Our Immigrant and Native Ancestors:
Southern food evolved from many ethnic influences.


A unique way of life exists in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Subsistence has changed little for three centuries since settlers first arrived in the area in the early 1700's and discovered land that offered them abundant resources and plentiful agricultural opportunities. During the peak of the 1720-1770 immigration from Scotland and Ireland, the natives of the area, the Cherokee Indian tribe, began their own migration to the south and west.

 The greatest factor that affected life for these settlers was the procurement, preparation, and preservation of food and the staple crop absolutely essential to survival was corn. This most important part of daily life was adopted from the displaced Indians, who taught the pioneers how to grow, process, store, and eat corn. Although every family had some type of vegetable garden and did hunt, in times of need these products were traded in order to get corn, which was used to make everything from bread to whiskey. The potato was another New World staple readily accepted by the Appalachians.

Wild game were not simply an important protein source; every part of the animal was useful in some way: clothes, storage containers, and blankets from deer, bear, and rabbit skins; clothes hangers and gun parts from antler; bear fat for frying food. The most popular game animals, rabbits, raccoons, and opossum, were crop pests.

 Livestock, mainly pigs and cattle, were raised in a manner adapted from the traditional husbandry practices of Scotland and Ireland, but livestock played a secondary role to wild game and beans as protein sources and were used primarily as a bartering tool.

 The immigrants' simplicity of lifestyle is evident in the Appalachian kitchen, where utensils were limited to a frying pan, coffee pot, bucket, iron pot, and hollowed out gourds. To Appalachian bibliography.

The evolution of the African diet in the New World was the result of influences from many different areas. The first major change in the African diet was the result of the Middle Passage and the slave traders. Many slaves experienced malnutrition while on the ships because the traders did not provide a balanced diet and often did not even carry with them enough food to last the entire trip. Also, many slaves suffered from Vitamin D deficiency from a lack of sunlight. While on the trip the slaves subsisted mainly on portions of yams, rice and grains. Rarely if ever were they provided with any meat or fruits. Once the slaves reached the New World, the new owners often had to spend months attempting to make them healthy again.

 Once they were in the New World, the slaves did have the comfort of a few of their native foods. The slave traders brought with them a few of the staples of Africa, and these types of foods were sometimes a part of the rations that were given to the slaves by their masters. For example, field peas, okra, eggplant, peanuts and yams are all native African foods and became an integral part of the diet in the South.

 On the plantations the slave diet was sparse and depended a great deal upon provisions provided by the master. According to one planter quoted in Georgia: A History Written by Those Who Lived It, a normal allocation of supplies included meal, rice, vegetables, salt, molasses, some sort of pork, and occasionally fish and coffee. The average allocation of meat (usually in the form of pork) was three or four pounds a week per slave. Deetz' (1993) analysis of archaeological data from slave quarters shows that the caloric value of the ration did not meet the needs of people engaged in heavy labor. Malnutritional disorders were common, especially in children. In an attempt to supplement this diet, the slaves often hunted, fished or grew their own vegetable garden. However, some owners would not even allow this activity as they felt it was taking time away from work.

 When African Americans were first emancipated, their diet did not change much at all. Many former slaves took jobs as sharecroppers and their diets once again depended upon provisions provided by another. The only change was that it was a so-called employer instead of an owner that provided the allocations. However, the sharecroppers often did have more time to hunt, fish and grow gardens.

The African American diet has improved over the past one hundred years as economic resources have been made more readily available to the group, but remains largely based on many types of foods introduced during the period of slavery. For example, the Native Americans introduced the Southerners to corn, pumpkins, squash, beans and sassafras, as well as many types of wild berries and game. The Europeans introduced cattle, swine, chicken, and cultivated white and sweet potatoes and lima beans from Central and South America. While these were only a few of the foods introduced by outside sources, they are major contributors to African American foodways.To African American bibliography.

Native Americans taught the European immigrants which wild plant foods were available and how to prepare them; most importantly, they taught the first settlers how to grow, prepare, and eat corn. The Indians gave the South squash, all peppers (except black pepper), and cowpeas. Tomatoes were developed by the Indians, but many Southerners viewed them as poisonous until the twentieth century.

 These first settlers on the frontier had no choice but to depend upon wild game for sustenance, at least until they could clear a patch of land and plant corn and vegetables. They preferred bison (when they were available), and the entire animal was consumed or used, including bone marrow and intestines, which the Indians felt were highly nutritious. A large and diverse population of birds covered the South; turkeys were the most popular, being large and slow. Venison was also important because white-tailed deer were abundant in the southern U.S.

