Sure , the American South gave us some great hoi polloi : Rosa Parks , Hellen Keller , Martin Luther King Jr. , William Faulkner , Babe Ruth , Woody Guthrie . But let us not blank out the other great it return us : boiled goober , cheese grits , angelical tea , deep-fried chicken . Click ahead for the South ’s other culinary great . But first , let ’s dig into where all these delicious treats hail from .
We can trace the ancestor of southerly cuisine back to two thing – available resources and African influence . It take in good sense that culinary art would be born out of a locus ’s most prolific crop . food for thought like pecans , collards , turnips , odoriferous potatoes and mantrap were pronto useable to Southern settlers . And plentiful rivers and lakes , plus the ocean , provided seemingly limitless amount of money of crawfish , oysters , peewee and catfish .
The African influence on Southern cuisine rose out of the hard worker trade . hard worker brought their own recipes and traditions with them , introducing foods like Abelmoschus esculentus and black - eyed pea plant , and the method of fry intellectual nourishment – hence , Southern fried chicken . In Louisiana , French influence resulted in Creole and Cajun cookery .
The not bad affair about the South – and about food – is that it ’s always evolving . But some traditions conk out intemperately , and many of us carry them on year after class , often not even knowing why we do it . Let ’s take a look at some Southern solid food tradition and their possible line .
10: Black-eyed Peas and Greens on New Year’s Day
One Southern custom is to run through opprobrious - eyed peas and Green River on New Year ’s Day . Supposedly , this repast will bring you circumstances during the coming year , but nobody ’s 100 percent sure how the tradition originated .
People of many cultures eat greens for New Year ’s . Germans exhaust cabbage . The Danish eat kale . And , in the South , it ’s collard greens . Some consider leafy greens may have become a New Year ’s tradition because they were thought to resemble paper money and symbolise wealthiness for the novel year . Meanwhile , black - eyed peas were thought to symbolize coins . Southerners sometimes run through pork with their greens and pea plant , since pork barrel is a symbol of moving frontward – as pig bed do when they forage .
Legend has it that during the American Civil War , a Mississippi town run out of food while under attack . During the siege , the resident discover black - eyed pea and accredit the food for thought source with saving their lives [ author : Salkeld ] . In fact , some Southerners believe you should eat one pea plant for every daylight of the year . Three hundred sixty - five pea plant is a lot of pea !
Another explanation for the black - eyed pea plant custom relate to writings in the Talmud ; Jews were told to eat foods like gourds , dim - eyed peas , beets and spinach plant to celebrate Rosh Hashanah . Jews arrived in the States and ensconce in Georgia in the 1730s , and the custom open to non - Jews around the time of the Civil War [ informant : Bell ] .
9: Mardi Gras King Cake
It ’s merely notMardi Grasin New Orleans without King Cake . King Cake is typically eaten on Fat Tuesday , decent before the start of Lent .
The first stories of King Cakes date back to pre - Christian , pagan fourth dimension . According to fable , each year , one man was chosen to be " sacred king . " This homo would enjoy a kingly existence for one yr , at the destruction of which he was sacrificed – in order for the community to receive a bountiful harvesting . This lucky / ill-starred human being became " sanctified king " by winding up with a particular slicing of a patty . The cake had a coin or bean baked into it , and whoever ended up with the coin was the new king . A less murderous edition of this cake conception later became a part of the Christmas solemnisation , during Epiphany . And it made its way into the Mardi Gras celebration via Gallic settlers in Louisiana [ source : Sterling ] .
King Cake is n’t just any honest-to-god bar . It ’s a cake / bread cross , frosted on top with a baby baked in spite of appearance . It also … Wait , a baby ? Yep . Inside each King Cake is a tiny , plastic baby . Some say the sister represents the babe Jesus . Others say the pliant baby tradition commence when a New Orleans bakery wound up with a huge shipment of midget plastic baby from Hong Kong . Either fashion , if you find the child in your slice of cake , do n’t despair . You wo n’t be put to demise . You ’ll simply be asked to host the next twelvemonth ’s Fat Tuesday party or lend the King Cake .
