“Soul Food Taste” brought a little bit of soul into an otherwise normal February day.

The taste, part of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences’ celebration of Black History Month, allowed visitors to try traditional soul food dishes, such as gumbo and collard greens.

“Today’s event is designed to inform people about the importance of food to our culture,” said Lee Ann Davis, director of minority programs for the College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

Davis and her sister cooked the food for the event, which featured traditional soul food dishes such as black eyed peas, red beans and rice, and sweet potato pie.

Felton Starling, Davis’ husband, fried catfish for the buffet.

“We’re trying to give everyone a flavor of black American heritage through soul food,” Starling said.

Davis said soul food originated during times of slavery when slaves needed food that could be nourishing enough for a long day of work in the fields. However, slaves were provided only the food that their masters considered inedible, such as pig ears, ham hocks and neck bones.

“Slaves used their creativity to create nourishing dishes from the parts that were thrown away,” Davis said. “Today’s recipes have been modified since slavery and passed down through families.”

Davis said family is a big part of soul food.

“Lots of people have seen the movie `Soul Food,’ and that’s really representative of the importance of food to black culture,” Davis said. “Families really get to know each other around the dinner table.”

Waliyullah Al-Hameed, junior in pre-business, came to the soul food taste because he “missed his mama’s cooking.”

“This is exactly what I would eat at home,” Al-Hameed said. “It’s hard to find good soul food in Ames.”