A hushpuppy is a savory food made from cornmeal batter that is deep fried or
baked rolled as a small ball or occasionally other shapes. Hushpuppies
are frequently served as a side dish. History
Native Americans were using ground corn for cooking long before European
explorers arrived in the Americas there being no corn in Europe. Southern Native
American culture was one of the main contributors to Southern cuisine. From
their culture came one of the main staples of the Southern diet: corn,
either ground into meal or limed with an alkaline salt to make hominy, also
called masa, in a Native American technology known as nixtamalization.
Corn was used to make all kinds of dishes from the familiar cornbread and
grits to liquors such as whiskey and moonshine, which were important trade
items. Cornbread was popular during the American Civil War because it was very
cheap and could be made in many different sizes and forms. It could be
fashioned into high-rising, fluffy loaves or simply fried for a quick meal.
To a far greater degree than anyone realizes, several of the most important
food dishes that the Southeastern Indians live on today is the "soul food"
eaten by both black and white Southerners. Hominy, for example, is
still eaten ... Sofkee live on as grits ... cornbread [is] used by Southern
cooks ... Indian fritters ... variously known as "hoe cake", ... or "Johnny
cake." ... Indian boiled cornbread is present in Southern cuisine as "corn
meal dumplings", ... and as "hush puppies", ... Southerners cook their
beans and field peas by boiling them, as did the Indians ... like the Indians
they cure their meat and smoke it over hickory coals.
= Origin= The first recorded reference to the word
"hush-puppy" dates to 1899. Hushpuppies are a food with strong ties
to the Southern United States, although they are available in many areas of the
United States on the menus of deep fried fish restaurants. The name "hushpuppies"
is often attributed to hunters, fishermen, or other cooks who would fry
some basic cornmeal mixture and feed it to their dogs to "hush the puppies"
during cook-outs or fish-fries. Other hush puppy legends purport to date
the etymology of the term "hushpuppies" to the Civil War, in which soldiers are
claimed to have tossed fried cornbread to quell the barks of Confederate dogs.
Characteristics and preparation Typical hushpuppy ingredients include
cornmeal, wheat flour, eggs, salt, baking soda, milk or buttermilk, and
water, and may include onion, spring onion, garlic, whole kernel corn, and
peppers. Sometimes pancake batter is used. The batter is mixed well,
adjusting ingredients until thick, and dropped a spoonful at a time into hot
oil. The small breads are fried until crispy golden brown, and cooled.
Hushpuppies are served with seafood or barbecued foods. They are commonly made
at home or served in restaurants advertising home-style food.
Caribbean In Jamaica such fried breads are known
as "festivals", and are prepared with cornmeal, salt, and sugar then fried in
the form of a hot dog roll. They are sweeter than the hushpuppies that often
contain onion or garlic instead of sugar. They are served with jerked meats
such as pork or chicken. Mostly, it is served with fried or escoveitch fish. In
Puerto Rico, hushpuppies take the form of a short sausage and are called
"sorullos" or "sorullitos". See also
Cornbread Corn fritter
Cuisine of the Southern United States Falafel
Johnnycake List of fried dough foods
List of maize dishes List of quick breads
List of regional dishes of the United States
Sloosh – a form of campfire cornbread made during the American Civil War
Vada – Indian fried lentil dough snacks, often flatter or disc shaped
References