A Cuisine of Many Cultures
Southern food has a history as rich as the gravy that tops the flaky buttermilk biscuits on Southern breakfast tables. The cuisine may have the reputation of being calorie-, fat- and sugar-laden, but the food of the Deep South is a combination of culinary heritages from around the world.
- European, African and Native American influences make up the flavors and cooking methods of southern food.
- The Native American influence is evident in the wide use of corn--from corn bread and grits to corn fritters and oven-fried corn--that has always been a staple on the Southern table.
- Notable African contributions include okra and black-eyed peas, while the popularity of deep-fried foods can be credited to both African and Scottish influences.
What is Southern Cooking?
Southern food is home cooking, comfort food, Creole, Cajun, Carolina low-country, soul food and Tex-Mex. It includes an abundance of fresh vegetables, rice or corn, inexpensive cuts of meat (usually pork or chicken) and fresh seafood. Popular Southern dishes include barbeque, chicken-fried steak, catfish, smothered pork chops, black-eyed peas, grits, biscuits and gravy, fried green tomatoes, collard greens, okra and sweet potatoes. And no Southern meal is complete without libations, especially sweet iced tea and mint juleps.
Living in High Cotton
Big country breakfasts of eggs, biscuits and gravy, sausage and grits, and supper plates of chicken-fried steak, corn bread and collard greens provided farmers with the fuel to work from sun up to sun down in the scorching heat and humidity of the South. But these meals were not just nourishing: they were also economical. Thoughts of the pre-Civil War South may evoke images of sprawling plantations, but in reality most Southerners were subsistence farmers who relied upon their own harvests to feed their families. Many Southern dishes were created out of necessity and frugal ingenuity.
- Redeye gravy, for example, is made with pan drippings and leftover coffee.
- Key lime pie is another such dish.
With very few cows in the Florida Keys, fresh milk was not readily available for pie baking. When sweetened condensed milk was introduced in 1856, it was natural to combine it with Key limes, creating the South Florida favorite.
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