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The Great South
Where hospitality and good food abound.
The Mason-Dixon Line
Division between northern and southern states (free and slave) during the Civil War and throughout the 1800’s. The exception was Delaware, a slave state that did not leave the Union.
Delineated in the mid-1700s to settle a property dispute. It was mapped out by two surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon
Immigrants
England France Ireland Scotland Spain Africa
Year Round Crop Production
Tobacco Sugar cane Rice Cotton Peanuts Corn---a staple food Fruit
Ample Water & Forests
Pecans Fresh water and salt water fish
– Shrimp– Crayfish– Catfish– Crab– Alligator
The Southern Attitude
Southern hospitality---dates back to Colonial days
Relaxed lifestyle as compared to Northerners Lost Cause Minstrels
– Wear a mask to hide defeat– Immensely proud– Fiercely independent– Quick to take offense
Virginia
English culinary heritage Authentically southern food
Foods of Virginia
Corn pone: cornbread shaped into oval mounds & fried
Batter Bread (called spoon bread throughout the South): cornbread type pudding
Brunswick Stew: (According to Virginias, it was named after Caroline of Brunswick, wife of George III) Stew made from chicken, ham bone, beef, rabbit, onions, tomatoes, celery, butter beans,corn, potatoes, red pepper, black pepper & other seasonings.
Smithfield Hams Native Americans taught settlers how to salt and
smoke-cure hams. Original Smithfield hams came from hogs raised in
Smithfield, VA and were fed peanuts. Today Smithfield hams must still come from
Smithfield, VA, all other similar hams are called Country Hams.
Red Eye Gravy
Made from the juice of a Smithfield or Country Ham and black coffee.
Legend has it Gen. Andrew Jackson told his cook, who had been drinking moonshine, to bring him some ham with gravy as red as his eyes.
North Carolina---The Vale of Humility Between Two Mountains of Conceit. Virginia to the north. South Carolina to the south. Both states traditionally are more
industrialized and progressive. North Carolina considers itself to be
“down to earth.”
Two Distinct Regions
Coastal North Carolina Western N. Carolinas & the Blue Ridge
Mountain people
Mountain People
Very independent Some still speak Old English---the language
of Raleigh, Bacon and Shakespeare– Morn gloam– Rain Seed– Cowcumber– Mess of turnip salted– Tee toncy bit– Giggle soup
Mountain People
Hearty, ample portions– Bacon & cabbage– Chicken soups, pot pies– Irish potatoes & hominy– Buckwheat pancakes– Tarts & puddings
North Carolina Pig Pickin
West---barbecued pork shoulders basted in a tomato based finishing sauce.
Eastern---roast the whole pig, split down the middle and baste in a vinegar & pepper based sauce
Coastal Carolinas
Hush puppies Corn dodger: hush puppies country
cousin; an oven-baked cornmeal biscuit, with a cannonball like quality
Pokeweed: used for poke salad. Name was derived from the brown paper sack it was collected in. Only the leaf is edible.
Carolina Rice
“Carolina Gold” serving as a major cash crop in Colonial days
Used in many dishes Hoppin John
Eat poor that day, eat rich the rest of the year.
Rice for riches and peas for peace.
This dish is thought to have originated with African slaves on southern plantations, and is essentially black-eyed peas (cowpeas) cooked with salt pork and seasonings, and served with rice. There are several theories on the origin of the name, 'hoppin-john'; a lively waiter who served the dish at a Charleston hotel; a lame cook who hopped up and down while cooking it; and finally from a custom that children must hop around the table before the dish is served. It is traditionally served on New Year's Day in the Southern U.S., and is supposed to bring good luck during the coming year.
Hoppin John??? It was the custom for children to gather in the dining room as
the dish was brought forth and hop around the table before sitting down to eat.
A man named John came "a-hoppin" when his wife took the dish from the stove.
An obscure South Carolina custom was inviting a guest to eat by saying, "Hop in, John"
The dish goes back at least as far as 1841, when, according to tradition, it was hawked in the streets of Charleston, South Carolina by a crippled black man who was know as Hoppin' John.
