The diet of the modern Southerner contains about everything you find in the rest of the country. Chinese and French dishes are not a mystery to the modern Southerner. At the same time, the rest of the world is beginning to appreciate the food that was once considered to be quaint dishes that were eaten only by eccentric Southerners.

The traditional southern dishes reflect the history and past economics of the region. Although the South was once noted for its large cotton plantations, even at that time most rural Southerners were subsistence farmers, and were quite isolated from the rest of the world. These people were most numerous in the Southern Applachian region, and their ancestral origins were mostly Scotch, Irish, English, Germanic, and to a lesser extent, French or Dutch. They made do with what they could grow, and what they could find in nature. For example, the extensive use of corn meal probably resulted from the fact that wheat was little grown in the South. Native Americans (Indians) were major contributors to the diet of the South. From them, poor southerners learned how to use many wild or cultivated plants and game. In addition, the early African-Americans introduced several of the plants, such as blackeye peas, okra, sweet sorghum, and watermelons, from which many prized southern dishes are derived. In many affluent households, they were the family cook, and as such, they molded and modified the taste preferences of those they served. There is little doubt that the creative use of food by American Indians, subsistence farmers, and the African-Americans were the major influences on the nature of Southern cooking, and there is historical evidence to indicate that these groups learned from each other.
There are many sub-regions where the type of cooking was influenced by local factors. One important region, as we have pointed out, was the Appalachian region that was populated mostly by subsistence farmers. The cooking of some coastal areas were influenced by their early settlement by the Spanish or French. The well known cuisine of southern Louisiana was mostly influenced by the "Cajuns", who were immigrants from Canada and of French origin.

Many people in other parts of the U. S. and the rest of the world now enjoy Southern cooking. My purpose here is not to write a cook book; rather I am giving some facts that I have been able to find, or that I know from experience, about selected southern foods. Several recipes are given; a few are original, and the rest are adaptations of country recipes. For more on-line southern recipes and information about southern cooking, check the references and links at the end of this document. For home gardeners, they are links to excellent home gardening sites from some agricultural schools' home horticulture sections. Finally, there are links to information on food preservation and nutrition.

Curing and Caring for a Cornbread Skillet
On Cooking Cornbread
Some Southern Foods and Selected Recipes
On Some Favorite Fruits and Vegetables of the South
References and Links



Curing and Caring for a Cornbread Skillet

To cook good cornbread, you need a properly cured cast iron skillet. The proper preparation of the skillet is well worth the effort if you are going to do something as important as cooking cornbread. A properly cured skillet will not rust, and bread will not stick to its surface. This method may have been the inspiration for the later use of Teflon.
CURING: Buy a good quality solid cast iron skillet which measures 9 inches across the top rim. Wash the skillet with plenty of warm water and a small amount of liquid soap. Rinse thoroughly under running water to remove all traces of the soap. Dry with clean paper towels and let stand until the skillet is completely dry.
Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees F. Using a basting brush, lightly and thoroughly cover all surfaces (including the handle) of the skillet with vegetable oil. Oil should not drip from the outside and must not form puddles on the inside of the skillet. Place the skillet in the oven for 5 - 7 hours. During this period, if any surface area appears to have dried up, brush on another light coat of oil. When the process is finished, inspect all surfaces to see if there is a light (usually brown colored) coat everywhere. If not, another curing is needed. With use, a properly cured skillet will develop a black sheen.
CARE: The skillet should never be used for anything except cooking cornbread. It should never be washed. After each use, clean it thoroughly with clean dry paper towels. Be careful to remove all excess cooking oil and any all bread crumbs. Store in a dry place. If you wish, you may wrap the skillet in a clean dry towel.
Before each use, oil the inside surface of the skillet thoroughly. Pre-heat the skillet. The cornbread batter should only be added to a hot skillet.
For more information on cast iron cookery, check the Lodge Manufacturing Page.

