Perfect Cornbread: Southern Food Culture

Southern Food Culture

Rylee Reeves

Itawamba Community College

Kim Payne

ENG 1123

April 2, 2024

Abstract

The Southern food culture is very well known and enjoyed, the sources found all agree on the history of its origin and the different dishes that make up the culture. Southern food is a food culture that continues to expand throughout the world today. One of the most popular southern foods is cornbread, which has an ever-changing recipe to create the individual’s preferred perfect cornbread. Southern people look at baked mac and cheese as comfort food. Collard greens are a food people automatically think of when they think of southern culture. Okra was an easy dish that the southern people tended to enjoy and still do

People that did not grow up knowing what corn bread was would never think of it as such a popular food for the southern culture. The article, “The Last Word on Cornbread “, stated, “Fair enough, perhaps, but when talking about food traditions, it's important to remember a dish or recipe that’s weird to people who’ve never heard of it isn’t weird to those who grew up eating it” (The Last Word on Cornbread, 2022). People in the south usually dip corn bread in their milk, and it was only normal to them, but other people would think it was strange. The way that southern people come about eating southern is quite different than other cultures. The article expresses that, “The truth is, Southerners have strong opinions about their cornbread. Make it with yellow stone ground cornmeal. Or make it white. Cornbread should be savory” (The last word in Cornbread, 2022). Although southern people have different beliefs on how foods should be cooked, it does not kick this dish out of the food culture. People have diverse ways of doing everything, and using different ingredients is high up on the chart in the South. People grow so close to specific dishes it can become a comfort food for

Mac and Cheese is a dish that almost any southern family is going to have in the family tradition. The article, “The history and cultural impact of baked macaroni and cheese,” clearly states that, “On holidays and special events, I always saw a tray of crispy, baked mac and cheese, and everyone lined up to get themselves a piece of it” (Diaz,2024). Mac and cheese has become a popular dish worldwide now, not only in the south. Everyone in the world eats mac and cheese, not just the south. The article also indicates that, “Mac and cheese has also been popularized as a budget-friendly option for many people, as boxes of Kraft and Velveeta mac and cheese are widely available in local grocery stores” (Diaz, 2024). With mac and cheese being a cheap and enjoyable dish, the popularity of it has grown tremendously. This dish's popularity has brought families together and expanded southern food