Southern Recipes

It all began when the Spanish and English explorers began arriving in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and the southern islands. The explorers brought food with them, and also discovered new foods. European, Africans, Native Americans, and emigrants from other countries all helped to create the beginning of southern cooking.

Corn was already here when the Spanish brought pork to America. The Indians had beans, peas, squash, greens, onions, berries, nuts, and various kinds of fruit. The land offered wild game, and the ocean had seafood. When emigrants arrived, they were influential in raising livestock, cabbages, yams, wheat, oats, peanuts, okra, black-eyed peas, potatoes, tomatoes, rice, oranges, melons, chocolate, and tea.

Slavery and poverty were historical factors that influenced the evolution of southern food. The African slaves that cooked and served generations were the primary creators of southern cooking. They transformed staples of pioneer culture into refined dishes and feasts that now epitomizes southern hospitality. Poverty from the Civil War and the Great Depression caused many southern people to experience hunger. The survival of many depended on the inventive talents of gardeners, hunters, fishers, and of course cooks.

Creole foods originated from the first generation New Orleans-born immigrants from France, Spain, and Africa.

Thomas Jefferson, former governor of Virginia and minister to France, was instrumental in creating the significance of food in southern culture and in America. As Minister of France in the 1780’s, he traveled Europe and discovered new foods. Many of his unique foods he brought back were: vanilla extract, olives and olive oil, pasta from Italy, waffles from Holland, and wines from France. Jefferson also brought back recipes for ice cream and meringues. At his home in Monticello, he had the most extensive vegetable gardens in the United States.

Another defining development that originating in the South was a store called Piggly Wiggly. Piggly Wiggly was the forerunner in establishing the concept of self-serve grocery shopping, opening in Memphis, TN. It remains a prominent southern institution. The Pound Cake is actually a British creation, dating back to the early 1700’s. The original southern recipe called for 1 pound of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour.

The roads of the Southern United States are lined with a succession of grinning pigs, advertising the availability of barbecue in countless restaurants. The origins of barbecue in the South, however, are traceable to a period long before the smiling pig became a fixture on Southern roadsides. The etymology of the term is vague, but the most plausible theory states that the word "barbecue" is a derivative of the West Indian term "barbacoa," which denotes a method of slow-cooking meat over hot coals.