Category: Southern History
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John Mariani, Adrian Miller, and the ‘Scottish Fried Chicken’ Myth
1983 saw the publication of The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, authored by the American food writer John F. Mariani. In the book, Mariani offered the following account of the genesis of Southern fried chicken: The Scottish, who enjoyed frying their chickens rather than boiling or baking them as the English did, may have brought the method…
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Tracing the Origins of Mary Randolph’s ‘Fried Chickens’ Recipe
Mary Randolph, author of the seminal Southern cookery book, The Virginia Housewife (1824), was raised in an environment in which English culinary influences were strong. Indeed, she was arguably, at core, an English cook. Many writers gloss over this rather obvious fact, and certain dishes in Randolph’s book are regularly highlighted because they stand out as antecedents…
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West Indian and African Foods in 18th and 19th Century Accounts of Deep South Cookery
In this post, I provide excerpts from various 18th and 19th century writings which note the presence of West Indian and West African influences in the cookery of Florida and southern Louisiana: James Edward Smith (London, 1821) A Selection of the Correspondence of Linnaeus and Other Naturalists, Volume 2 Letter from the Swedish naturalist Daniel…
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Mary Randolph’s English Cookery
The Virginia Housewife (first published in 1824) – authored by the slave-owning white antebellum Virginian, Mary Randolph – is widely considered to constitute the earliest printed example of a ‘Southern’ cookery book. Randolph came from one of the elite families of Virginia, which traced its roots in the South to the union of William and…
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The History of Devil(l)ed Eggs: From Britain to the South
The idea of ‘devilling’ food first became popular in the early 19th century, and is particularly associated with the culinary trends of Britain. Early references can be found, for example, in Esther Copley’s The Cook’s Complete Guide (London, 1810). Copley offers a ‘compound piquante sauce’ which, she writes, ‘is appropriate to devils of all orders’. The sauce in question…
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What the Planters Ate: Recollections of 19th Century Plantation Foods
Understandably, food historians seeking to unearth the cuisine of the antebellum and post-Civil War South often rely heavily on the cookery books of the time, such as the culinary triumvirate of The Virginia Housewife, The Kentucky Housewife, and The Carolina Housewife. Cookery books, however, do not necessarily provide an accurate picture of the foods that…
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The History of ‘Sweet Tea’: From Russia to the South
Briefly research the cuisine of the Southern United States and you will doubtless come across references to ‘sweet tea’ as a significant, perhaps even defining, beverage of the South. Indeed, where something is seen as having a particular cultural significance in the South, it is often referred to as being ‘as Southern as sweet tea’.…
EDMUND STANDING 