Evolution
of Southern cuisine
The most notable influences come from African,
Native American, British, Irish, French, and Spanish
cuisines.
Soul food, Creole, Cajun, Lowcountry, and Floribbean
are examples of Southern cuisine.
In more recent history, elements of Southern cuisine
have spread north, having an effect on the development
of
other types of American cuisine.
The food of the American South is quite multicultural.
Many items like squash, tomatoes, corn
(and its derivatives, including grits),
as well as the practice of deep pit barbecuing
have been inherited from the southeastern Native
American
tribes like the Caddo, Choctaw, and Seminole.
Many foods associated with sugar, flour, milk, eggs
(many kinds of baking or dairy products like breads
and cheeses)
are more associated with Europe.
The South's propensity for a full breakfast
(as opposed to a Continental one with a simple bread
item and drink)
is derived from the British fry up,
although it was altered substantially.
Much of Cajun/Creole cuisine is based on France,
and on Spain to a lesser extent.
Floribbean is more Spanish-based with obvious Caribbean
influences,
while Tex-Mex has considerable Mexican and native
tribes touches.
To a far greater degree than anyone realizes,
several of the most important food dishes of
the Southeastern Indians live on today is the "soul
food"
eaten by all races of Southerners.
Hominy, for example, is still eaten ...
Sofkee live on as grits ... cornbread [is] used
by Southern cooks ...
Indian fritters ... variously known as "hoe
cake," ...
or "Johnny cake." ... Indians boiled cornbread
is present in Southern cuisine as "corn meal
dumplings,"
... and as "hush puppies," ... Southerners
cook their beans
and field peas by boiling them, as did the Indians
...
like the Indians they cure their meat and smoke
it over hickory coals.
Southern Native American culture is the
"cornerstone" of Southern cuisine. From
their culture
came one of the main staples of the Southern diet:
corn (maize),
either ground into meal or limed with an alkaline
salt to make hominy,
also called masa, in a Native American technology
known as nixtamalization.[3] Corn was used to make
all kinds of dishes from the familiar cornbread
and grits
to liquors such as whiskey and moonshine,
which were important trade items.
Though a lesser staple, potatoes were also adopted
from Native American cuisine
and were used in many similar ways as corn.
Native Americans introduced the first Southerners
to many other vegetables still familiar on southern
tables.
Squash, pumpkin, many types of beans, tomatoes
(though these were initially considered poisonous),
many types of peppers and sassafras
all came to the settlers via the native tribes.
Many fruits are available in this region. Muscadines,
blackberries, raspberries, and many other wild berries
were part of Southern Native Americans' diet.
Southern Native Americans also supplemented their
diets
with meats derived from the hunting of native game.
Venison was an important meat staple due to the
abundance
of white-tailed deer in the area.
They also hunted rabbits, squirrels, opossums,
and raccoons. Livestock, adopted from Europeans,
in the form of hogs and cattle were kept. When game
or livestock was killed, the entire animal was used.
Aside from the meat, it was not uncommon for
them to eat organ meats such as liver, brains and
intestines.
This tradition remains today in hallmark dishes
like chitterlings
(commonly called chit’lins) which are fried
large intestines
of hogs, livermush (a common dish in the Carolinas
made from hog liver),
and pork brains and eggs. The fat of the animals,
particularly hogs, was rendered and used for cooking
and frying. Many of the early European settlers
were taught Southern Native American cooking methods,
and so cultural diffusion was set in motion for
the Southern dish.
The term "soul food" dates only to the
first half of the 1960's
There are many stories about Southerners going to
other parts
of the country and having to seek out
African restaurants for the food they grew up on.
In some cases they have been told they cannot get
certain grocery items and to try the foreign sections.
Generally speaking, Southerners eat the exact same
food
in the exact same way as is considered "Soul
Food".
A niche market for Southern food
along with American comfort food
has proven profitable for chains such as
Cracker Barrel and Bob Evans,
which have extended their market across the country,
instead of staying solely in the South.
There are many individual family style restaurants
based on the cuisine of the American South.
Despite the down-home image of many Southern-influenced
restaurants,
some are more upscale.
