Southern Food History?

Question

I am doing a project for Southern Politics Class and I need to look up some specific foods to write a few pages on.

I looked on google and other places, and can't seem to find any 'history' sites.

Fried Okra, Sweet Potato Pie, Fried Chicken, Sweet Tea, Green Beans, Creamed Corn, and Biscuts.

Those are the ones i'm looking for. So, if you guys could help me find a few sites, or books...that would be great!

Thanks tons!!

Answer 1

how about some whiskeys?

Answer 2

Just to add to Yumiko's answer..the African word for okra is Kigombo...which was shortened to gumbo!!And im from Louisiana and we had rice and gravy and green beans everytime we had fried chicken..so to say green beans are not a traditional southern food is WRONG!

Answer 3

I cannot give you the history on those foods,

but having grown up in South Mississippi,

I can offer you the recipes.

Fried Okra has a different taste than the

okra used in gumbos or just steamed over

black-eyed peas and snaps. We never

called it creamed corn, that's a northern terminology,

it's called, fried corn.

Although it's similar in consistency,

it does not contain any dairy products.

And you misspelled, "biscuits". The flakiest ones are made with Lard rather than butter.

Most Southern foods are seasoned with salt meat or fatback.

Green beans are not a major staple; however Butter beans or red beans & rice can be found on most Mondays in restaurants in the South.

Answer 4

Here are a couple of web sites that feature the history of the cuisine of the southern United States:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_...

http://southernfood.about.com/od/african...

Answer 5

truth is it more Soul Food then southern sense many of this items was made by the slaves for there masters

Answer 6

The name 'okra' probably derives from one of the Niger-Congo group of languages (the name for okra in the Twi language is nkuruma). The term okra was in use in English by the late 18th century.

Description

Okra is a member of the Mallow family, related to cotton, hibiscus and hollyhock. It is a tall (6 ft) annual tropical herb cultivated for its edible green seed pod (there is also a red pod variety, which turns green when cooked). It has heart shaped leaves (one species is cultivated for its edible leaves), and large, yellow, hibiscus-like flowers. The seed pods are 3 - 10 inches long, tapering, usually with ribs down its length. These tender, unripe seed pods are used as a vegetable, and have a unique texture and sweet flavor. The pods, when cut, exude a mucilaginous juice that is used to thicken stews (gumbo), and have a flavor somewhat like a cross between asparagus and eggplant.

History

Okra probably originated somewhere around Ethiopia, and was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians by the 12th century B.C. Its cultivation spread throughout North Africa and the Middle East. The seed pods were eaten cooked, and the seeds were toasted and ground, used as a coffee substitute (and still is).

Okra came to the Caribbean and the U.S. in the 1700s, probably brought by slaves from West Africa, and was introduced to Western Europe soon after. In Louisiana, the Créoles learned from slaves the use of okra (gumbo) to thicken soups and it is now an essential in Créole Gumbo.

Today okra is popular in Africa, the Middle East, Greece, Turkey, India, the Caribbean, South America and the Southern U.S. It is not a very common vegetable in most European countries, except for Greece and parts of Turkey.

Due to increased interest in American regional foods, these bright green, tender pods have gained more respect as a vegetable in the U.S., Blacks in America adopted the sweet potato. They praised it, raised it up, and transformed its sweet orange self into beautiful dishes, no doubt, because it reminded them of the yam--a tuberous starchy vegetable that is a staple in Africa. In their affection for the sweet potato, they even sometimes called it a yam--though it is not.

This is a lovely recipe that still works beautifully today. It easily adapts to the modern kitchen, but we will get to that a moment. First: a few things about Abby.

Abby Fisher was a former slave and the first we know to have written a cookbook. Considering the legacy of blacks and southern cooking in this country, her book is nothing short of a momentous work of American literature, women's history, and the African-American experience.

In addition to being an elegant, highly skilled cook, Abby was one of those people whose life was caught amidst a dizzying array of monumental historic forces. She was born in South Carolina during the 1830s. Judging from the European quality of her recipes, she most likely cooked in the big house of the master, perhaps one of those baronial plantation homes owned by French Huguenots not far from Charleston where fine cooking and opulence reigned.

In 1870, we know she was in Mobile, Alabama, with her husband. Having survived slavery and the Civil War, she and her family then set out for the West in search of a better life. Somehow they survived the immense trials of overland migration--including a pit stop in Missouri where Abby gave birth. In California, she and her husband set up a pickle-and- preserve business, inspired in no small part by Abby's talents and skills. There, Abby reached some social fame, winning awards for her cooking and the esteem of several white ladies who helped her publish this cookbook, though she could not read or write sufficiently to do it herself. What an extraordinary life--from plantation slave, to entrepreneur, to prize-winning cook, to notable author! I should mention that Abby was also a mother who raised and fed eleven children. Okay, now back to her Sweet Potato Pie. I like to make it on Thanksgiving in honor of Abby.

Tips: Follow Abby's directions more or less as she has written with the following adjustments in mind.

Answer 7

lolz rockette, like everythings??

Answer 8

Im still searching the others,but here is a website  for the fried okra.  aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu................ looking for the others.