Southern Food Culture Rylee Reeves Itawamba Community College Kim Payne ENG 1123 April 2, 2024 Abstract The Southern food culture is very well known and enjoyed, the sources found all agree on the history of its origin and the different dishes that make up the culture. Southern food is a food culture that continues to expand throughout the world today. One of the most popular southern foods is cornbread, which has an ever-changing recipe to create the individual’s preferred perfect cornbread. Southern people look at baked mac and cheese as comfort food. Collard greens are a food people automatically think of when they think of southern culture. Okra was an easy dish that the southern people tended to enjoy and still do …show more content…
People that did not grow up knowing what corn bread was would never think of it as such a popular food for the southern culture. The article, “The Last Word on Cornbread “, stated, “Fair enough, perhaps, but when talking about food traditions, it's important to remember a dish or recipe that’s weird to people who’ve never heard of it isn’t weird to those who grew up eating it” (The Last Word on Cornbread, 2022). People in the south usually dip corn bread in their milk, and it was only normal to them, but other people would think it was strange. The way that southern people come about eating southern is quite different than other cultures. The article expresses that, “The truth is, Southerners have strong opinions about their cornbread. Make it with yellow stone ground cornmeal. Or make it white. Cornbread should be savory” (The last word in Cornbread, 2022). Although southern people have different beliefs on how foods should be cooked, it does not kick this dish out of the food culture. People have diverse ways of doing everything, and using different ingredients is high up on the chart in the South. People grow so close to specific dishes it can become a comfort food for …show more content…
Mac and Cheese is a dish that almost any southern family is going to have in the family tradition. The article, “The history and cultural impact of baked macaroni and cheese,” clearly states that, “On holidays and special events, I always saw a tray of crispy, baked mac and cheese, and everyone lined up to get themselves a piece of it” (Diaz,2024). Mac and cheese has become a popular dish worldwide now, not only in the south. Everyone in the world eats mac and cheese, not just the south. The article also indicates that, “Mac and cheese has also been popularized as a budget-friendly option for many people, as boxes of Kraft and Velveeta mac and cheese are widely available in local grocery stores” (Diaz, 2024). With mac and cheese being a cheap and enjoyable dish, the popularity of it has grown tremendously. This dish's popularity has brought families together and expanded southern food
In “Antebellum Southern Exceptionalism: A New Look at an Old Question” James McPherson argues that the North and the South are two very different parts of the country in which have different ideologies, interests, and values. Mcpherson writes this to show the differences between the north and the south. He gives perspectives from other historians to show how the differently the differences were viewed. These differences included the north being more industrialized while the south was more agricultural. He gives evidence to how the differences between the north and south came together as the south produced tobacoo, rice, sugar and cotton, which was then sent to the north to be made into clothing or other fabrics. Mcpherson analyzes the differences
The culture of Louisiana is not one general set of customs and beliefs shared by all those who live in the area. Louisiana is a state in which many different elements are mixed together to create what can be described as Southern Louisianan culture. The two most predominant elements which make up the culture within the southern region of the state are the cultures of the Creoles and the Cajuns, which have many different influences within them. A complex blend of many different elements including religion, language, music, and food, create the unique culture of the Cajuns and the Creoles in the region of Southern Louisiana.
The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, a work examining the country’s fast food industry (Gale). Schlosser sets off chapter 5: “Why the Fries Taste Good,” in Aberdeen,
Tradition has been said to mirror a way of life. Observation has concluded that participants in tradition “actively construct as well as reflect culture and community” (Sacks 275). For most people in the 21st century, tradition only reveals itself during special times or certain seasons. For others it is simply a way of life. The foodways of Mexicans and Native Americans are of particular interest in this study because of the food that grew from necessity and is maintained as sacred or reserved for only special occasions. The tamale is one such food. Significantly changed and altered throughout history it has remained a food of commonality and prestige at the same time. The tamale represents a nation that thrived as a people and has continued to live on through the traditions created hundreds of years ago by women who strive to better their community, their men, and the general way of life and welfare of their people. Native American people are the backdrop of southwestern history and as such we often look to them for answers regarding the past. The ‘past’ provides acts as vault filled with a wealth of information concerning a great number of cultural artifacts.
The culture and society of the American South can be categorized into a variety of groups through stereotypes from outsiders, politicians, music and among other things. To help depict the American South, literature and films that we have watched in class such as Mandingo, Gone with the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Color Purple, Gods Little Acre, Tomorrow, Jezebel, The Littlest Rebel and with special focus on O Brother Where Art Thou will help capture and reflect southern culture to those not accustomed to the ways of southern society.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.
