Cuisine of the Southern United States in the context of "Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands"

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⭐ Core Definition: Cuisine of the Southern United States

The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several subregions, including the cuisines of Southeastern Native American tribes, Tidewater, Appalachian, Ozarks, Lowcountry, Cajun, Creole, African American cuisine and Floribbean, Spanish, French, British, Ulster-Scots, German, Italian and Middle Eastern cuisine. Elements of Southern cuisine have spread to other parts of the United States, influencing other types of American cuisine.

Many elements of Southern cooking—tomatoes, squash, corn (and its derivatives, such as hominy and grits), and deep-pit barbecuing—are borrowings from Indigenous peoples of the region (e.g., Cherokee, Caddo, Choctaw, and Seminole). From the Old World, European colonists introduced sugar, flour, milk, eggs, and livestock, along with a number of vegetables; meanwhile, enslaved West Africans trafficked to the North American colonies through the Atlantic slave trade introduced black-eyed peas, okra, eggplant, sesame, sorghum, melons, and various spices. Rice also became prominent in many dishes in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina because the enslaved people who settled the region (now known as the Gullah people) were already quite familiar with the crop.

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Cuisine of the Southern United States in the context of Black Southerners

Black Southerners are African Americans living in the Southern United States, the United States region with the largest black population.

Despite a total of 6 million Black people migrating from the South to cities in the North and West from 1916 to 1970, the majority of the Black population remains concentrated in the Southern states. In addition, since the 1970s, numerous Black Americans have migrated to the South from other U.S. regions in a reverse New Great Migration, but they tend to be educated and to settle in urban areas. Black Southerners strongly contributed to the cultural blend of Christianity, foods, art, music (see spiritual, blues, jazz and rock and roll) that characterize Southern culture today.

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Cuisine of the Southern United States in the context of Soul food

Soul food is the ethnic cuisine of African Americans. Originating in the American South from the cuisines of enslaved Africans transported from Africa through the Atlantic slave trade, soul food is closely associated with the cuisine of the Southern United States. The expression "soul food" originated in the mid-1960s when "soul" was a common word used to describe African-American culture. Soul food uses cooking techniques and ingredients from West African, Central African, Western European, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas.

The cuisine was initially denigrated as low quality and belittled because of its origin. It was seen as low-class food, and African Americans in the North looked down on their Black Southern compatriots who preferred soul food (see the Great Migration). The concept evolved from describing the food of slaves in the South, to being taken up as a primary source of pride in the African American community even in the North, such as in New York City, Chicago and Detroit.

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Cuisine of the Southern United States in the context of Louisiana Creole cuisine

Louisiana Creole cuisine (French: cuisine créole, Louisiana Creole: manjê kréyòl, Spanish: cocina criolla) is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana, United States, which blends West African, French, Spanish, and Native American influences, as well as influences from the general cuisine of the Southern United States.

Creole cuisine revolves around influences found in Louisiana from populations present there before its sale to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Black Southerners ← Soul food ← Louisiana Creole cuisine
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Indigenous cuisine of the Americas → Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands → Tidewater (region) → Appalachian cuisine → Ozarks → Lowcountry cuisine → Cajun cuisine → Louisiana Creole cuisine → Soul food → Floribbean → Spanish cuisine → French cuisine → British cuisine → Ulster Scots people → German cuisine → Italian cuisine → Middle Eastern cuisine → Cuisine of the United States → Tomato → Squash (plant) → Maize → Hominy → Grits → Pit barbecue → Cherokee → Caddo → Choctaw → Seminole → Old World → European colonization of the Americas → Slavery in the colonial history of the United States → Atlantic slave trade → Black-eyed pea → Okra → Eggplant → Sesame → Sorghum → Melon → Lowcountry → Gullah →