Southern Food Heritage Day

The delicious aroma of pan fried chicken or the fluffy texture of a buttered biscuit, southern food brings about a sense of warmth and comfort. Southern Food Heritage Day is here to promote and celebrate the background of this delicious cuisine!

History of Southern Food Heritage Day

Founded by the Southern Food and Beverage Museum located in New Orleans, Louisiana, this day raises a glass in toast to the unique heritage and history of food that comes from the southern parts of the United States.

The food that hails from the American South offers a unique blend of cultural history that includes Native Americans as well as the British, French, and Spanish influences that were brought along during settlement. In addition, Africans who were transplanted through slavery had a strong influence on the way cuisine in the American South developed.

Many foods that are associated with Southern Food Heritage Day include squash, tomatoes and corn, which were native to the region, as well as those dish ideas that were imported, such as black eyed peas, okra, eggplant, and melons.

Offering a chance for people from the south to reconnect with their heritage and those from other places to learn about it, Southern Food Heritage Day is ready to be celebrated!

How to Celebrate Southern Food Heritage Day

Consider enjoying some of these ideas to honor and celebrate Southern Food Heritage Day:

Enjoy Eating Some Southern Food

Those who live in the southern United States have it easy because they can pop over to an easily accessible restaurant and order a plate of delicious home cookin’! Those who live in the north or other places might have to work a little harder to get access to some southern food. Cracker Barrel and Waffle House are a couple of chain restaurants that offer menu items with a southern flair.

Try Making Some Southern Food

Those who were raised in the south might have learned how to cook from their mamas or grandmas. But those who didn’t need not fear. It’s still possible to learn! The internet offers a whole host of opportunities for anyone to learn how to cook like they are from the south. Try out recipes for biscuits and gravy, chicken fried steak, fried okra, country ham or grits.

Get a New Southern Food Cookbook

To truly embrace the style of home cooking in the south, it might be a good idea to get a new cookbook in celebration of Southern Food Heritage Day! Try out some of these:

• Heritage by Sean Brock (2013). Showing an appreciation – or perhaps even an obsession – for southern cooking, this best-selling author fills his cookbook with amazing photos and recipes from his residence in Charleston, South Carolina. 
• The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis (1976). This Southern Cooking classic offers an updated 30th Anniversary edition, showing cooks how to recover the taste of fresh, tasty and distinctly American foods. 
• Fannie Flagg’s Original Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook (1995). This cookbook was inspired after Fannie Flagg found huge success with her novel titled Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.