Come on way down south to Mobile, Alabama (my birth place) where we get the influences of the Cajuns from Louisiana! Now that is some spicy goodness. Gumbo anyone? Perhaps some Crawfish etouffee or Jambalaya?
Last edited by a moderator:
Rregional American Cuisine
- Thread starter Keltin
- Start date
Come on way down south to Mobile, Alabama (my birth place) where we get the influences of the Cajuns from Louisiana! Now that is some spicy goodness. Gumbo anyone? Perhaps some Crawfish etouffee or Jambalaya?
PanchoHambre
New member
All the foods mentioned.. Cajun, Soul, Southern etc. I had no exposure to at all until I moved to Houston for college. Houston was a great crossroads for all of these being not far from LA and having a southern history but also having the Western and Mexican influences. Wow it was a whole wonderful world of spices and flavors and cooking methods I never knew and certainly had never had done properly. Unfortunately my first exposure to many of these was in some adultered form concocted by campus food services.... but I clearly remember the first time and place I had all of these done right.
I still love the immigrant Italian food I grew up with but these foods bring back memories of some of my best times and best friends.
I still love the immigrant Italian food I grew up with but these foods bring back memories of some of my best times and best friends.
Rregional American Cuisine 1
I wonder if we should start some sort of regional American Cuisine thread?? I could talk on this all day but don't want to hijack the thread anymore.
Heck, we could have discourses on regional variations for just about every cuisine and country out there, LOL.
But maybe one covering specifically the US would generate an interest simply because we all have a tendency to concentrate sometimes on foreign foods and may miss some of the great stuff we have to offer here in the US.
This would be a general discourse, of course. No specific recipes but any you mention you could link into it.. but more of a discussion on regional influences, similarities, differences. Maybe as sub forums to the dinning out forum??
I wonder if we should start some sort of regional American Cuisine thread?? I could talk on this all day but don't want to hijack the thread anymore.
Heck, we could have discourses on regional variations for just about every cuisine and country out there, LOL.
But maybe one covering specifically the US would generate an interest simply because we all have a tendency to concentrate sometimes on foreign foods and may miss some of the great stuff we have to offer here in the US.
This would be a general discourse, of course. No specific recipes but any you mention you could link into it.. but more of a discussion on regional influences, similarities, differences. Maybe as sub forums to the dinning out forum??
Re: paula deen
The one thing that makes the food of the south stand out more than any other is the love associated with it. Southern tables have brimmed over with love for a long time...doesn't really matter what you call it...anyone who comes into my kitchen just calls it good, old-fashioned, down home southern, country comfort food!
The one thing that makes the food of the south stand out more than any other is the love associated with it. Southern tables have brimmed over with love for a long time...doesn't really matter what you call it...anyone who comes into my kitchen just calls it good, old-fashioned, down home southern, country comfort food!
DownByTheRiverSide
New member
Re: paula deen
Yes, Ma'am.
The one thing that makes the food of the south stand out more than any other is the love associated with it. Southern tables have brimmed over with love for a long time...doesn't really matter what you call it...anyone who comes into my kitchen just calls it good, old-fashioned, down home southern, country comfort food!
Yes, Ma'am.
Re: paula deen
Amen! Can I have another helping please!
Well now....I think we may all need to calm down just a bit. The one thing that makes the food of the south stand out more than any other is the love associated with it. Southern tables have brimmed over with love for a long time...doesn't really matter what you call it...anyone who comes into my kitchen just calls it good, old-fashioned, down home southern, country comfort food!
Amen! Can I have another helping please!
chowhound
New member
Maybe that explains why I felt like I was walking into the middle of a conversation
I was thinking, now why would Keltin start off a thread with a quote from another thread....
PanchoHambre
New member
my personal "soul food" is immigrant Italian-American. This is what I grew up with and was made with love by my family. This is the food that tastes like home. Because of this it is also the hardest food for me to eat out. I am super finicky. I posted this link in the italian cookie thread but i will post it again. this is for me the real deal.
2nd to me is Tex-Mex but this is an adopted cuisine.
These are the two food types I generally cook for myself.. without recipe and with comfort and ease.
I love most regional and ethnic foods but always feel like a voyeur
2nd to me is Tex-Mex but this is an adopted cuisine.
These are the two food types I generally cook for myself.. without recipe and with comfort and ease.
