Southern Cooking Techniques

Southern cooking has some characteristics that are unlike other styles of cooking. Additionally, some unique cooking techniques are employed.

To become a good Southern cook, you must master these techniques. Don't worry, there is nothing difficult about Southern Cooking. It's just different.

CHARACTERISTICS
Southern dishes utilize a lot of vegetables, fried foods and crunchy food. And it is not, unfortunately, low fat. However, you can lower the fat content by reducing and substituting a few ingredients. Just use common sense. Use low fat oils for frying, replace sugar with substitutes; use low fat milk. However, be aware that this will impact the flavor of your dishes.

Southern food is not intended to be low fat. It is robust, stomach-filling, flavorful food. So I urge you to go for it and make it as it was intended to be.

Although this is probably not a technique, I must mention "oven preheating". Always make sure to preheat your oven. Never put any kind of bread in a cold oven. It will not rise or develop that delicious crust we want.

TECHNIQUES

* Cookware

One of the most important techniques in Southern Cooking is the use of cast iron cookware. Cast iron retains and transfers heat unlike other materials and is particularly suited for Southern dishes, especially cornbread. All that aside, it's simply the traditional way to cook Southern. See the article on Care and Use of Cast Iron

* Cooking Time

Most recipes in Southern cooking require cooking longer than you may be accustomed to. For example Fried Okra is cooked until it is slightly burned around the edges. This gives it a tasty crunch. Also green beans are cooked until a dull, brownish, green color. They are not bright green (like canned beans...uuugh!) Southern fried chicken is also cooked until crunchy

* Milk and Cornmeal

Milk and cornmeal are used a lot in Southern cooking. Of course cornmeal is the main ingredient in cornbread, but it is also used in breading (coating) fried foods such as chicken, okra, pork chops and fried green tomatoes.

Every cook has their own preference, but I recommend you use only white cornmeal, except for the Mexican cornbread and tamale pie recipes you will find on this site (and they are not really Southern dishes). There may be little difference, other than color, but the white cornmeal seems a finer grind and I prefer it.

When recipes call for milk, always use buttermilk (except in desserts). It simply adds more flavor. If you do not have buttermilk on hand, you can make a substitute by adding a tablespoon of white vinegar to a cup of regular milk, stir well and let sit for a minute before use.

There are other tips and little secrets you will find in the various recipes on this site, but the above will give you a good start to being a great Southern Cook