Some say that the dish got its name from a corruption of the word, bahatta-kachang, which is of African origin
Southern Vegetables
Corn Beans Sweet potatoes or yams Greens including turnip and dandelion Black-eyed peas
Southern Breakfast
Ham Grits Biscuits Molasses
Two Distinctive Cuisines
Soul Food---Soul represents the black/African-American lifestyle emphasizing directness, spontaneity, & uninhibited feelings. Both the food & music originated from the poor slaves & became the food of the south after the war.
Creole & Acadian (Cajun)---The food of the Louisiana French
Soul Food
African-American invention---not African Black slaves & later the free ate what
was available to them. This included corn, greens, beans, pig (not the best parts), catfish
No part was wasted---feet, tail, snout, & ears were often pickled & boiled.
Soul Food Includes
Pork Chicken Anything that could be made with
cornmeal such as batter bread, hush puppies, hoe cake and cracklin corn bread. (Cracklin: pieces of hog skin that float to the top when rendered lard is melted.)
Hoe cake: cornmeal pancake that was originally cooked over an open fire on the blade of a hoe.
Catfish Black-eyed peas Beans Corn Yams: dark orange tubers added to stews, fried
as fritters, made into pones & pies Pone: pudding Greens of all types cooked with salt pork Pot likker: rich mixture left on the bottom of the
pot after cooking greens and fat & slab of pork Chittlins (chitterlings): fried pork intestines Spare ribs
African Foods
Benne Seeds: sesame seeds Okra: used throughout the south, often
to thicken soups Many spices
Let da Good Times Roll!!!
The Foods of Louisiana
Creole & Cajun
"New Orleans food is as delicious as the less criminal forms of sin."-- Mark Twain, 1884
Creole Versus Cajun (Acadian) Creole: people of mixed
French & Spanish ancestry. Their food is Grande Cuisine, with delicate blends of flavor and separate sauces.
Recipes & chefs came from France or Spain
Combined local ingredients with European cooking methods
Cajun (Acadian): French Canadians driven from Canada by the British. Many settled in the Bayou. – Queens of “le make do.”– Nothing that moves by
the house on all fours or on its belly will be looked at without an eye as to how it might taste cooked.
How They are Similar No one rule for cooking No one recipe for a particular food Rice is a staple dish Most dishes begin with a roux Common ingredients
– crab, river shrimp, lake shrimp, oysters, crawfish, freshwater and saltwater fish, plus squirrels, wild turkeys, ducks, frogs, turtles, pork, homemade sausages, beans of all kinds, tomatoes, okra, yams, pecans, oranges and wines, liqueurs and brandy.
Creole Distinctive European influence as well as others From France---Pastries & Bouillabaisse: fish soup,
led to Louisiana gumbo From Spain---Paella: a dish of rice, meat or seafood,
vegetables & sausages led to jambalaya Italy---pastry making and ice cream Haitians from the West Indies brought smoke pots,
exotic vegetables, spicy sauces and the use of tomatoes. Another influence on gumbo.
Native Americans (Choctaw)---ground sassafras leaves or file’, & bay leaves
African Slaves---kin gumbo (okra)
Cajun
Spicy, sometimes fiery Lots of rice One dish meals Strong, country food No right way or wrong way to do it
Louisiana Foods
Grillades: Veal round steak braised in a sauce of green pepper, celery, tomatoes, garlic, often served at breakfast
Café au lait: strong coffee with cream Café brulot: strong coffee flavored with spices,
citrus peel, & brandy; often flamed Gumbo: soup/stew made from poultry,
seafood, & vegetables thickened with okra or file’,but not both. Thickening is added after removing from heat so it won’t become stringy
Jambalaya: shellfish, poultry, sausage simmered together with a spicy tomato sauce & served over rice
Red beans & Rice: Classic Monday dish flavored with cracked ham bone
Pralines: candy made from sugar, cream, & pecans
Petits fours: small pieces of cake often sliced and filled then covered in a icing that is poured over it
Beignets: Sweet pastry fried and covered with powdered sugar