8: Mint Juleps and the Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is credibly one of the most famous horse slipstream in the Earth . hold in early May at Churchill Downs in Louisville , Ky. , the Derby attracts spectators from all over the world to people - watch , eat , drink , show off their hats , and – oh – watch a sawhorse race . What else is Kentucky famous for ? Bourbon . Ninety - five percent of the world ’s bourbon comes from the state of Kentucky [ informant : Schreiner ] .
A mint mint julep is a traditional Bourbon dynasty boozing that ’s very democratic in the South , peculiarly in Kentucky . Made with bourbon , refined sugar , mint and water , the mint mint julep became the prescribed drink of the Kentucky Derby more than 70 years ago [ source : Melina ] .
In 1987 , a company called Brown - Forman signed a contract with Churchill Downs to make its whiskey , Early Times , the official spirits firebrand for mint juleps . And in 2006 , Brown - Forman also began offering a gamey - end Bourbon dynasty called Woodford Reserve . A bounty spate julep made with this Bourbon dynasty will set you back $ 1,000 . It includes the agiotage bourbon , import Irish mickle , ice from the Alps and bread from Australia – all swear out in a Tiffany & Co. gold - plate loving cup . Proceeds go to brotherly love [ source : Melina ] .
7: Holiday Pecan Pie
Food tradition move rich during the holidays . Each soul has his or her favourite saucer , from appetizers to sweet . One lasting traditional holiday dessert is pecan pie , which originated in the South but has disperse throughout much of the United States . Pecan pie lover tend to lash up this sweet for fall and wintertime holidays , like Thanksgiving or Christmas , because pecan nut mature for harvest between September and December .
The Carya illinoensis is native to North America – specifically Texas and Mexico , according to inquiry on fossils found in the area . In fact , Texas adopted the pecan Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree as its state tree diagram in 1919 . And Albany , Ga. , is known at the pecan capital ; there are more than 600,000 pecan tree in the surface area [ origin : National Pecan Shellers Association ] . Some believe the French invented pecan pie after settling in New Orleans ; they arrived in the Louisiana Territory in the 1700s . But a companionship named Karo takes credit for today ’s pecan pie . Karo , which urinate corn syrup , exact that the wife of a Karo executive director came up with the formula for pecan pie in the 1930s , when she unify Karo corn syrup with dinero , testis , vanilla and Carya illinoensis . In fact , in the South , some masses still call pecan pie " Karo Pie . "
6: Shrimp and Grits on Christmas Eve
Another pop Southern vacation knockout ( that ’s also found its direction onto plates throughout the country ) is shrimp and grit . You ’d be hard - press to encounter a food more American than moxie . Historians trace grits back to the first Virginia colonists , who dined on the cracked grain with American Indians , who called it " rockahominie , " which later evolve to " hominy " [ source : Dupree ] .
In South Carolina , prawn season begins in May and end in December . No one ’s really certain who invented the shrimp and grits bag , but a Charlestonian might assure you it was create long ago by local shrimper , who fuse peewee and gritstone with a little bit of Sir Francis Bacon fat for breakfast , then headed out on the water [ source : Dupree ] . Today , half-pint and grits is a democratic dish for breakfast , dejeuner or dinner . And current version of shrimp and grits comprise wide-ranging ingredients like butter , high character stock , hot sauce and spice .
When a dish has such a long history and is passed down from coevals to propagation , it more often than not becomes a vacation custom . Therefore , many Southerner eat shrimp and grit atChristmasor New Year ’s . During the holidays , you just desire to rust comfort food . And it does n’t get more comfortable than good old - fashioned grits !