The Indians provided the settlers with cooking knowledge, taught them to dry meats and vegetables, and showed how to make jerky and preserves. The women learned to process corn in order to make several types of bread, including hoe cakes and cornbread. If a woman had an ash hopper and leached out lye, she could soak the dry grains and make "hominy" or "hominy grits"; both are popular still in the modern South. In addition to cooking, the new settlers adopted the Indian skills of making storage containers from gourds and dried animal skins.

 The immigrants could not have survived without the instruction and assistance of American Indians, who had mastered hunting, planting, and food processing in this environment long before the Europeans arrived. To Native American bibliography.

Immigrants, most of French peasant ancestry, settled the "Acadian" region of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia from 1604 to 1654. By 1713 the total population of Acadians in the Bay of Fundy area was 2,000; by 1755, the population had grown to 15,000. These settlers subsisted on cereal crops such as wheat, barley and oats, and garden vegetables such as field peas, cabbage, and turnips. This diet was supplemented by domestic livestock, wild game, and fishing.

 Because of increased tensions between the French settlers and the British, the Acadians were ultimately forced out of Nova Scotia. This was a long and grueling journey for those that survived it; many of the Acadians were sent first to Maryland, then to France, and finally to Louisiana where they attempted to reunite with their family members. The name "Acadian" was transformed to "Cajun" by the English-speaking inhabitants of Louisiana. The Cajuns grew to be a unified ethnic group as a result of their struggles to overcome discrimination as refugees; they also became increasingly wary of outsiders and resisted acculturation with Anglos in Louisiana.

 Initally, all incoming Acadian immigrants arrived in New Orleans. They were met by a lukewarm Spanish government that was eager to relocate the settlers to more rural areas. This included the areas north of New Orleans on the Mississippi River, as well as the prairie region of Southwest Louisiana. The Acadians newly settled into the river region soon found difficulty in growing their familiar crops such as wheat, barley and oats. Additionally, turnips and cabbage did not do well in Louisiana's sweltering heat. Assistance from the Spanish government came in the form of corn seed. The prairie was ideally suited for cattle, and successful ranches were soon established in this region, providing New Orleans with much desired beef.

A dual class system emerged with the Acadian settlers, dividing Acadians into the small elite planter class and the working class farmers; a minor intermediate "middle" class existed as well. The elite planters soon adopted slavery, farming large tracts of land. They became successful in farming cotton by the early eighteenth century, which was replaced with sugar by the mid-eighteenth century and rice shortly thereafter. The planters identified with the "Creoles," a more wealthy and educated class than the emerging Cajun culture.

As farm land became more valued with the profits of cotton in the early part of the nineteenth century, the poorer Acadians in the river region were forced to sell their land and move into the less desirable unclaimed swamp area. Swamp life was difficult and isolated, but did provide the settlers with a generous variety of foodstuffs that added to the unique diet of Cajuns.

In both wetland and prairie Cajun homes, kitchens were simple and utilitarian. Kitchen cookware consisted simply of a cast iron kettle suspended over a hearth; a few families had a cast-iron frying pan. Subsistence farming and hunting produced such mainstay foods as corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, beans, pumpkins, okra, and rice. Their diets were supplemented with wild game, domestic livestock (pork and beef), and home grown fruit (figs, oranges, plums, pecans, and grapes). Wheat flour was the only food staple that was not locally grown, and was purchased instead at the markets. Originally, Cajun meals were bland, and nearly all foods were boiled. The development of the roux gave more versatility to boiled dishes. Rice was used to stretch out meals to feed large families. While milk and wheat flour were considered "company foods", sugar and molasses were locally available, and used frequently; molasses topped cornbread at nearly every meal.

Social functions were vital to the culture, and parties, dances, and feasts were frequent and hearty. Coffee (usually black) was served generously, and gumbo was brought out to feed the guests at midnight. Other events such as communal harvest and butchering were also social gatherings with generous amounts of food and drink.

Cajun food is essentially the poor cousin to Creole. Today it tends to be spicier and more robust than Creole, utilizing regionally available resources and less of the foods gained through trade. Some popular Cajun dishes include pork based sausages such as andouille and boudin; various jambalayas and gumbos; coush-coush (a creamed corn dish) and etoufeé. The symbol of Cajun cooking is perhaps the crawfish, but,ironically, until 40 years ago crawfish were used mainly as bait; it took too much effort to remove the meat from the tiny crustacean.

