ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – From the variations of beans and rice to fried chicken and the seasonings – soul food has told the story of many African American families over the years. For Dr. Malcolm and Bridgitt Scott, owners of the Essence of Soul Food, it means heritage, connection and so much more.

“Soul food is food prepared with love,” Malcolm Scott expressed.  “It’s just a tradition of good home cooking that sticks to your bones. That’s what soul food really is at its heart you know, and if you’re not careful, it will thicken you up real quick.”

The Scott’s food truck sits outside the Peacock Patio, ready to share a variety of home-style meals.

“The seafood gumbo is really popular. The fried catfish, you can’t miss it on that,” Malcolm Scott said. “My wife’s mom’s 7up cake and homemade pound cake, one lady says she tasted it and said she feels the butter pulsating in my leg.”

If seafood and sweets are not enticing, Essence of Soul Food offers chicken as well.

“We’re also doing chicken wings which I’ve heard my husband make the best chicken wings in Abilene,” Bridgitt Scott added.

When it comes to how the flavors of soul food came to be, there’s a story to that too.

“When we think about Black History Month we think about the struggles. They weren’t getting the finer cuts of meats and so they had to make certain cuts of meat the poorer quality cuts of meats taste good,” Malcolm Scott explained.

As far as where the taste of this Abilene food truck originates from, it’s all in the family.

“My family owned a couple of restaurants in Louisiana. A couple of them: Martha’s Bistro and 8 Sisters was the original restaurant in the Felicianas in West Feliciana Parish in Francisville. Several of my aunts have passed away, but many of the recipes were their recipes,” Malcolm Scott said.

Malcolm and Bridgitt Scott hold these family recipes close to heart.

“People will say oh you can just hire somebody to help you. These recipes are all from our family heritage and so we’re very possessive of it and it’s all a secret. We can give you a little tidbit of it of what’s going on, but we can’t give you because if we give you the real, real tidbit because if we do we’d have to kill you,” Bridgette Scott said with a chuckle.

Visit Essence of Soul Food’s Facebook page to see when the truck is open, the menu, and pricing.