MIXING SOUL FOOD AND THE CARIBBEAN

The Powell family’s culinary palette is influenced by both African American and Jamaican cuisine. Neva traces her family’s roots to Newport, Rhode Island. She remembers childhood meals as a mix of what her mom called “semi-homemade” food and soul food staples, like black eyed peas and collard greens, prepared for special occasions. Neva’s husband Kirk grew up 1600 miles away in Kingston, Jamaica, where his mother cooked Jamaican classics, like rice and peas, grabbing fresh ingredients from their garden.

At the age of 15, when Kirk’s family moved to Brooklyn, New York, they brought their cooking practices with them. While the family no longer had direct access to the same fresh ingredients, Kirk’s mother worked hard to maintain the style of cooking that had nourished her family in Jamaica. When Neva and Kirk met as college students in Rhode Island, they began cooking rice and peas like his mom. Today they continue this tradition with their own family. Neva cooks rice and peas every Sunday, adding in ingredients from her own culinary background, passing these Jamaican and African American traditions on to her daughter and sons.