On Cooking Cornbread


Cornbread Cooked in a Cured
Cast Iron Skillet.
Corn, a member of the grass family, originated in Mexico some 3000-4000 years ago, and was cultivated by native American Indians through the centuries before the arrival of Europeans. The cultivation of corn became known to American Indians throughout most of what became the U.S., and in much of South America. Because corn was such an essential crop to these peoples, many religious rites and legends grew up around it. The colonists adopted the practice of its cultivation, and corn was a staple food for early settlers. The use of corn rapidly spread throughout the world. It is, after rice and wheat, the world's third largest crop. For more information, see The Maize Page.
Most of the world's corn crop is fed to livestock or used for various commercial purposes. As food, fresh young corn is used in a variety of ways as a vegetable and in many other dishes. The use of corn meal, which is ground from the mature kernels of corn, is most common in the southern U. S. and Mexico, and to a much lesser extent, in Italy. In the South, its use was originally due to the fact that not much wheat was grown in the southern states; most likely its use became more widespread during the Civil War when supplies of wheat from the North were cut off. Nowadays its use is by preference, rather than by necessity.
At one time, most southern farmers raised their own corn, both for livestock feed and for their own use. When they needed corn meal, they took some of their corn to a mill. These mills were at first the water mills, which used stone wheels to grind the corn into meal; later they became powered by gasoline or electricity. The miller's pay was a set portion of the corn meal, and this was sold to townspeople. Few of these little mills exist today; most corn meal is produced commercially, and most of it is consumed in the South. Like wheat flour, most corn meal is bolted (sifted) and enriched with B vitamins and iron.
In Italy, the northern Italian dish polenta is quite popular. Polenta is a form of corn meal mush. The mush is usually poured into a pan to set before is sliced and served. Sometimes it may be cooked in various ways. The nearest southern equivalent to polenta is spoonbread, which enjoys limited popularity. In the South, the major use for corn meal is in corn bread.
The cooking of cornbread is not unknown outside the South. There is even a recipe, though not a good one, in New Larousse Gastronomique. The cooking of good cornbread is a different story. Here are some tips.

Never use corn meal mix to cook cornbread. Corn meal mix usually contains more wheat flour than corn meal. It is useful in many recipes, but does not make the best cornbread. Because of the fact that more corn meal mix than corn meal is now sold in supermarkets, you may have developed a preference for the the mix. If so, then the ingredients in the mix may vary according to the product; follow the cooking directions on the package.

Never use yellow corn meal for cornbread; use white meal instead. Tender fresh yellow corn makes excellent cream or whole kernel corn. Mature yellow corn is mostly fed to livestock, but yellow corn meal may be used in specialty recipes.

Always use buttermilk or buttermilk powder when cooking cornbread. Regular fresh milk makes inferior tasting cornbread.

Self-rising corn meal is easier to use. You will have to add leavening to plain corn meal. The leavening in self-rising meal are usually measured more accurately than you can do by yourself. An enriched meal is the healthier choice.

If it is available, stone ground corn meal makes the best cornbread. There are a few good commercial brands of stone ground corn meal available. Enriched corn meal is preferable. There are some specialty brands of corn meal which claim no additives and which are unbolted (not sifted). These may be overpriced and may not be worth the extra effort it takes to use them.

The best way to cook the cornbread varies a lot with the type of corn meal you have. After purchasing a good quality brand of corn meal, make cornbread according to the directions on the package.

Generic Corn Bread Recipe

1 1/2 cups self rising corn meal*
1 1/3 cups of buttermilk or 4 tblsps buttermilk powder and 1 1/3 cups water
1 or 2 eggs (beat lightly)
2-3 tblsps hot vegetable oil

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees while heating the well oiled skillet over medium heat. If using buttermilk powder, mix it well with the corn meal before adding the other ingredients. When the oven is ready, mix all ingredients; add buttermilk or liquid, if necessary, to make a rather thin, but not watery batter. Pour the batter into the skillet, place in the oven, and cook until golden brown (usually 25-30 minutes)
*If you use plain meal, then add 1 1/2 tsp salt. If you use buttermilk, add 1/2 tsp baking soda, or if you use regular milk, add 2 tsp baking powder. Mix all dry ingredients before adding liquids.You may have to experiment until you get the leavenings right for your taste and the corn meal you are using.

Crackling cornbread: Stir in 2/3 cups of pork cracklings to the mixed batter and cook as above; use cracklings made by rendering fresh, uncured pork fat to lard. Other types of cracklings, such as those made from salt pork or pork rinds are not used for making cornbread.

Mexican cornbread: To the generic recipe batter, stir in 1 cup of cream corn, and all the chopped hot green peppers you think you can tolerate; you may need to decrease the amount of liquid in the basic recipe. Optional: Stir in 1 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese. Cook as above.

