Monday, August 15, 2011

Miss Laurel R. Elliott

Southern Cuisine

Welcome!!.

20.5330199, 20.5321099, 20.5331099

The South

Dark red states considered Southern; medium red usually considered Southern; striped states occasionally considered Southern.

Wood-fire BBQ Pit

A wood-fired barbecue pit at Wilbur's Barbecue - Goldsboro, North Carolina

Poke Salad

A woman preparing poke salad near Marshall, Texas, in the 1930s.

Poke Salad

All parts of pokeweed are toxic including the raw aboveground leaves sprouting in the early Spring. The poisonous principles are found in highest concentrations in the rootstock, less in the mature leaves and stems, and least in the fruits. (Green fruits are slightly more toxic) Young leaves, if collected before acquiring a red color, are edible if boiled for 5 minutes, rinsed, and reboiled. Berries are toxic when raw but cooked juice is edible (the seeds remain toxic after cooking). However, it may be difficult to identify exactly when leaves have no red color whatsoever; an incorrect picking may result in a poisoning. In a traditional Cherokee recipe for fried poke stalks, young stalks are harvested while still tender, peeled to remove most of the toxin, washed, then cut into pieces and fried like okra with cornmeal.

Preparing poke salad outside of Marshall, Texas in the 1930sYoung pokeweed leaves can be boiled three times to reduce the toxin, discarding the water after each boiling. The result is known as poke salit, or poke salad, and is occasionally available commercially. Many authorities advise against eating pokeweed even after thrice boiling, as traces of the toxin may still remain. It should never be eaten uncooked. For many decades, poke salad has been a staple of southern U.S. cuisine, despite campaigns by doctors who believed pokeweed remained toxic even after being boiled.

Ham hock

Ham hock and black-eyed peas

Fried Chicken

Creole Food

Dishes of typical creole food.

Jambalaya

Biscuits and Honey