Foods that would be representative of Mississippi (Jackson, Greenville: where to buy, living in)

[jambo101]

A recent topic from a Mississippi native asking about Canadian food got me to thinking what kinds of foods would be representative of Mississippi?

[viverlibre]

There is a tread on MS reddit with this subject.

First and foremost would be comeback sauce, it's so unique to the Jackson area, that many Mississippians outside the metro are just now discovering it.

Fried Catfish would likely be next.

Many years ago, I read an article claiming that Penn's "Chicken on a Stick" was one of MS's unique foods.

[Dd714]

Barbecue in the north, shelled seafood like crawdads, shrimp and oysters on the coast, particularly creole style. Anything fried - Fried catfish and chicken everywhere. Corn bread, pecan pie. Tupelo honey (actually named after the tree however, not the town). Typical soul food in the delta area.

[Listener2307]

Originally Posted by Dd714

Barbecue in the north, shelled seafood like crawdads, shrimp and oysters on the coast, particularly creole style. Anything fried - Fried catfish and chicken everywhere. Corn bread, pecan pie. Tupelo honey (actually named after the tree however, not the town). Typical soul food in the delta area.

Interestingly enough, we don't know where to buy Tupelo Honey in Mississippi. I found some in Florida and ordered it; it was nice, had a good flavor, but local honey remains my choice. Supermarket honey should never be purchased - it is hardly honey at all.


Food prepared on top of the stove usually represents Southern or Mississippi cuisine. That's because in the South the higher quality food was prepared by slaves and they used recipes and methods brought from Africa. Fried chicken, among other things, is one of the foods they brought from Africa. While frying chicken was not unique to Africa, it is certainly one of the foods that caught on.


Also, the native Americans were using a form of corn bread, and that became a Southern staple.

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

Moon pies and RC.
Head cheese.
Peanuts in a Coca Coca bottle.
Potato logs.

[jhadorn]

Delta tamales. Try the fried tamales at Hot Tamale Heaven in Greenville.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by Listener2307

Interestingly enough, we don't know where to buy Tupelo Honey in Mississippi. I found some in Florida and ordered it; it was nice, had a good flavor, but local honey remains my choice. Supermarket honey should never be purchased - it is hardly honey at all.


Food prepared on top of the stove usually represents Southern or Mississippi cuisine. That's because in the South the higher quality food was prepared by slaves and they used recipes and methods brought from Africa. Fried chicken, among other things, is one of the foods they brought from Africa. While frying chicken was not unique to Africa, it is certainly one of the foods that caught on.


Also, the native Americans were using a form of corn bread, and that became a Southern staple.

Fried chicken came from Africa via slaves? I never have heard that, before. I thought fried chicken was totally an American creation. In all honesty, I never really gave too much thought as to where fried chicken was invented, but I think I just assumed fried chicken most likely originated in England and the immigrants brought the recipe with them to America. Americans will fry just about anything you can eat, from apples and bananas to steak, fish and chicken to twinkies, pickles, okra and potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beans, mushrooms, ice cream, doughnuts and pies.

I knew that that the Native Americans were the ones who introduced corn to the Pilgrims, so it doesn't surprise me that that cornbread came from the Native Americans.

[grampaTom]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

Fried chicken came from Africa via slaves? I never have heard that, before. I thought fried chicken was totally an American creation. In all honesty, I never really gave too much thought as to where fried chicken was invented, but I think I just assumed fried chicken most likely originated in England and the immigrants brought the recipe with them to America. Americans will fry just about anything you can eat, from apples and bananas to steak, fish and chicken to twinkies, pickles, okra and potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beans, mushrooms, ice cream, doughnuts and pies.

I knew that that the Native Americans were the ones who introduced corn to the Pilgrims, so it doesn't surprise me that that cornbread came from the Native Americans.

What I understand is that Scots brought frying to the new world with them and then slaves from various regions added spices not available in Europe. It is also likely that the process of frying began in Asia with Tempura.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Dd714

Tupelo honey (actually named after the tree however, not the town). Typical soul food in the delta area.

Originally Posted by Listener2307

Interestingly enough, we don't know where to buy Tupelo Honey in Mississippi. I found some in Florida and ordered it; it was nice, had a good flavor, but local honey remains my choice. Supermarket honey should never be purchased - it is hardly honey at all.


Food prepared on top of the stove usually represents Southern or Mississippi cuisine. That's because in the South the higher quality food was prepared by slaves and they used recipes and methods brought from Africa. Fried chicken, among other things, is one of the foods they brought from Africa. While frying chicken was not unique to Africa, it is certainly one of the foods that caught on.


Also, the native Americans were using a form of corn bread, and that became a Southern staple.

Tupelo honey is from Florida, not Mississippi. While tupelo trees can grow anywhere it's hot, flat, and boggy, the main tupelo honey producing region is along the Apalachicola River in Florida. Fun fact: pure tupelo honey never crystallizes.

Deep frying chicken in fat was done in Scotland long before America ever existed. Even Romans were frying chicken as early as the 2nd Century AD. The Scots brought that method of cooking chicken with them to the New World. Americans of Scottish descent, whether in the North or South, knew how to fry chicken.
West Africans also fried chicken but in palm oil, and they also added spices to their fried chicken which the Scots didn't do. Fried chicken was a popular meal for slaves to take with them into the fields because it didn't spoil as quickly as, say, pork or beef, and it's easy to eat without utensils. And it's very tasty.

I think one of the things I miss about living in Mississippi is all the "steak and seafood" restaurants. Every little town in Mississippi had a steak and seafood place, at least in the areas where I lived (Tupelo and Oxford). They were almost always buffet style, and sometimes the "seafood" was just catfish, but usually it also included shrimp and even crab legs.

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

Originally Posted by grampaTom

What I understand is that Scots brought frying to the new world with them and then slaves from various regions added spices not available in Europe. It is also likely that the process of frying began in Asia with Tempura.

Tempura was influenced by Portuguese living in Japan.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempura