Southern America

An Introduction to Southern Food

~Blog Post #1~

April 12, 2015

by: Hasana Huff

I choose to focus on the Southern American culture because I have family that originated from the South. What I know and remember of southern cooking is from the different foods that my family makes on a regular basis. What I hope to learn is the history behind southern style cooking and also develop a deeper appreciation for my cultural background. Southern cooking is not as simple and frying any and everything that you see. It incorporates many different styles of cooking from many regions. The first thing that I discovered about southern cooking was it was born out of strife and survival. When the slaves came over to America from Africa the only thing they had were what came with them from Africa and what they could work with in America. There is a strong Native American influence in the early beginnings of southern cooking, along with the techniques that came from West Africa. There were also influences from the Spanish and Portuguese (Louisiana) and the Latin (Texas). Another thing that I found interesting is frying is not southern born; it is actually a technique from Scandinavians and Native Americans that the slaves adapted as a food preservation technique. Since there were no refrigerators back then, the preservation techniques is what really sets Southern cooking apart from other styles of cooking. Take collard greens for example, the slaves used pork and salt on the top of the greens to preserve it; yet, it also flavored the greens underneath the pork. All of these factors play a huge role in how southern cooking is affected and shaped today.

Cited Source: http://deepsouthmag.com/2012/12/the-real-roots-of-southern-cuisine/