Southern Cooking Brings Soul To Food

I was born & raised within the heart of the Deep South. From as far back as I can remember I remember long summer time afternoons spent drinking iced tea and shelling peas & butterbeans on my grandmother's porch. I've moved on from my roots and have created my way into other regions from the world. One factor, however, that has remained constant in my existence is my deep & abiding love for southern cooking & cuisine.

I was probably well into my teen years before I realized that tea might be served any other way than loaded with sugar and over ice. It was about that exact same time that I realized some folks would eat vegetables that hadn't been soaked in batter, dredged in cornmeal, and deep fat deep-fried. Southern cooking isn't for that faint of heart though it can cause several hearts to grow faint. One thing that could be said is that you will never find anything else like it on earth.

Individuals in the south learned to make do with little in many situations. Some from the poorest people in America reside within the southern part from the country. Of course, you will discover that several of these people despite their poverty are also among the most generous. The exact same can be said of food. It's the one factor that appears to be in ample supply in most southern homes and very couple of will turn you away with an empty stomach.

Maybe it's the seasonings that are frequently used when cooking southern meals. From the crab boil and gumbo file of Cajun Cuisine to the secret ingredient that nearly every southern kitchen contains for their fried chicken recipes (and nobody on earth can fry chicken like a born & bred southern grandma). Maybe it's the Sunday church dinners where everybody shares a little of what they've with other people or the love that goes into preparing these meals that are shared with buddies and family. Whatever the case might be, in the event you ever have the occasion to experience genuine southern cooking, do not pass it up. You may shave a day off your life, but a great southern deep-fried chicken leg is really living & well worth the sacrifice if you ask me.

Of course it would be remiss to mention southern cooking without bringing up some of the much more scrumptious desserts that appear to be perfection for the south. I mentioned banana pudding above but there are so many much more. Pralines are a perfect for those living down around New Orleans as is bread pudding. A little to the east there are grandma's who have taken their lemon icebox pie recipes to the grave with them so coveted were these delicious deserts and the exact same holds true for pecan pies too. We should never forget the flavorful Mississippi Mud cake though, and so many other wonderfully scrumptious treats that southern cooking has introduced to the globe at large.

Favorite veggies in the heart from the south as I mentioned above included peas and butterbeans, snap beans, corn, summer squash (after all, it is summer all year within the south), & okra (deep-fried or boiled in many southern kitchens). Not all veggiess had been deep fried though few had been off limits. I remember eating my share of deep-fried okra, deep-fried squash, & yes, fried green tomatoes. Life was great back when calories weren't counted and nobody really worried about clogging arteries. While I wouldn't make these a daily dish in any household, I certainly would suggest trying them out in the event you ever discover the chance.

An additional fantastic factor about southern cooking is the wonderful deep-fried seafood that appears to abound. From fried fish (almost any variety works well when it's southern fried) to fried oysters, seafood just seems to taste so much better in the south. If you're hoping to discover some of the southern cooking & cuisine you'll most likely have to order your spices and have them shipped unless your grocery store has a rather extensive 'exotic' foods selection. You can occasionally find fantastic southern seasonings on the International food aisles in grocery shops as well. If you would like to truly treat your family to an outstanding meal, you ought to really try southern cooking for the night.