I love most regional and ethnic foods but always feel like a voyeur
the community that i grew up in has many different cuisines...
italian influence,french,german,polish,asian and the list goes on.
i like to experiment with different nationalities. every culture has at least one dish that i like to eat and cook.
my biggest compliment is when some Taiwanese students came over and i cooked for them. I was trying to cook some food that they would recognize and enjoy. Their comments were "this tastes just like what my mother makes.." and they took pictures of the food and sent it to their mothers.
to me "Soul" food is whatever makes my soul happy and my belly full. When i see people enjoying my cooking and wanting to take a nap when they are done eating, that warms my soul...soul food
italian influence,french,german,polish,asian and the list goes on.
i like to experiment with different nationalities. every culture has at least one dish that i like to eat and cook.
my biggest compliment is when some Taiwanese students came over and i cooked for them. I was trying to cook some food that they would recognize and enjoy. Their comments were "this tastes just like what my mother makes.." and they took pictures of the food and sent it to their mothers.
to me "Soul" food is whatever makes my soul happy and my belly full. When i see people enjoying my cooking and wanting to take a nap when they are done eating, that warms my soul...soul food
I agree wholeheartedly with Bam. I consider soul food to be the comfort food that one grew up with no matter what that food may be. I also think that all cultures are very hospitable when it comes to food. I have felt love all over the place. It is all about welcoming, and sharing in the both the celebrations and everyday meals. Sometimes, it is less about the food itself and more about the love and hospitality one feels as taste is subjective. It is why I love food history and the similarities in cuisines.
In South Florida, I have had people share with me their homemade tamales and empanadas, beans and rice, and different ways to make plaintains and cactus. It is always fun to try new tastes however, whether I like everything I eat is another matter. Yet, the pride and love of one's culture and sharing and being a part of that is something I always cherish whether I like the food or not.
Obviously, I would never intentionally hurt someone's feelings and it seems like keltin got his nose out of joint over issues of my subjective taste. It has nothing to do with the warm, hospital Southern culture and everything to do with my subjective tastebuds. As I explaned to someone else here, I don't like borsht or gefilte fish, either. I am not found of dill. Further there is a huge debate in the Jewish community about how matzoh balls should be made. Do you like floaters or sinkers? I think it is silly because most likely one is going to prefer what one grew up with eating.
This is a different issue over how a classical dish is made or what it consists of. One can always change it but if you have read Escoffier there are certain classic techniques and classic dishes. If one changes a classic dish, it can still be fantastic but it won't be the classic dish anymore.
In South Florida, I have had people share with me their homemade tamales and empanadas, beans and rice, and different ways to make plaintains and cactus. It is always fun to try new tastes however, whether I like everything I eat is another matter. Yet, the pride and love of one's culture and sharing and being a part of that is something I always cherish whether I like the food or not.
Obviously, I would never intentionally hurt someone's feelings and it seems like keltin got his nose out of joint over issues of my subjective taste. It has nothing to do with the warm, hospital Southern culture and everything to do with my subjective tastebuds. As I explaned to someone else here, I don't like borsht or gefilte fish, either. I am not found of dill. Further there is a huge debate in the Jewish community about how matzoh balls should be made. Do you like floaters or sinkers? I think it is silly because most likely one is going to prefer what one grew up with eating.
This is a different issue over how a classical dish is made or what it consists of. One can always change it but if you have read Escoffier there are certain classic techniques and classic dishes. If one changes a classic dish, it can still be fantastic but it won't be the classic dish anymore.
I grew up in Miami Florida, raised but Hungarian grandmother. Now my grandmother was married to an Italian and both of them came from the NE. Well during the late 20's when they got married they lived in a little apartment over an Italian restaurant in Hell's Kitchen NYC. In those days women didn't work so she would go down to the restaurant and help out in the kitchen. She learned to cook Italian there and to the day she died she was great at it. I might add in her day every female child learned to cook at their mothers side and her mother was a great cook also. So my first love was both of those cuisines.
My mother on the other hand was born in North Carolina and later moved to Virginia to a dairy farm with her 13 other siblings and parents. Now they grew most of the food there so I also grew up eating southern cooking. Now my grandmother on my mothers side was full Cherokee Indian so used to make some of their dishes as well. Needless to say she could cook too but it is something my mother never could master. The only thing my mother ever cooked that I though was great was her fried chicken (she fried in lard), but other than that she couldn't boil and egg.
