Southern Food & Hospitality from a Kiwi perspective!

Southern Food & Hospitality from a Kiwi perspective!
by Lynn Clayton - www.lynnclaytonphotography.com

Southern Food from the state of Georgia in the USA is certainly unique to the South.
I recently attended  a  preschool Thanksgiving morning tea in Marietta, Georgia.  Well it was 10-30 in the morning even if the fare was more like lunch!

	Some of the art work for Thanksgiving.
The author with her Grandson aged five.
	Lots of Corn dishes.
Pre-school morning feast for Thanksgiving.

30 to 40 4 and 5 year olds gathered in their Indian or Pilgrim outfits for a morning feast. The selection of food surprised me for children … at least four casserole dishes of Corn, either sweetened   creamed and baked or just whole kernels. Then there were the green beans, yes this was a special feast! Can you imagine New Zealand children getting excited about beans and corn?

Pinwheel sandwiches	and Green Beans!

   
There were delicious pinwheel sandwiches, corn bread rolls and ham rolls. And of course there was Jello. To my surprise the corn and beans were all gobbled up quite quickly! The children had painted small pottery flower pots to look like pilgrim hats, turkeys had been painted on brown paper bags with tea light candles inside and some children had written notes about what they were thankful for. One note said   ‘he was thankful for his toys and stuff’; others were thankful for their Mommies and Daddies etc. All very cute.
 
This turkey was oven roasted but I have had Deep Fried Turkey and it was fabulous.
Thanksgiving day itself produced more food surprises. Deep fried Turkey tastes much better than it sounds.  They don’t stuff the turkey but serve a ‘dressing’ which is a cross between a bread sauce and stuffing. The whole ham comes beautifully sliced and boned. They have machines that do this; I wish we had them in N.Z.  Again the green beans in a casserole with some sauce mixture and crumbly topping. My favourite was the ‘sweet potato pie’ similar to our kumaras' mashed up with a crunchy pecan and toffee topping. Collards are definitely an acquired taste. This year the South Carolina General Assembly voted on a bill to make ‘collard greens’ the State leafy green!  So they are very much a Southern tradition.
Also accompanying the meat was a pink sweet flummery;  yes it was served with the meat and vegetables.
Cranberry Jelly, Pumpkin bread with icing, Corn bread rolls and then followed by amazing deserts. The traditional Pumpkin Pie of course, plus two Pecan pies, one with a caramel filling and one with a gooey chewy delicious chocolate filling. All home made. The deserts were served with a whipped cream, from a can - of course! And some delicious ice-cream. We had this with coffee at breakfast time, delicious!

Pecan Pie	Pumpkin Pie
Biscuits – Southern style.	We might call these scones.

Honey baked ham. There are  machines that are capable of spiral slicing up to 40 bone-in hams per hour and up to 80 boneless hams per hour. Hands-free! Amazing.

Chocolate & Pecan Pie	Collards

Apart from Thanksgiving treats Southern cooking has many wonderful dishes.  Paula Dean is a household name http://www.pauladeen.com/  In 1997 Paula self-published her first cookbook, ‘The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cooking’.
     
This magnificent desert was served to us at the Empire State South Restaurant in Atlanta. http://empirestatesouth.com/  This starter is also a real treat.  “In Jars, pork rillette, trout mousse, pickles, pimento cheese & bacon marmalade, boiled peanut hummus”.
The pineapple slice  above was heavenly. I’m no culinary expert, but this restaurant deserves its top rating.

So next time you are in the South of the USA enjoy the opportunity to try many different food combinations. Flavours like Hickory smoked pulled pork , Cajun  Okra Pickles, Black beans, Southern Fried Chicken, Hush Puppies, Grits, Prawns & Grits, Catfish, Fried Green Tomatoes
(One of my favourites), Peach Cobbler and of course the very popular Sweet tea.
Enjoy!

Lynn Clayton
www.lynnclaytonphotography.com