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Some foods commonly associated with the South are sweet tea, pit barbecue, grits, biscuits, especially with gravyGravy is a thickened sauce, usually made from a base of the juices and extractives that run from meat during cooking. There are two basic types of meat gravy: thickened and unthickened. The unthickened gravy, in the case of red meats, is often referred to, catfishAkysidae Amblycipitidae Amphiliidae Ariidae Aspredinidae Astroblepidae Auchenipteridae Bagridae Callichthyidae Cetopsidae Chacidae Clariidae Claroteidae Cranoglanididae Diplomystidae Doradidae Hypophthalmidae Ictaluridae Loricariidae Malapteruridae Mochok, casseroleIn cooking, a casserole (from the French for 'stew pan') is a dish consisting of tough cuts of meat, poultry or game stewed in liquid with vegetables and flavourings. Vegetarian versions also exist. The pot to be used, called a casserole dish or just casss, fritterBritish cuisine In British fish and chip shops the fish and chips can be accompanied by optional extras and many of these are called fritters which means a food item (such as a pineapple ring or an apple ring or some mushy peas) fried in batter. Hence: pis, chicken-fried steakA steak is a large slab of meat, usually beef, but also possibly fish such as salmon. Steak slab is cut perpendicular to the muscle fibres, in contrary to fillet, which is cut parallel to muscle fibres. Steaks are typically served grilled. A restaurant th, cornbreadCornbread is a variety of quick bread (a bread leavened chemically, rather than by yeast) containing cornmeal. Cornbread is a traditional staple of rural cuisine in the United States of America, especially in the Southern United States. A typical contempo, fried chickenFried chicken is chicken which is dipped in a breaded mixture and then deep fried, pan fried, or pressure cooked. The breading seals in the juices but also absorbs the fat of the fryer, which is sometimes seen as unhealthy. There are endless variations on, fried pies, okraOkra Abelmoschus esculentus , is a mallow plant. It grows fibrous pods full of round white seeds, which when picked young, are eaten as a vegetable. It was formerly considered a species of Hibiscus. The word okra is of african origin. How to Grow Okra Okr and pickled green tomatoes, watermelon rind and peaches.
Fried foods are common in the South, a direct reflection of the influence of slave cooking on the region, since Africans of the time were fond of deep fat frying. White slaveowners mostly avoided African cultural influences, but cooking styles quickly seeped into all corner of the South because slave women did most of the cooking for plantations, and taught cooking techniques to slaveowners' children. As a result, traditional cooking in the U.S. South reflects the use of African techniques, often in an attempt to create European dishes, with Native American ingredients. An example of a traditional Southern meal is deep fried chicken, field peas, turnip greens, cornbread, sweet tea and a dessert that could be a pie ( sweet potato , pecan , shoo fly and peach are traditional southern pies), or a cobbler (peach, blackberry or mixed berry are traditional cobblers).
Fried chicken is among the region's most well-known exports, though pork is as integral a part of the cuisine, with Virginia ham the most respected. Green beans are often flavored with bacon and salt pork , while ham biscuits often accompany breakfast and ham with red-eye gravy is a common dinner dish (in spite of a debate over whether to make red-eye gravy with water or black coffee).
Within the U.S. South, a number of specialized regions exist. In Southern Louisiana, Cajun and Creole cuisines developed, both distinct types that are commonly bundled together as "Cajun". African American soul food is well-known, and eaten among black populations throughout the country, as well as among whites in the South. In the Carolinas, the coastal region was a center for rice growing. Local specialties include rice and black-eyed peas flavored with salt pork (Hoppin' John) and Charleston Red Rice , as well as the famous Charleston She-Crab Soup . Tennessee and Texas are particularly noted for their barbecue; Carolina barbecue is unique in the South for its use of vinegar.