Southern US

History

Southern cooking merges Native American corn (grits, hominy, cornbread), British and Scots-Irish settler cooking and, crucially, the knowledge of enslaved West Africans, who cooked in plantation kitchens and grew okra, black-eyed peas, rice and greens. Carolina Lowcountry rice plantations depended on the rice-growing expertise of enslaved Africans. 'Soul food' as a term was popularised in the 1960s. Barbecue developed distinct regional styles: vinegar-based in eastern North Carolina, tomato-sweet in Kansas City, dry-rubbed in Memphis and beef brisket in Texas.

Well documented

Geography and influences

Warm, humid states from Virginia to Texas: corn, rice, sweet potatoes, peanuts, pecans, pigs and abundant Gulf and Atlantic seafood.

• West African cooking via enslaved people
• Native American corn cookery
• British and Scots-Irish settlers
• French and Spanish Louisiana

Regional variations

Lowcountry (South Carolina, Georgia coast)

Rice dishes, shrimp and grits, Gullah Geechee cooking.

Appalachia

Mountain cooking with soup beans, cornbread, preserves and foraged greens.

Barbecue belts

Carolina whole-hog and vinegar, Memphis ribs, Kansas City sauces, Texas brisket.

Louisiana

Cajun and Creole cooking; see its own profile.

Festive and seasonal food

• Hoppin' John and collard greens on New Year's Day for luck
• Pig pickings and barbecues
• Sweet potato pie at Thanksgiving
• Juneteenth red foods (red drinks, barbecue)

Signature dishes

• Southern fried chicken
• Southern buttermilk biscuits
• Buttermilk cornbread
• BBQ pulled pork
• Southern collard greens
• Shrimp and grits
• Biscuits and sausage gravy
• Macaroni and cheese
• Chicken and waffles
• Pecan pie
• Southern sweet tea

Not on the site yet: Hoppin' John, Hushpuppies, Brunswick stew, Sweet potato pie, Nashville hot chicken