Cajun cuisine is a fusion of food from different regions with very rich histories, such as France, Canada, and the southern U.S. It was originated by peasants of French ancestry. These immigrants settled in the "Acadian" region of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia from 1604 to 1654. By 1755, the population of these settlers had grown to about 15,000. They survived on cereal crops such as wheat, barley and oats, and garden vegetables including field peas, cabbage, and turnips. This diet was supplemented by domestic livestock, wild game, and fish. (History of the Cajuns. (2001). www.terrebonneparish.com)
Southern culture is based upon three main things. The south is known for its hospitality, language, and food. Here is a bit of an overview on the history and background of the Cajun culture and language. Cajun culture began with the arrival of French Acadians who migrated to and settled in what is now Louisiana mainly between 1765 and 1785 (Cajuns, 1996). Cajun French is a variety of the French language spoken primarily in Louisiana, specifically in the southern parishes (Cajun French, 2016). The Cajuns spoke French almost exclusively until the 20th century. Many would learn English get along in an increasingly Anglo society as the 19th century progressed, but their main language was Cajun French. The basics of the language is their Acadian
Food is very important in people's culture. Everyone loves food, but not everyone enjoys eating the same food. For example, gumbo is an extremely common dish in Louisiana. People in Northern states might not know what gumbo is or they might cook it different. In Louisiana, we put seafood in our gumbo and some people even add sausage. We also like to make it spicy. Another food we love in the South is crawfish. We take a big pot, and add water with crawfish boil seasoning to make it spicy. Some people put corn and potatoes in there with the crawfish. Then, after it's done, you pour the crawfish on a table and everyone eats. Those are the two most known foods that people love in Louisiana.
Michael Twitty is a food writer and culinary historian best known for preparing, preserving and promoting African American food ways and its origins in Africa. He emphasizes how African food culture has made a great impact on the American South. His cooking helped him to learn about his identity and culture. He describes “identity cooking” a way to better understand him and his culture as a Jewish-African American. A project he developed called “The Cooking Gene” is what he explains as a means of “exploring my family history through food, from Africa to America, from slavery to freedom.” Race, food and ethnicity all have a more complex and cultural meaning especially when fused together. Different
Of African origin are such specialities as gumbo and pralines, West Indian callaloo and duckandoo (a dish of greens and a dessert based on sweet potatoes), the Brazilian condiments dende oil and spicy hot sauces. Jamaica's bammy bread and the pan bread so beloved in the southern United States are both said to have their origin in the flat round cassava breads typical of Africa. Seeds and the plants of sesame, okra, some melons, and certain varieties of greens as well as yams, together with many techniques of bread making, and the use and combination of spices, are also all credited to the ingenuity of the African cook. It could be argued that every nation and every ethnic group has its own soul food. But the contemporary connotation of the term "soul food" refers to the gradual blending and developing of a peculiar style of cookery with its own dictionary of food terms: it is a blend of West African cookery begun in the southern United States and now very much a part of the cultural tradition of African-Americans, binding them proudly to their African heritage.... ...
The South’s food is like no other places. The South's food has lots of spices in it and gives the food a wonderful flavor and most places food is bland. People in the South cook fried foods, seafood, and Cajun style foods. . The South has many dishes it is famous for crawfish, gumbo, fried chicken, and boudain.
In comparison to the northern colonies, the southern colonies were quite numerous in their agricultural diet and failed to have a central region of culture. The uplands and the lowlands created up the two main elements of the southern colonies. The slaves and poor of the south typically ate an identical diet, that consisted of the many of the native New World crops. salt-cured or smoke-cured pork typically supplement the vegetable diet. Rural poor typically ate squirrel, possum, rabbit and alternative forest animals. Those on the “rice coast” typically ate ample amounts of rice, whereas the grain for the remainder of the southern poor and slaves was Indian meal employed in breads and porridge. Wheat wasn't a possibility for many of those that lived within the southern colonies.
William Faulkner’s classic short story, “A Rose for Emily,” has been noted as an excellent example of Southern literature. Southern literature can be defined as literature about the South, written by authors who were reared in the South. Characteristics of southern literature are the importance of family, sense of community, importance of religion, importance of time, of place, and of the past, and use of Southern voice and dialect. Most of the novels are written as a Southerner actually speaks. Many books also describe the historical importance of the Southern town.
American culture is changing dramatically. In some areas it’s a good thing, but in other areas, like our food culture, it can have negative affects. It is almost as if our eating habits are devolving, from a moral and traditional point of view. The great America, the land of the free and brave. The land of great things and being successful, “living the good life.” These attributes highlight some irony, especially in our food culture. Is the American food culture successful? Does it coincide with “good living”? What about fast and processed foods? These industries are flourishing today, making record sales all over the globe. People keep going back for more, time after time. Why? The answer is interestingly simple. Time, or in other words, efficiency. As people are so caught up in their jobs, schooling, sports, or whatever it may be, the fast/processed food industries are rapidly taking over the American food culture, giving people the choice of hot