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