See also: List of foods of the Southern United States
The cuisine of the Southern United States is defined as the regional culinary form of states generally south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and extending west to Texas.
Evolution of Southern cuisine
The most notable influences come from British, Scots-Irish, French, Native American, African American , and to a lesser extent Spanish cuisines. Soul food, Creole, Cajun, Lowcountry, and Floribbean are examples of Southern cuisine. In recent history, elements of Southern cuisine have spread north, having an effect on the development of other types of American cuisine.
Many items such as squash, tomatoes, corn (and its derivatives, including grits), as well as the practice of deep pit barbecuing were inherited from the southeastern Native American tribes such as the Caddo, Choctaw, and Seminole. Many foods associated with sugar, flour, milk, eggs (many kinds of baking or dairy products such as 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 or 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.
Native American cuisine
Southern Native American culture is the "cornerstone" of Southern cuisine. From their culture came one of the main staples of the Southern diet: corn, either ground into meal or limed with an alkaline salt to make hominy, also called masa, in a Native American technology known as nixtamalization. Corn was used to make dishes from the familiar cornbread and grits to liquors such as whiskey and moonshine, which were important trade items.
A lesser staple, potatoes were adopted from Native American cuisine and were used in 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 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 hunted rabbits, squirrels, Virginia 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 or boiled small 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.
African-American influences
Main article: Soul foodPlantations were born after Southern settlers realized the region's great potential for agricultural profit. The wealthiest land owners began to cultivate the land in larger tracts and utilizing slaves to work the tracts -- mostly Africans.
Most Africans’ diets consisted of greens and various vegetables. Stews were common and rice was a familiar staple to them. Foods that became part of the Southern diet from African-American heritage include eggplant, kola nuts, sesame seeds, okra, sorghum, field peas, black-eyed peas, African rice and some melons.
The term "soul food" dates only to the first half of the 1960s, and to some extent can be considered an expatriate version of Southern country or home cooking familiar to both blacks and whites of the South. There are many stories about non-black 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, white Southerners traditionally eat the same food prepared the same way as black Southerners. However, there are subtle differences in preparation, such as types of spicing, and in certain regions, such as Florida, there are distinct variations between white Southern and black Southern cuisine. There are also class differences affecting the Southern table in racially significant ways. For example, the less palatable or nutritious results of butchering, such as chitlins and pig's feet, were often the only meats available to people living in poverty (which affected a larger percentage of the African American population), and creative solutions to making such food edible are therefore more a part of black Southern cuisine than white. As more African Americans enter the middle class, and as more of them become health- and weight-conscious, they find themselves confronted with the decision of whether to abandon certain high-salt, high-fat, low-nutrient food items previously eaten only from necessity, or to embrace them out of cultural loyalty or personal preference. Grits plays such a role for some Southerners of both races, its having become a fashionable "Southern" dish, but still being associated in the minds of many Southerners with the unvarying menu of their poverty-stricken up-bringing.
Much of Southern cuisine developed from African foods and traditions of preparation. Often in charge of Southern kitchens, from slave times on down to the institutional kitchens of schools, African Americans have played a pivotal role in the development in Southern cuisine. In addition, many famous Southern restaurants have had African Americans as their chefs, and barbecue restaurants, whether owned and patronized by blacks or whites, typically have an African American as pitmaster.
Southern cuisine for the masses
A niche market for Southern food along with American comfort food has proven profitable for chains, which have extended their market across the country, instead of staying solely in the South. Other Southern chains specialize in this type of cuisine, but have decided mainly to stay in the South. Pit barbecue is popular all over the American South; many rural places even sport several locally run locations, although this is rare in most other parts of the country. 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.
Southern cuisine by region
Southern cuisine varies widely by region:
- In Southern Louisiana, there is Cajun and Creole cuisine. Louisiana is also a large supplier of hot sauces with its peppers, as well as being the largest supplier of crawfish in the country.
- Rice was historically an important crop in the coastal areas of North Carolina and South Carolina, leading to local specialties like "Hoppin' John" (a mixture of rice and black-eyed peas flavored with salt pork) and Charleston Red Rice.
- Barbecue has many regional variations in the South: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Texas are particularly noted for different variations. Barbecue sauce also varies by location.
- Virginia is noted not only for its Smithfield ham, but also for its major supplies of apples and peanuts.
Oklahoma has a reputation for many grain- and bean-based dishes, such as "cornbread and beans" or the breakfast dish biscuits and gravy. Mississippi specializes in farm-raised catfish, found in traditional "fish houses" throughout the state. Arkansas is the top rice-producing state in the nation, and is also noted for catfish, pork barbecue at restaurants, and chicken. Tennessee is known for its country ham. Maryland is known for its blue and soft-shell crabs, and Smith Island Cake. Florida is home of the Key lime pie and swamp cabbage. Orange juice is the well-known beverage of the state. Georgia is known for its peaches, pecans, peanuts and Vidalia onions.
The Appalachian areas have ramps (onions and their relatives) and berries aplenty. Kentucky is famous for Burgoo and beer cheese. Texas specializes in chili, while Brunswick stew originated in the eastern parts of the South. Generally speaking, many parts of the Upper South specialize more in pork, sorghum, and whiskey, while the low country coastal areas are known for seafood (shrimp and crabs), rice, and grits. The western parts of the South like Texas and Oklahoma are more beef-inclined and the eastern parts lean more towards pork.
Creole and Cajun cuisine
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