Born Southerner, That was the Funkiest Biscuit Gravy I've ever seen, real biscuit gravy is much more appetizing, very much like the fried steak gravy with bits of sausage. The Gizzard is a muscular organ attached to the stomach that grinds down hard foods to be digested, cooked correctly they are delicious.
No James, the gizzard is not that little dangly thing lol - that would be the dewlap or wattle. The gizzard is the crop or craw, a type of pre-stomach used to hold pebbles and stones to grind up food before it reaches the bird's stomach.
As a southern girl myself, I can tell you that you definitely need to have mac 'n cheese made the southern way. Also, no self-respecting Southerner would ever make mashed potatoes from a box! Biscuits and gravy is the BOMB.
I've never been in the South, and boxed mashed potatoes are an abomination. Real mashed potatoes taste so much better, and are NOT HARD TO MAKE! Can you boil water? Then you can make mashed potatoes!
I will tell you that biscuits and gravy is the greatest breakfast in the history of mankind. The biscuit is like a savory scone. The gravy is milky, peppery, sausage-y HEAVEN.
The color of the gravy that scares everyone is because it's sausage fat/pan drippings cooked with cream flour and butter; the smell of it the first time is what converts anyone on the fence about it 🤤😋
I prefer my gravy made after frying bacon. And throw some bacon in the gravy. And for me, no cheese. But yes, I can eat biscuits and gravy any time of the day or night. As a matter of fact, I would rather eat a breakfast meal for supper(dinner), rather than in the morning.
@@TexasRose50 I grew up in Tennessee before moving to Texas (I’ve always thought there was some historical significance to that, lol)…and cream gravy made with bacon drippings was called “sawmill” gravy…don’t know why. However, don’t sell short “cream” gravy made from the “drippins” from chicken fried deer backstrap!!!
@Tim Caldwell, sawmill gravy! You are so right! Haven’t heard that term in years. Along with cat head biscuits! Oh man, now I’m getting hungry for biscuits and gravy! Have a great week, and may you have a blessed thanksgiving.
That biscuits & gravy looks horrendous! I grew up in the South and I’ve NEVER seen them like that. My dad made awesome sausage gravy & I make my grandma’s homemade biscuits. I’m trying to get the gravy right. Catfish is delicious!
Lol, that’s EXACTLY right!! However, go price those “po’ folks” grocery items at the store today…ribs, fajitas and wings, just to name a few…are now more costly than a lot of the better cuts of meat!
@@bobbymckenney1080 Amen my Dad is from the south and he ate good as a kid. Bisquits with strawberry preserves ( home made), Fried chicken, ham they had everything.
Many of the more “adventurous “ ingredients were born of poverty. Off cuts like chicken gizzards and pork intestines were cheap or free and necessity is the mother of invention. Southern cooks figured out how to use it and make it tasty.
Also chicken & dumplings is one of my all time fav dishes! My mom makes the best ones! The ones in this video, the dumplings are strips whereas my mom makes them and they look like big puffy clouds.. SO good 🙌🏻🤤
My mom makes it differently as well. She makes a chicken stew on the stove without biscuit, and then bakes it in the oven with biscuit covering the top of the stew entirely until browned. It's a two step cooking process and in my opinion.. worlds better than the typical way it's made with small biscuit pieces in chicken soup on the stove alone. Still good, but pales in comparison to how my mom makes it.
I make the dumpling clouds that are dropped into hot liquid with the chicken and veggies.., so good! The trick about the toothpick is spot on. If it comes out clean, they are done. If the toothpick is still stuck to them, they need some more time simmering.
Actually, CHITTERLINGS are very good IF, and I mean IF, they are prepared correctly. Cleaned, soaked, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, soaked, cleaned, boiled, and then fried... with onions.
Realize that a lot of these dishes are based on a wide variety of cultures that lived in the south of the United States (along with the native peoples, too) over the past 200-300 years. French, African-American, Scottish, Irish, and British, too. Several of them are based on the historical poverty of the south and using all the parts of the animals available. So, if you think of it culturally, gumbo and jambalaya are just stews. There are several dishes based on combining cheese with something. And, of course, the idea that frying anything makes it taste better.
Yeah but in the South's defense a big reason why they went into such poverty in the first place was WTSherman's March to the Sea in 1863 (Pretty sure he's already done Oversimplified's Civil War which glossed over it for ~5-10 seconds.)
Also frying came into being because it’s too hot to roast meat indoors the way they did in the North: you wouldn’t want to heat up the hearth and keep it hot all day to cook. Frying can take place out of doors where the heat dissipates and can be done quickly.
absolutely re using every part of the food... i lived in cambodia briefly and one of the delicacies was fried chicken heads. i told my grandmother about seeing a platter of them and she was utterly unfazed and remarked that during the depression EVERY part of the chicken was used..
