i picked up your lunch from sylvia's extra cornbread because i know you like it
like it i love it sweet tea and cornbread are just two foods the south is known for but the truth is
they have their origins elsewhere get a taste of these 10 southern foods that aren't actually from
the south balsa which is latin for rongo pimento cheese now describe what you taste cheese this
sandwich spread is believed to have become popular in the south partially because it resists spoiling
even in a warm humid climate this savory and sweet spread is usually made up of a mixture of cream
cheese and sweet pimento peppers but there are a number of other variations some later recipes
use a mixture of cheddar cheese mayonnaise and the pimento peppers the spread was created in upstate
new york near the end of the 19th century this makes pimento cheese or the pate of the south one
of those southern foods that isn't actually from the south farmers were producing a lot of cream
cheese and we're trying to come up with new ways to use it someone decided to mix the creamy cheese
with canned pimento peppers which were becoming popular in america during this period pimento
cheese how's that sound the flavorful concoction spread to the south where factory workers could
carry sandwiches laden with pimento cheese to work in their lunch pails without worrying about them
going bad before lunch this southern delicacy is also known as carolina caviar and is still a
popular sandwich filling south of the mason dixon line dressing you guys have stuffing stuffing sure
aisle 17. you may know it as stuffing but in the south they call it dressing that's right whichever
name you use it is a mixture of herbs spices and bread and true to its name is usually stuffed into
a chicken or turkey that is being cooked stuffing made its appearance in america near boston in the
1800s it spread to the south and continues to be a popular side dish today southerners prefer to
call stuffing dressing this is the name the dish was known by across the atlantic ocean back in
england most authorities on food that have studied the dish haven't been able to find any significant
difference between stuffing and dressing other than the names however many southerners do make
their dressing with cornbread as opposed to the white bread which is used in most stuffing recipes
today the dish is generally referred to as stuffing in america with the exception of
people in the south they continue to call their version of this dish dressing baked beans beans
are protein beans make you fart it probably won't surprise new englanders that baked beans
have their origin in their region of the country baked beans are right up there with clam chowder
brown bread and lobster as foods associated with the northeast baked beans are usually made with
white beans that are boiled or partially boiled before being baked in a tomato-based sauce at a
low temperature there are countless baked bean recipes but many of them include brown sugar
which gives this dish a distinct sweet flavor delicious even though people think of this dish
as going hand in hand with traditional southern barbecue it's indeed one of those southern foods
that aren't actually from the south the origin of baked beans in america is not quite settled
with several plausible series competing for the honor one version gives an account of
native americans teaching the puritans how to bake beans there's another tale that involves spanish
jews bringing baked beans with them to the new world from the old world whatever the truth is
about the origins of baked beans in america they have become a popular part of southern cuisine
sweet tea sweet tea sweet blood as they say before everyone started drinking the black tea
that is so common today most people in colonial america drank green tea the green tea was often
mixed with champagne cream or fruit juices these interesting concoctions were called tea punches
and were popular drinks in the south into the 1880s in 1884 the boston cookbook was published
and one of the book's most popular recipes was for a drink made with sweetened black tea the simple
recipe called for cold black tea a pair of sugar cubes broken ice and a slice of lemon easy peasy
variations of this basic recipe for sweet tea got off to a slow start but this changed when vendors
started serving the beverage at fairs all around the country this sounds like a refreshing drink
so it's no wonder it became a southern favorite at the beginning of the 20th century sweet tea still
wasn't the household staple it would become in the south this started to change in 1928 with the
publication of a popular cookbook called southern cooking which included a recipe for sweet tea
sweet tea is considered to be as southern as the mint julep but it's one of those southern
foods that did not originate in the south town cake cake represents joy pound cake got its name
because it's supposed to be made with a pound of traditional baking ingredients that includes flour
eggs butter and sugar you know that something with these ingredients is almost certainly a delicious
treat no doubt no doubt no doubt no doubt in addition to the basic ingredients some southern
recipes call for cream cheese as well as half and half a cake made with these two ingredients
must be quite a creamy confection so you have to give southerners some credit for this culinary
innovation pound cake is a versatile treat suitable as a simple dessert or as a snack with
a cup of coffee in the afternoon there's no reason why you couldn't have a generous slice of pound
cake for breakfast either regardless of whether you eat your pound cake for dessert as a snack or
for breakfast you're probably thinking how great it is that southerners came up with it well sorry
southerners but it looks like pound cake was first baked in 18th century connecticut and hartford to
be precise in 1796 a new englander named amelia simmons became the first woman in america to
publish a cookbook her groundbreaking book was called american cookery and it contained a recipe
for pound cake for hundreds of years now pound cake recipes have been altered and experimented
with according to the taste of the cook making them southerners continue to make their pound
cakes with a southern touch so in a way they have made this treat their own even though it has its
roots in the north mac and cheese and macaroni mac and cheese continues to be a popular dish
all across america it's suitable for a main dish or as a side dish depending on the particular meal
there are a lot of different styles and recipes associated with this classic comfort food but
