Southern Cooking Recipes
Southern cooking recipes are as nutritious and healthy as the other recipes. Southern food dishes are served everywhere but the real taste is found only in the south.
Past history and economics of the region can be reflected through the traditional southern dishes. Down in the south, people tried to fulfill their livelihood needs with what they could grow and what they could find in nature. Several plants like black-eyed peas, okra, collards, sweet sorghum, watermelons, blackberries and dewberries, grits, lima beans, muscadines, peanuts, etc had been introduced from which many southern dishes were made. Southerners have developed their taste through these dishes.
This type of cooking has mostly influenced the local factors. Appalachian being one of the important regions was mostly populated by subsistence farmers.
Cookbooks are very popular today as they were in the 19th century. Mint julep is one of the famous cocktail made up of bourbon and is flavored with mint and sugar. The mint julep is well thought-out as a very southern cocktail.
Cornbread is still said to be the staple diet of the southerners. In south corn was immensely used for cooking during the 17th century. By the 18th century cornbread became omnipresent at southern tables. Heavy food with rich diet was the foundation of southern diet. During the 18th century Country fried steak was introduced but now it is a favorite of southerners and is served everyday.
Today breakfast resign in many southern states. Biscuits and white or milk gravy is favorite for southern food, but before many years American colonial used milk gravy as cooking as heavy nutrition was much-needed. The beaten biscuits were introduced first in south which are now very common in America.
In parties by and large cheese balls are always popular in south. No-Blake Orange ball recipe is one of the oldest sweet of the south. The tradition of barbeque was also born in the south. An immense way to enjoy a party was to invite neighbors in the country to enjoy barbequed meat. Barbeques are a southern food tradition that is latest through out the two centuries and is still available in plenty in south.
Southern Tex-Mex food i.e. Tex-Mex cream cheese dip, Creamy Tex-Mex ranch dip, Tex-Mex black bean salad, Tex-Mex mini pizza appetizers, tortilla cream cheese pinwheel, etc. is very popular and liked by the southerners. Apples are mostly used by the southerners as a side dish instead of using as a desert.
Usually, southerners like to use what they have and what is available to them. They also like to borrow some basic dishes from different countries and try to make them unique in their country.
Like Tex-Mex food Cajun food i.e. easy New Orleans dishes, turducken recipe, etc is also favored by the southerners.
The people who appreciate classical southern cooking may consider "The Blue Inn Bible of Southern Cooking” as a staple book for kitchens.
Southern food tradition has also survived war, change, and even the health food revolution.