Best Southern Cooking How to Find the Best and Choose

The allure of Southern food is catching up with many restaurants in the United States. It contains a special cuisine hitherto unknown as it used to be confined to home kitchen and in family recipes in the past.  Those who have not tasted the best Southern cooking are missing on a great deal of culinary delights. This unique cuisine   has been heavily influenced by other cuisines from other groups that were resident in the Southern United States throughout history and include Native American, Irish, African American, British, Spanish and French. Treats include chicken fried steaks, pecan pie, mint juleps, cat fish, black eyed peas, pit barbeque among many others. Many restaurants in New York are greatly sprucing up offerings like their fried chicken with a Southern touch.

You will find food chains like Cracker Barrel that are specializing in Southern food and have created a considerably special catering niche. Due to their reach they have spread this acquired taste to mainstream American markets. Other established chains like Popeye's and Stuckey's are also following suit with their well known spicy fried chicken and "pecan shoppe" respectively. In addition there are nationally known chains that have Southern roots. They include Krystal, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Waffle House, Shoney's, Hardees as well as Krispy Kreme which is popular for its donuts. This shows that the cuisine is fast spreading throughout the United States and since the presence of the numerous food chains mentioned is widespread you will not fail to get a sumptuous Southern meal in every state. In addition chains like the Famous Amos, Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Q and Po' Folks that solely cater for the Southern market specialize in the said cuisine.

Seasoning and addition of spices is the main stay of the best Southern cooking but this does not entirely reflect spicy and hot. The main theme is to bring forth traditional flavors in meals and pickings. The method owes it s origin to   how the African American slaves prepared their dishes many years back. Since there were no measuring devices they experimented with a pinch of this and a dash of that when adding seasoning to their food. In addition they had no cooking lessons or cook books the portions added were just by guessing and they had to use memory to remember the main ingredients.  As a result they came up with easy terms like “bake till golden brown” for baked food. This method has continued to be popular in Southern kitchens.

Recipes are only a base when it comes to preparing the best Southern food. This is because seasonings are not added in strictly defined amounts as it is done with a bit of this and a dash of that until the desired taste is achieved. The important thing is to control what you are adding. As much as there are now cook books with the basic guidelines many people still cook without using any recipe by remembering and applying their own judgment with regards with the amount of seasoning to add.

The Southern cuisine menu has been handed down from one generation to another;  a loved cuisine that is becoming popular the world over. One of the favorites with this cuisine is Grits and Shrimp which have been introduced relatively recently and made famous by young chiefs with a celebrity status. The Shrimp is an old type of fish that featured prominently in the breakfast of the Southern fishermen where it was cooked   together with bacon and served on grits which have the same flavor as the Italian polenta-a soft corn meal with a porridge consistency when cooked.  Shrimps and Grits are to be found in the finest restaurants in the South.