“Smells Great! What’s Cooking?”
I believe we’ve all heard that old adage, “We all travel on our stomachs.” And it’s true. Years later most of us can remember favorite restaurants and foods that we experienced for the first time when we visited faraway spots.
Why not visit the Southern Food & Beverage Museum?
Keeping this in mind, I’d like to suggest a visit to the SOUTHERN FOOD AND BEVERAGE MUSEUM when you visit New Orleans. It’s located at 1504 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard in our fair city and, if learning about a particular dish interests you, then a cooking class is just the ticket.
The museum offers three classes that focus on Creole, Cajun and Creole Italian cuisine. You’ll learn how to make favorites such as jambalaya, gumbo and bananas foster. HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL GET: A tour of the museum, copies of the recipes and a cocktail book or custom spice mix are included with the purchase of a ticket. Classes are offered Mondays and Thursdays at 11 a.m.
Now let’s dig a little deeper and take a closer look at some of the dishes that you’ll find in the South. I’ve purposely picked things that I’ve read about over the years but, for some reason, I’m not exactly sure what they are.
“SHOOFLY PIE SOUNDS GOOD, BUT THAT ‘FLY’ BIT GETS ME”
Shoofly Pie is sweet, sticky and delicious – it shouldn’t be too perfect – cracking, breaking and crumbling is much more fun
Not to worry. Sweet potato, pecan, peach and shoofly are favorite desserts for a traditional Southern meal. Delicious, old-fashioned shoofly pie is made with a molasses filling and a crumbly brown sugar topping. This explains the name. At times, the sweet, sticky molasses would form on top while the pie was cooling and attract flies.
“I’VE HEARD THAT ‘POKE SALLET’ CAN KILL YOU. TRUE?”
Poke Sallet – finished cooking and ready to eat – add butter, a little lemon and pepper
This is a leafy green that grows as a weed. In the South, it’s been foraged and eaten as a vegetable for many, many years. But here’s the catch: it’s rumored to be poisonous. Not true: it has to be washed first and then boiled. One throws out this water and boils it again – some people do this four times. In the video I watched it looked like a delicious bowl of spinach the lady was eating.
“WHAT EXACTLY ARE ‘CHITLINS’ AND WHY ARE THEY EATEN?”
Chitlins can be deep-fried with vinegar and hot sauce – then served with collard greens and cornbread
There’s not a lot of beef in Southern cooking because “the pig” is king and chitlins are their intestines. Chitlins are started in boiling water, then simmered with onions, salt, garlic and red pepper. After 3-4 hours one serves them with spaghetti or turnip greens.
“IS IT TRUE THAT ‘BURGOO’ IS POPULAR IN KENTUCKY?”
How do you burgoo? Kentucky cooks say “everything from venison and rabbit to butter beans and chopped cabbage – and a splash of whiskey.” Others say, “squirrel, dove, squab, lamb – the meat and veggies should melt into each other – this means at least four hours on the stove.”
Yep, Burgoo is a spicy stew that’s a cousin of Brunswick stew (popular in Georgia and Virginia). It’s made with pork, beef, chicken, corn, carrots, celery, etc. and is a Kentucky Derby favorite (along with all that imbibing of booze). Said differently, if it walks, crawls or flies it goes in burgoo.
“WHY IS ‘CHESS PIE’ IN THE SOUTH CALLED A MAKE-DO PIE?”
Because it’s fast and presumably what Mama would make if she had nothing else – it’s simply eggs, butter and sugar. This results in a custard-like filling similar to the British lemon curd.
“HUSHPUPPIES ARE POPULAR DOWN SOUTH. AM I RIGHT?”
You are 100% right. A hushpuppy is a savory deep-fried round ball (made from a cornmeal-based batter) that is served as a side dish. Corn is the ultimate staple in the American diet – especially in Southern food. Cornbread, grits, hushpuppies and bourbon all exemplify the use of corn in the South. Any good crab boil has ears of corn thrown in to absorb all the spices and serve as a sweet part of the flavor experience.
So there you have it – I trust that you’ve read something new here.
Shaun Nelson-Henrick