Southern cuisine

tips on Southern
food & beverages

 

Why
Southern Cuisine
is special

Southern Cuisine is steep in tradition. Cooking, eating and gracious entertaining once played an intense part of the culture. In some restaurants and homes today, that lifestyle quality still thrives.

Famous
Southern Cuisine
specialties to try

How many of these Southern Cuisine preparations have you tasted?

Barbecued Ribs

Memphis, Tennessee is widely considered America's pork barbecue capital.

Biscuits

They are typically leavened with baking powder or, in the case of Beaten Biscuits, none at all (their lightness comes from repeated beating).

Country Ham

It is often fried and served with Red-Eye Gravy (named for the liquid disk that forms on the sauce). Virginia's Smithfield Ham, made from peanut-fed hogs, is the finest product.

Grits

Ground dried hominy (corn treated with lye) that's slowly simmered into a mush. Served every meal, especially for breakfast.

Southern Fried Chicken

The quintessential Southern specialty. Chicken pieces are floured or battered, then fried or deep fried.

Other renowned
Southern Cuisine
specialties

Chicken-Fried Steak

So named because the beef is battered and fried like Southern Fried Chicken.

Cornbread

It is used both as a bread and a stuffing.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Unripe tomatoes are sliced and battered, then pan-fried.

Fried Catfish

The fillet is coated with seasoned cornmeal.

Game Meat

Hunting has always been big in the South. Kitchen-bound quarry include deer, opossums, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, and a host of game birds.

Pies and Cobblers

Southerners are gifted pie and cobbler bakers. Classic fillings include pecan, peach and sweet potato.

Cuisine insights

Creole and Cajun Cuisines

They rightfully sit under the Southern Cuisine umbrella. However, because of their fame and highly distinctive character, I created a separate web page for them.

See my Creole & Cajon web page

Slaves

The Black slave women who cooked for their masters in the main-house kitchen played a significant role in the development of Southern Cuisine. For instance, they used ingredients and frying techniques of their African homeland that eventually became Southern Cuisine mainstays. They also created the renowned Soul Food Cuisine.

See my Soul Food web page

Native Americans

They, too, had a culinary impact. For example, they introduced early settlers to corn and molasses, and their many uses.

Farm vs. plantation influence

Southern Cuisine evolved mainly in the kitchens of nondescript small-to-medium-sized farms, which outnumbered the large Hollywood-hyped plantations a hundred to one.

Clickable cuisine maps

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©2010 HQP / Hillman Quality Publications