to Louisiana as enslaved people for their ability to cultivate the crop in the marshes and bayous.

Along with corn, beans, sorghum, succotash, and greens; rice was one of the limited foods enslaved people were allowed to eat on the plantation.

This generally included intestines, neck, feet, head, ears, ribcage, tail, and tongue of the hogs, cow, and chickens.

[7] After the abolition of slavery in the late 1800s, the dish remained a traditional meal of the freed African Americans due to its affordable and easy-to-make nature.

However, as these individuals gained more wealth and with it, access to better ingredients, the recipe saw more expensive additions being incorporated, such as Andouille sausage and ground beef instead of chicken livers and pig intestines.

The way the dish is seasoned can also vary from simple salt and black pepper, to a more elaborate blend of herbs, spices, hot sauces, and aromatics.

[12] Despite its meager origins, dirty rice is considered a staple dish in the American South as an example of "authentic" Louisiana, Creole, and Cajun cooking.