Hard pone: If you use plain meal instead of self rising meal in the generic recipe, you will get what is called a hard pone, which some people enjoy. Of course, the bread does not rise, and the bread browns slower. For my part, I don't think hard pones taste or look very well, but they make reasonably good frisbees.




There are many good cookbooks which feature southern recipes. The most comprehensive collection I know of is the 3 volume set Calling All Cooks (yellow cookbook), Calling All Cooks Two (red cookbook), Calling All Cooks Three (blue cookbook), and Celebrations (a cookbook for all holidays). These are published by the Alabama chapter of the Telephone Pioneers of America, and the proceeds support the charitable activities of this organization of long-time telephone company employees. They are $10.00 each plus $2.00 each for shipping and handling. They can be ordered from

Alabama Chapter #34
Telephone Pioneers of America
Room 301-N
3196 Highway 280 South
Birmingham, AL 35243
Phone 1-877-822-0713 option 1
Website: www.bellsouthpioneers.org

Many people consider that the classic Southern cookbook is "Southern Cooking" by Mrs. S. R. Dull. This was first published in 1928, and is still in print; it is the closest Southern equivalent to the all time classic American cookbook "Fannie Farmers' Boston School of Cooking Cookbook".

Recipes and folklore of the Appalachian region can be found in the Foxfire books, Eliot Wigginton, Ed., Anchor Books, Anchor Press, Doubleday, Garden City NY.

An interesting history of American (including Southern) cooking is Eating in America, a History by Waverly Root and Richard Rochemont, Ecco Press, 1981.

A number of wild game and wild plant recipes may be found in the book Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread, & Scuppernong Wine, The Folklore and Art of Southern Applachian Cooking, Joseph E. Dabney, Cumberland House, 1998. This book also has a good bibliography.

Recipe Books
Other cookbooks on southern cooking are listed at the sites:
Cooksbooks On Line
Amazon Books

Recipes On-line
For more on-line recipes check:
Applanchian Cook Book This site current has only a few Appalachian recipes, but some of them are interesting.
The Catfish Institute
Chef Rick's Southern Cooking Information and recipes for southern and cajun cooking.
DixieDining.com A guide to southern foods and restaurants. A very nice site for those interested in southern cuisine.
Home Arts
Martha White Recipes and products for southern cooking.
Cooking with Texas Cookie Southwestern recipes.
The Mining Co. Recipes and links to other resources on southern cooking.
Jambalaya Pot Source for cast iron cookware and recipes.
Recipe Source - New Home for SOAR A massive archive of recipes from around the world. It contains several southern recipes, and is an excellent source of Cajun recipes.
Vidalia Onion Web Site Learn all about the highly prized "world's sweetest onions" that are grown only in a small area of Southeast Georgia.
Turner-South's Website A site devoted to southern cooking and culture.

Gardening
Do you want to grow your own southern fruits and vegetables? Check these agricultural schools home gardening sites:
University of Florida If you don't find want you want from the links, try their search engine.
University of Georgia This site has many useful on-line documents for home gardeners.
Michigan State University A massive archive of on-line leaflets for home gardeners.
North Carolina State University The home gardener will find much useful information here. North Carolina appears to be the major center for muscadine production in the U. S.
Texas A&M University There are many useful articles on gardening from this large agricultural school. There are a few links to other sites, most of which are in the mid-west.

Food Preservation
Most southern fruits and vegetables can be preserved by canning, drying, or freezing. Here are some sites:
USDA Guide to Home Canning
University of Georgia Guide to Home Drying
Guide to Home Freezing

Nutrition
The following are comprehensive guides to the nutritional content of practically every food consumed in the United States:
The USDA On-line Guide to Nutrition
Nutrition Data

If you have any links to information or recipes for Appalachian cooking, please send them to me at the e-mail address below.

Some Southern Foods and Selected Recipes

On Some Favorite Fruits and Vegetables of the South

Back to My Home Page

William J. Gray, bgray@gp.as.ua.edu ... Last update: 15:11 7/6/00

©The mention of a product does not constitute an endorsement of that product, and is for informational/educational purposes only. The material on this site is copyrighted 1995-2000 by William J. Gray. Material which appears here may, without further permission, be freely used for any educational purpose. If material from this site is so used, please cite this as the source by including a link to On Southern Cooking, with the URL http://bama.ua.edu/~bgray/recipes.htm, and properly credit photos and any other material from sources that are cited here.