Cuisine of the Southern United States
[1] Many elements of Southern cooking—tomatoes, squash, corn (and its derivatives, such as hominy and grits), and deep-pit barbecuing—are borrowings from Indigenous peoples of the region (e.g., Cherokee, Caddo, Choctaw, and Seminole).
[11][12][13] Other Indigenous influences are dried meats, smoked fish, and preparing meals with deer, rabbit, turtle, catfish, and eating local strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and cranberries.
[16] The first European nation to colonize the mainland portion of North America was Spain in the early 16th century in the year 1513 under Juan Ponce de León.
[17] In the year 1565, Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés established a settlement in St. Augustine, Florida and was accompanied by free and enslaved Africans.
Apalachee people prepared meals with hunted animals such as deer, rabbit, raccoon, and turkey (a bird indigenous to North America).
One major change to the landscape of Florida was the Spanish introduction of domesticated animals to provide favored meats, like beef, pork, and chicken!
In England and Ireland people ate biscuits as part of a meal and were taken aboard ships during long voyages because they lasted longer and did not spoil like other foods.
In the Southern United States, Americans evolved the recipe and made fluffier biscuits and poured gravy, honey and jam over them which became a popular breakfast item.
Biscuits were an economical food for Southerners after the mid-19th century as they were made with simple ingredients of flour, baking powder, salt, butter, and milk.
[51] Other foods brought from West Africa during the slave trade that influenced Southern cuisine were guinea pepper, gherkin, sesame seeds, kola nuts, eggplant, watermelon, rice, and cantaloupe.
Author Ibraham Seck, director of research at the Whitney Plantation Slave Museum in St. John the Baptist Parish, suggests jambalaya originated on the Senegalese coast of West Africa.
An article from South Carolina National Public Radio (NPR) explains: "The earliest written recipes for American potato salad date to the mid-19th century.
An article from the Florida Department of State explains the soldier's diet: "The most common form of hard bread, was called hardtack, a basic wheat biscuit that did not easily decay and could survive a rough march.
In addition, they made fried flatbread and balls of cornmeal called "flapjacks" cooked over an open fire, and ate bacon, imitation coffee, and molasses.
An article from Time Magazine explains: "...immigrants and their American-born sons and daughters have helped transform the perception of Southern cuisine into something beyond biscuits and gravy and mint juleps.
In rural towns that have seen their populations decline, it's the Chinese or Mexican restaurant that took over former greasy spoons while preserving them as de facto community centers.
And in reborn urban centers, it's the Michelin-approved fine-dining restaurants where chefs have fused techniques from India, Laos and Nigeria with the staples of the Southern canon.
[104] A common dish in Texas is chili con carne made with cumin, black pepper, garlic, onion, and beef are all foreign imported foods, and the chiles come from Mexico.
Upon returning to Atlanta from Montgomery, Martin Luther King Jr. got permission "to bring his team members and guests to Paschal's to eat, meet, rest, plan, and strategize.
[129][130][131] According to Chuck Reece, editor of Georgia Public Radio's Salvation South, the tomato sandwich is "one thing—one perfect thing—about which every Southerner can agree".
"[131] Kathleen Purvis of the Charlotte Observer wrote, "Of all the foods that define Southernness, the tomato sandwich may be right up there with grits as the true dividing line.
[135] It also has cultural significance drawn from the American Civil War with a song titled “Goober peas” from 1866 that reflected its purpose as a ration food.
Creole cuisine makes good use of many coastal animals—crawfish (commonly called crayfish outside the region), crab, oysters, shrimp, and saltwater fish.
[152][153] The Lowcountry region of the coastal Carolinas and Georgia shares many of the same food resources as the Upper Gulf Coast: fish, shrimp, oysters, rice, and okra.
[5][157] Because of its geographic location, Appalachia cuisine offers a wide range of ingredients and products that can be transformed using traditional methods and contemporary applications.
Gunpowder seasoning is also popular in the Appalachian region, often made from activated charcoal, dehydrated onion and garlic, paprika, salt, sugar, corn starch, and sunflower oil.
Its ‘smoky’ flavor is commonly used as a dry rub, making it perfect for regional game as well as a variety of grilled vegetables such as bell peppers, white onion, and yellow squash.
Rice and cane sugar, grown further south, were not easy to come by in Appalachia and generally sorghum, honey and maple syrup were used as sweetener in local dishes.
Seafood, beyond the occasionally locally caught fresh-water fish (pan-fried catfish is much loved, as is trout in the mountains of western North Carolina, East Tennessee, and Southwest Virginia) and crawfish, were unavailable until modern times.
However, Appalachia did offer a wide variety of wild game, with venison, rabbit and squirrel particularly common, thus helping to compensate for distance from major cities and transportation networks.
