Real Southern Cooking

Just in time for the New Year yesterday's New York Times Dining section has a great piece on Southern cooking.. Julia Moskin celebrates the real deal in her paeon of the best regional cuisines. It's not just fried chicken and biscuits. It's truly American food with layers of nuances and subtleties.

This particular branch of American cooking has gone back to it's roots, thanks to a new generation of chefs.It's more of a farm to table transition focusing on fresh veggies and freshly cured meats. Everything has an earthy , home made  taste  from hominy or grits to the New Year's classic Hoppin' John. The last is a traditional dish that involves black eyed peas and rice.  Thanks to heirloom grains and old strains being grown again. this dish is returning to its' original glory.Of course, artesanal bacon fat and herbs are also added, creating a  recreation of what planters ate. Southern crops flavors are returning due to  careful farming and processing.The taste isn't being  'washed out" by added sprays of vitamins and pesticides.Also crop rotation, learned from the African slaves is also making a comeback. This helps in producing, bigger and healthier produce.

Southern chefs are also learning to recreate some other dishes as well.They are going into butchery, important for making delicious cuts of ham and ribs. Side dishes such as piccalilli and chowchow are showing up on many a restaurant table.Reezy peezy , originally risi bisi , rice and peas and learned from 18th Century Italian engineers who came to the colonies to advise, is showing up, with more flavorful peas.. These involved red or cream peas that were eaten when green . This basic dish also is getting star billing. Not to be outdone cornbread is being redone with the  original recipes. It is more flavorful, and moister than what is normally baked in supermarkets and bakeries.

Southern cooking is making a comeback while maintaining its' original roots.The result is a return to what cooking was- delicious and flavorful. It's bringing back the best of the South with tasty results.