A few months ago I was shopping at a local grocery store when I ran into a very prominent African American standing in the checkout line. We exchanged greetings, but I felt as though this person was reacting very strangely. This person purchased a can of coffee and a small bag of white rice. When the cashier asked the person if the three packages of neckbones on the checkout counter belonged to them, I thought there was going to be a fistfight.

I could hardly believe the scene that this person was making at the register. " Those are not my neckbones." Do I look like I have to eat neckbones? When the person walked out of the store I told the cashier that I would purchase the neckbones. She told me that this prominent person purchases neckbones there every week. She said that the person obviously was ashamed that I was in line and saw them purchasing neckbones. What is the world coming to when a person is ashamed to purchase neckbones?

As the slaves began to mix into the American slave society, they had to make do with the food that their master gave them. The slaves were given the throwaway food from the "Big House". The slave was given the tops of turnip greens, collards, pig's feet, ham hock, hog jowl, tripe, chitterlings, pig ears, neckbones and more.

When the slaves entered the big house as cooks, an array of ingredients was at their fingertips. Soon the slave master was introduced to fried chicken, pork chops and much more. Perhaps this prominent African American ashamed to be seen purchasing neckbones was reflecting on the dark and despicable period in American history when slaves were given scraps for food. The creativity of the Slave however, made those scraps into a wonderful cuisine called "Soul Food".

When I got home with the embarrassing neckbones I washed them in lukewarm water. I drained them and damped them dry. I seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic and sage. I heated a few slices of bacon and browned each side. I covered and simmered the neckbones for one hour or until the meat became tender. I added some onions and continued to simmer them until the meat began to fall off the bone. I added a bit of flour to the liquid to make delicious gravy.

As I sat at my dining room table eating those delicious neckbones, I felt so sorry for the prominent African American that thought it was shameful to be seen purchasing neckbones. Well, I'll end by saying you haven't had good food until you chomp down on a good well-cooked and seasoned neckbone. Don't ever get so high that you are ashamed to purchase the food that you ate when you were growing up!

Greg Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles by logging on to www.greggriffin.com