5: Charm Cakes at the Bridesmaid’s Tea
wedding ceremony are steeped in custom , and each culture has its own Seth of marriage and pre - wedding ritual . Take , for example , the South ’s bridesmaid ’s tea . This small-scale luncheon or tea party gives the bride the opportunity to receive out - of - town female guests , take forethought of last - minute of arc details , and , most significantly , give thanks all the women who ’ve been involved in her exceptional solar day . One of the sweet-scented section of the bridesmaid ’s tea is the good luck charm patty . ( Sometimes charm cake are served at spousal shower , as well . )
Charms – one for each bridesmaid – are baked into a patty , tied to a farsighted palm . During tea , each bridesmaid take out a ribbon out of her piece of bar to get her charm . Charms are typically gold or silver , and each one hold a especial meaning and fortune for the receiver . Some of the charm and their meanings are :
Some Brigid also give their bridesmaids charm bracelets as gifts , so they can exhibit their new charms .
4: Traditional Southern Appetizers
Any goodish get - together demand an appetizer spread , proper ? in the beginning , appetizers were intend to " stimulate the appetence " before a repast , but now they ’re potential to steal the whole show . In the South , you ’ll see a fate of the same traditional appetizers no matter where you go .
A few of the most pop southerly finger intellectual nourishment include :
3: Southern Easter Dinner
First , permit ’s talk about the main mantrap – the Easter ham actor . Why is ham consume onEaster Sunday ? You might imagine there ’s some complicated religious explanation for this , but it ’s in reality quite simple . When Americans bulge celebrating Easter in the early day of their commonwealth , solid food came from the fauna recruit in the communities . Because there was no refrigeration , any gist leave over after slaughter was cured for storing . It takes a while for gist to bring around the right way , and most hams were ready to eat come springtime . So , the Easter holiday also became a feasting holiday .
What other foods might you find on the board at Easter in the South ? The antecedently cite deviled eggs , of course , and perhaps a scallop white potato vine casserole or asparagus as a side . Other hypothesis let in sweet-flavored potatoes , ambrosia salad and biscuits , plus sweet tea leaf or peach tea to drink . For dessert , a stinker or coconut tree bar , or peradventure some leftover Easter candy .
2: Boiled Peanuts
Boiled peanuts are a truthful southerly tradition . In fact , many non - Southerners have never even listen of them . You ’ll find bags of hot roil earthnut at picnics , fairs and , most significantly , at roadstands along area or mountain highways . They ’re a pop road - trip snack .
Boiled peanuts are simply stark naked ( or " unripe " ) peanuts boiled in salty water for hours . All that urine makes the shell swampy and well-heeled to break undefendable ; meanwhile , the nuts soak in a dainty flavor .
Boiled peanuts have been around since ( at least ) the American Civil War . There was n’t much food around during the war – especially meat . However , peanuts were in good provision . soldier start boiling the Arachis hypogaea over campfire , and probably add together salt as a preservation proficiency . groundnut also yield the soldiers a much - needed dose of protein .
1: Barbecue
Some might say you ’re not a proper Southerner if you have n’t partaken in barbeque at some point in your life . You ’ll see many a sign in the South that register " the better barbecue in townspeople . " Let ’s take a face at this delicious tradition .
Nobody ’s on the button sure where the condition " barbecue " came from , but it ’s generally accepted that it ’s derive from the West Indies parole " barbacoa " – mean to tardily cook something over hot coals . For the most part , barbecue is pork . Historically , pigs were plentiful in the South , and they were also relatively easy to raise and keep . Also , people corrode just about the full hog . Anything that could n’t be eat now was bring around for after , and even things like ears and feet were turned into local delicacies . The pig slaughter became a community event of sorts , and that ’s why we all meet together to partake in barbeque today .
Southern barbeque flavors vary by region , and so does the prep method acting . masses will argue until they ’re blue in the font over what constitutes " real barbeque , " so we ’re not even going to impact that . However , here ’s a partial list of what to expect if you sample barbeque in what ’s known in the South as " the Barbecue Belt " : In North Carolina , you ’ll incur chopped or sliced centre with a vinegar sauce . In South Carolina and Georgia , you ’ll find a leaf mustard - found sauce . Tennessee is known for a tomato sauce . In Arkansas , you ’ll find a mix of everything , depend on which other state is cheeseparing [ reservoir : Dove ] .
For more about food and tradition , check out the linkup on the next page .
