4/17/2023 0 Comments Hush puppies origin![]() ![]() Such explanations doesn’t sit well with Europhiles, who insist that a bunch of Southern bumpkins would never have figured out how to fry cornmeal batter on their own. Hushpuppies are menu fixtures at seafood restaurants like Leon's Oyster Shop in Charleston The learned dean explained that when cooks fried cornmeal batter, the aroma led “hungry children and half-starved dogs” to whine for handouts, so “softhearted Mammies would dole out the pones, saying, ‘Hush childies, hush puppies.’” Pierson, the dean of the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina. In a 1947 syndicated column, for instance, Clementine Paddleford cited no less of an authority than W. Pre-Internet variants of this story take the extra step of weaving in a few racist stereotypes. One account that has been cut-and-pasted onto any number of Internet sites (I can’t figure out who originally wrote it) asserts that thrifty cooks in plantation houses would send excess catfish dredging “down to the slave quarters.” Though cornmeal was in short supply, they apparently had plenty of dairy and other ingredients on hand, for “the women added a little milk, egg and onion and fried it up.” A vocal camp insists that all Southern recipes must have their roots not in the Civil War but rather on cotton plantations back in the antebellum days. Not all Southern food authorities buy this story. Thinking quickly, they fried up some cornmeal cakes, tossed them to their raucous dogs, and ordered, "hush, puppies!" Many learned historians, therefore, have transferred the hushpuppy origin story from fishermen to soldiers.Ī band of Confederate troops, the typical story in this line goes, were cooking dinner around a campfire one night when they heard Yankee soldiers approaching. I have no idea why people would take a bunch of hunting dogs on a fishing trip, but that’s how the story goes.īut remember we’re talking about a Southern food here, so many folks feel compelled to link its origins-likely every other dish or recipe in the South-to the Civil War, since that’s the only event of any significance that has happened in these parts. The aroma sets their hounds to howling and yapping in anticipation, so the cooks fry up bits of cornmeal batter and toss them to the dogs to hush them. The most frequently-repeated story involves fishing expeditions where anglers return to camp and start frying their catch over the fire. ![]() They’ve come up with an array of tales that range from silly to stupid. Over the years, any number of would-be culinary historians have taken a stab at explaining the origin of the oddly-named hushpuppy. well, that’s where it all goes to the dogs. In fact, the Carolinas can proudly claim to be the birthplace of this now-iconic American food.Ī hushpuppy is a simple treat-thick cornmeal batter dropped in spheres (or nuggets or fingers) into hot oil and fried till crisp and brown. Of course, here in the Carolinas we’ve been eating hushpuppies alongside fried seafood and barbecue for decades. ![]() Hushpuppies come alongside the ribs and brisket at R&R Barbecue in Salt Lake City, Utah ![]()
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