Now when I got married my Hungarian grandmother taught my wife to cook everything she made that I liked (which was everything). In the 80's I traveled a lot over seas as well as the US which gave me an opportunity to sample lots of different food from everywhere. My favorite is still the Italian first followed by Cajun, Mexican, Southern, Asian, Greek and Spanish as well as the Caribbean flavors. All of which is really based on the local ingredients of the areas where it is made, at least used to be now most of these ingredients can be purchased almost any where. As for soul foods it could come from any culture I guess.
My mother on the other hand was born in North Carolina and later moved to Virginia to a dairy farm with her 13 other siblings and parents. Now they grew most of the food there so I also grew up eating southern cooking. Now my grandmother on my mothers side was full Cherokee Indian so used to make some of their dishes as well. Needless to say she could cook too but it is something my mother never could master. The only thing my mother ever cooked that I though was great was her fried chicken (she fried in lard), but other than that she couldn't boil and egg.
Now when I got married my Hungarian grandmother taught my wife to cook everything she made that I liked (which was everything). In the 80's I traveled a lot over seas as well as the US which gave me an opportunity to sample lots of different food from everywhere. My favorite is still the Italian first followed by Cajun, Mexican, Southern, Asian, Greek and Spanish as well as the Caribbean flavors. All of which is really based on the local ingredients of the areas where it is made, at least used to be now most of these ingredients can be purchased almost any where. As for soul foods it could come from any culture I guess.
the Soul food we all think of is a fairly new term compared to others...
interesting read on this subject
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_food
interesting read on this subject
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_food
PanchoHambre
New member
Well J-Kath I am working on my recipe problems... problem being I don't have any LOL! I am trying to write down as I cook. The two I posted one for Filetto Di Pomodoro (italian) and the other for Migas (tex-mex) are two of my favorite dishes.
The recipe has been a big problem with family foods.. there really are not any... my mom has filing cabinets full of recipes but none for the traditional dishes and if there are they are not quite correct.... Vera Blue has a great touch for the Italian foods though.. her Italian cooking usually sounds pretty much just like my families.
Not to try to be disagreeable but soul food and comfort food are two different things. Maybe this will help clear things up:
"The phrase ‘soul food’ was coined in the 1960s during the Black Power and Black Pride movements to differentiate African American cuisine from the broad category of Southern food."
"Soul food" is actually a specific, ethnic category of Southern cooking that incorporates the history of African-American slaves. It doesn't just mean "comfort food."
So, with that being said, all "soul food" is southern cooking but all southern cooking is not "soul food".
"The phrase ‘soul food’ was coined in the 1960s during the Black Power and Black Pride movements to differentiate African American cuisine from the broad category of Southern food."
"Soul food" is actually a specific, ethnic category of Southern cooking that incorporates the history of African-American slaves. It doesn't just mean "comfort food."
So, with that being said, all "soul food" is southern cooking but all southern cooking is not "soul food".
Not to try to be disagreeable but soul food and comfort food are two different things. Maybe this will help clear things up:
"The phrase ‘soul food’ was coined in the 1960s during the Black Power and Black Pride movements to differentiate African American cuisine from the broad category of Southern food."
"Soul food" is actually a specific, ethnic category of Southern cooking that incorporates the history of African-American slaves. It doesn't just mean "comfort food."
So, with that being said, all "soul food" is southern cooking but all southern cooking is not "soul food".
yup thats why i posted the link
I haven't done any research on where the term "Jewish Soul Food" originated or when it was first used but that would be my guess.
I think that many cultures have borrowed the term, leolady. I think it has been confused with "comfort food" for many cultural groups.
That being said, if it makes you happy, we can be specific about the particular cuisine that you consider to be the "true" Soul food with a capital S.
That being said, if it makes you happy, we can be specific about the particular cuisine that you consider to be the "true" Soul food with a capital S.
Lefty
Yank
Foodwise NYC was a great place to live. I don't think there is a food style that you couldn't find. Its the only thing I miss about the big city. Getting used to New England food took me a while, but so much seafood helped. We as a family enjoy going to different places for the Beans Suppas, spaghetti dinners and getting served beans with breakfast was different but I like it.
Lefty
Yank
It is explained in post #7 of this thread.
I hope this explains it. Thanks
Maybe that explains why I felt like I was walking into the middle of a conversation
I was thinking, now why would Keltin start off a thread with a quote from another thread....
Wow, look at me....I started a thread without even touching the keyboard. Must be that new wireless posting I've heard about!
But seriously, I read in the Paula Deen thread that Adillo moved some posts. That's fine by me.