The history of Creole cuisine can begin with the first European occupation of Louisiana in 1682 by the Frenchman La Salle. By 1722, New Orleans had become the capital of the region; French and other immigrants had settled in the area by this time. In 1762, the French government turned the Louisiana territory over to the Spanish, who welcomed immigrants with an open door policy. By the eighteenth century, trade was active and spices from the Carribbean were easily obtainable in the French Market. The Creole culture and cuisine (originally "Criolle," meaning "native born") emerged in this setting.

Creole cooking is based upon French stews and soups, and is influenced by Spanish, African, Native American, and other Anglo Southern groups. The Spanish brought into the cuisine the use of cooked onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and garlic. African chefs brought with them the skill of spices and introduced okra. Native foodstuffs, such as crawfish, shrimp, oysters, crabs,and pecans found their way into both Cajun and Creole cuisine. From the Choctaw Indians came the use of filé, a powdered herb from sassafras leaves, to thicken gumbo. One factor typically overlooked in the development of Creole-style cooking was that it was food prepared for affluent whites by their black slaves and servants. So often the emergence of a new dish was the result of creative chefs intermingling their cooking experience and heritage with the tastes of their employers. The Creoles differed from the Cajuns in another aspect: their insatiable sweet tooth. Such delicacies as pecan divinities and flan were enjoyed by Creoles frequently.
 
 

New Orleans, the capital of Creole cuisine, had established a culinary reputation by early 19th century. Antoine's Restaurant opened in the French Quarter in 1840. The region experienced food shortages and economic disaster following the Civil War, but had regained strength by 1885. This time period also marked a revival in Creole cuisine, ironically at the same time the culture itself was on the decline. The first Creole cookbook was published in 1885; before this time period it is difficult to establish the origins and evolutions of certain dishes. To Cajun/Creole bibliography.

Technology shapes our Southern foodways, although we don't often recognize the link between what was at one time necessity and what is now considered tradition.

At Jamestown, Virginia, the European colonists relied on Old World technology to struggle against starvation in the unfamiliar environment of the New World. Most tools were made of wood, which although primitive, was readily available, and allowed farmers to break up the virgin soil, cultivate, and harvest their crops with remarkable success. Spades, hoes, and mattocks were the chief instruments of the earliest farmers. In 1649, a census recorded only 150 plows in the colony. The iron cooking pots of the seventeenth and eighteenth century kitchen were heavy and did not cook foods evenly. Pots that hung over the wood fire in the hearth weighed as much as twenty-four pounds and their walls were more than one inch thick. Other kitchen utensils, forged by the local blacksmith, were heavy and cumbersome in proportion to the big cauldrons.

 Between 1830 and 1920, the industrial revolution rearranged the American kitchen. People quickly adopted new materials such as aluminum, new sources of cooking fuel like gas and electricity, and better forms of preservation in refrigeration, canning, and glass containers.

 Along with these innovations came the necessity of moving goods, materials, and food. The first railroads in the southern United States were under active construction in the 1830's. This important mode of transportation helped in the development of factories and the technology needed to make them profitable. Wagons were replaced by trains as the method of supplying large growing population centers.

The household kitchen that evolved in the nineteenth century was not a planned and orderly process. Handmade tools and utensils were slowly outmoded by cheaper machine-produced versions and style was affected by production decisions at far away factories. The new factories produced mass quantities of saucepans, warming bowls, and kettles not for a few hundred local customers, but for hundreds of thousands everywhere. Mechanization created new standards; although superior control of metal manufacturing (through the use of dies,for example) created a uniform product, the quality of construction declined to keep costs low. Consumers were able to buy, use, and throw away goods and an increasing rate.

New appliances changed the physical structure of the kitchen. By the 1830's the iron range eliminated the need for a kitchen hearth; it was a movable, factory-made object which could be placed anywhere. The root cellar, which was a necessity for food preservation, was replaced by the icebox by 1827. Individual dairy rooms and smokehouses were no longer needed when mass-produced containers of tin or glass became available. The larder as a meat and fresh food storage room disappeared from homes by 1920. Any room piped with water and cooking fuel (gas after 1860, electricity after 1892) could be the kitchen.

A population boom followed the technological advances which helped to feed workers and their families. Florida had a population of 34,730 in 1830 which grew to 1.5 million in 1930 and 12 million by 1990. Technology paved the way for these startling increases and has sustained the pressure of such growth by constantly changing and finding new solutions to feeding everyone. To Technology bibliography.

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