Can We Talk 2

Cooking In The South

         I just read an article about foods you have to know how to cook if you're a Southerner. I guess I'm not quite making it. Some things on the list I just don't want to cook. But I'd say some things were left off.

         First, I don't believe I have ever tried to make buttermilk biscuits. But I'm willing to give it a try. Maybe tomorrow. I've never made shrimp and grits, although it sounds good. I've only heard of it recently, but more than once. So it must be faddish right now.

         In my locale, we didn't eat grits. I never had them until after college graduation. Some students from South Carolina couldn't believe I had never eaten grits, so we took care of that, just plain with butter. Then it became sort of trendy to have cheese grits at "after" parties, you know late late night breakfasts. Now chain restaurants make them a regular offering. Trendy cafes serve cheese grits casserole for Saturday brunch. I do like grits and will eat them now, with or without cheese, but no cheese "sauce". Grits by themselves did not make the must list.

         I can make a good jambalaya, but I was inspired by Duck Dynasty. We didn't grow up with that either. I suppose the shrimp dishes must be deep South, as in Gulf supplied shrimp areas. My area was more into crabs and oysters. For a few years now, local crabs and oysters have been banned for conservation efforts. We'll take them from other areas of the Atlantic. Oysters from the Gulf are second choice, but very suitable. After that, we want them from Washington or Oregon. San Francisco oysters are last choice. Even poor people grew up eating fried or stewed oysters for special occasions.

         Sweet tea makes the list. That's kind of hard to mess up. However, our doctors tell us to have it unsweetened as we get older. It may not be as refreshing or bring back memories of Grandma, but it threatens pre-diabetes less. Fried chicken is everywhere and everybody's mother made the best. So I never tried to compete. I stick with baked. I do make an excellent Brunswick stew from chickens I boil. But that wasn't on the list.

         Chicken and dumplings are on the list. I can make those, but hardly ever bother. Too many leftovers, lots of calories. Peach cobbler is on the list. I can do that and most kinds of cobbler. I do make skillet cornbread, on the list, but I also make spoon bread, just like Mom used to make. Corn pudding was on the list, but I have trouble finding a really good recipe for it. Mom lost hers before she died, and she struggled with different recipes for it as well.

         Greens, of any kind, should be on the list. Various ham dishes, stewed tomatoes, and beans cooked with fatback should be on the list. Okra was on the list. We didn't eat okra and still don't unless it's in some restaurant offering. Mom didn't like it and wouldn't cook it. It's not locally grown. That must be another deep South vegetable. Fried apples is Southern, and not so easy to make. Some varieties of apples are better than others, and it takes practice not to end up with greasy applesauce. Fried green tomatoes did make the list, and those I can do. Yum!

         As for desserts, they listed something with meringue and banana pudding. Not all banana puddings are created equal, but most are acceptable. Alton Brown has a recipe that may not be too Southern, but it's excellent! As for meringue, my grandmother made the best lemon meringue pies in the world. The heat just barely browns the sweet egg whites and makes the vanilla bead up on top. I would add pineapple upside down cake and homemade pecan pie (Georgia pecans).

         It occurs to me that Southern cooking is a regional thing. We don't fix crawdads, but some areas would specialize in them. Or Cajun fish dishes. Texan cooking would have more Mexican spices. Florida might consider good lemonade an art. I want to keep on experimenting. I will fix buttermilk biscuits. I will finally find a good corn pudding recipe. But I guess I can make anything and call it a Southern dish, since I'm a Southern girl, and my family and most of my friends are Southerners.