they all start with some combination of pasta and cheese elbow macaroni is the most popular pasta
used but really any kind will do other choices for the pasta include penne and shells although many
southerners are eager to claim this savory dish as their own the truth is mac and cheese is one of
those southern foods that isn't actually from the south mac and cheese had been a french favorite
since the middle of the 18th century thomas jefferson was introduced to the creamy dish while
he was on a presidential visit to france president jefferson was so taken with mac and cheese that he
insisted on having it served at a u.s state dinner in 1802 where's my mac the winning combination of
pasta cheese and other ingredients quickly spread around the young nation mac and cheese found a
lot of admirers in the south where the recipe was modified to suit local tastes recipes used in the
south often call for a number of rich ingredients such as heavy cream half and half and sour cream
this is a lot of dairy but a recipe that includes cream and sour cream on top of cheese must make
for one delightful dish brisket my mother needs a head count so she can know how big a brisket
to get brisket is a popular cut of meat that is perhaps most associated with texas barbecue and
it's slow cooking process it takes some patience and a little know-how but slow cooking makes even
tough meat slide off the bone nice and tender oh my god delicious brisket is a cut of meat that
needs to be cooked for a considerable length of time to become tender because it comes from
the chest of the cow the breast meat of cows is a naturally tough and stringy cut of meat
the slow cooking process is what makes the tough meat into the tender almost flaky meat people love
brisket has its origins outside the south and even outside america for that matter most experts on
brisket agree that this meat is actually a jewish dish that was brought to the new world in the
1800s with immigrants from europe a significant number of these jewish immigrants decided not to
stay in the port cities on the east coast such as new york some of them eventually settled in texas
these newcomers to the south introduced their distinctive take on beef to the inhabitants of the
lone star state who took to it immediately brisket has since become an essential part of texas
barbecue and southern cooking in general chow chow it's for my hot dog there are two stories
about how this southern staple made its way down south from the great white north this relish is
made from any number of pickled vegetables such as cucumbers tomatoes cauliflower and onions
onion some experts believe that descendants of french settlers known as acadians first made
this condiment as a way to preserve vegetables for the winter months these settlers lived in
nova scotia canada so chow chow must have been a welcome luxury in this harsh environment where
carving out a life was a struggle a competing account contends that chinese immigrants who
were building the railroads in the western part of america introduced chow chow to the americans as
they moved across the vast country regardless of which story is actually true the accounts
provide evidence that this versatile condiment is not actually from the south chow chow is usually
described as a combination of sweet tart and salty this relish is sometimes compared to sauerkraut
and southerners will put it on a lot of different foods including hot dogs and
bratwurst chow chow is also a popular topping on everything from beans and black eyed peas to egg
salad it seems like chow chow can be enjoyed in so many ways cornbread his favorite food is
corn cornbread certainly seems like a dish that should have its roots in the south but the fact is
its origins go way back it turns out that various native american tribes had been producing cornmeal
and baking their own version of cornbread this means the tribes were enjoying cornbread for
thousands of years before european settlers ever showed up to settle the jamestown colony in 1607.
colonists who settled in the south discovered by trial and error that growing and harvesting corn
was more productive than growing wheat because wheat would spoil easily in the heat and humidity
baking cornbread was a natural consequence of southerners relying on cornmeal and not wheat
southern cornbread recipes multiplied over the centuries but they share some common elements
some people might be surprised to learn that traditional southern cornbread recipes
often don't include sugar i don't need sugar instead many of them make use of ingredients
that would have been close at hand such as salt onions and pork trimmings these ingredients give
a savory result that southerners have come to prefer the cornbread recipes most people
in the north and in other parts of america are familiar with usually do include sugar
or another sweetener such as honey chicken and waffles and the usual fried chicken on a waffle
extra skin it's common for people to associate chicken and waffles with the south but this
assumption is simply not true not only are the origins of this sweet and savory dish actually
pretty far from the south but some people have argued that chicken and waffles are not even that
popular in the region they go on to say that chicken and waffles became popular nationally
because southerners moved to other regions and brought the dish with them the best evidence
indicates that waffles arrived in the new world with the pilgrims in 1620 when they landed near
what would become plymouth rock however it would be a little while longer before these sweet fluffy
delights were paired with fried chicken experts continued to disagree about when and where exactly
chicken and waffles first teamed up regardless of the actual timing this epic combination has been
an all-day breakfast choice ever since there's a popular theory that argues that chicken and
waffles is the product of the pennsylvania dutch these settlers were very fond of waffles so it
is certainly possible they were the first ones to pair fried chicken with waffles as early as
the 1700s there's another theory that places the origin of chicken and waffles much later and in
restaurants in harlem new york this variation of the iconic dish started appearing on jazz clubs
menus in the northeast in the 1930s for people who love this unlikely but winning combination
of savory and sweet the origin story doesn't really matter that much yeah no biggie but you
should at least know that chicken and waffles are one of those southern foods that actually isn't
from the south you're wrong you're all wrong get a taste of more great videos just tap or click hit
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