Very true. Keep in mind that this country was founded and built by immigrants from all over the world (which is why it's referred to as "The melting pot") each one bringing their native dishes and melding them into a wonderfully diverse menu. Oddly enough, there's very little contribution from the original immigrants, the English.
My grandmother was from the deep south, so we'd always enjoy gumbo, grits, biscuits and gravy, jambalaya, etc. when we'd visit her. Plus she made the best Key lime pie I've ever tasted. She never made fried okra for us, because my dad hated it, but later I found out it wasn't bad at all! You absolutely *should* "give it a go" with all of these foods. You probably won't like all of them, but you have to try them to know, and some of them are amazing!
Biscuits in the USA, are more like a very fluffy warm bread. I know in the UK, biscuits are more like what we call "cookies". The gravy really doesn't look thick like that..it's more creamy, with flour, sausage bits, and bacon flavoring. It's really good!! From a Kentucky girl in the USA 🌟🌟💝💝
I agree with the people saying the biscuits and gravy in the video looked terrible! Most of the time, gravy isn't that thick. I, however, love thick milk gravy...without the sausage (it gives me indigestion and heartburn all day, unless it's a particular type of link sausage).
I haven't had a lot of biscuits and gravy because I don't like sausage gravy but even the worst I have ever had looked absolutely nothing like whatever that was. It just looked liked ground sausage congealed in fat.
That image of biscuits and gravy was pretty horrendous, especially for someone who hasn’t seen what the dish typically looks like. Btw, American biscuits aren’t like yours; they’re more similar to scones but they’re less of a sweet pastry and more of a super extra fluffy, buttery bread and the gravy is made with the left over grease from frying chicken, steak or bacon and you simply add white flour, milk or cream, and salt and pepper. My personal favorite white gravy is made with fried sausage. My mother, who might just be the pickiest eater in the history of mankind, even likes white gravy.
I have to agree, that gravy on the biscuits and gravy at the very beginning of the video was unappetizing and not the way it’ supposed to look. That looked like creamed beef to me, gravy is mostly cream/milk gravy with a little bit of sausage in it. And it doesn’t typically have cheese.
One of the best uses for bread is bowls and you can't change my mind. Had a chilli bowl that was a semi tough bread, that had a super fluffy innerlayer, and was fantastic to dip.
gizzards arent the dangly bit LOL. the dangly bit is called a cockscomb. gizzards are an organ used by chickens to help digestion, more closer to like a liver or kidney.
Beignets are freaking amazing. Especially when they have chocolate inside and dusted with powder sugar. Just think of them as the an amazing donut. Different but way better than donuts imo. I can see that I'm going to be editing my comment a lot in this video lol. Born and raised in the south, food is a huge part of our culture.
Pecans are a real hidden gem. Either roasted (lightly coated in melted butter, with a sprinkle of brown sugar and Cajun spice) or in a pie, they are amazing. They are also very good for you and naturally low carb.
Biscuits and gravy is great! The photo you first saw for it, isn't what it is normally like. There's usually more gravy to it. That picture wasn't the best to show for it and can see why it wouldn't look appetizing to others
Try to get passed that thing of never wanting to try something just cause of how it looks. You would be surprised just how good many things actually are regardless of their look. Moral of the story: NEVER judge a book by it's cover. The biscuits and gravy is simply amazing and is one of my top favorite southern foods. It is really nothing but sausage cut up in a sausage gravy and put on biscuits.
I remember my first experience with red beans and rice. I grew up in western Pennsylvania and it was a restaurant management job iinterview n New Orleans. First time even seeing the dish, looked horrific to my Yankee eyes, but no way to refuse a sample in the interview. Amazing!
Biscuits and gravy is the defacto breakfast in the south. If you go to any church breakfast you're gonna get some version of it. The good ones will make you a believer and the bad ones will make you want to find a waffle house.
I was raised with biscuits and gravy, and my kids were also raised on it. Breakfast, dinner, or lunch, any meal is fine for it. I absolutely love it!!! 🥰
A lot of the 'weirder' stuff like chitlins/gizzards/etc started as poverty food. Once poor folks figured out how to make undesirable cuts taste good, it caught on in other places. Same thing happened with ribs, wings, and brisket too!
chitlins was actually made by slaves because the intestines of the pig was some of the protein they where given. You do what you need to survive. But you'll find a way to make it tolerable.
"id feel like id survive in the south" boy, you think the typical american portion size is huge. go south and get sometimes even larger portions sizes while also having it all fried. its delicious heart attack on a plate basically. gotta really pace yourself but also at least in the US youre totally fine to take leftovers home and its completely normal so you got food for the week basically.
Love how the got freaked out with the Chitlins when they found out it was pig intestines. I hear Brits love their bangers and mash. What do you think the sausage casings are made from?
Half of my family is from Texas, so after visiting them every other year, I assumed that I knew all about southern foods, but I was wrong. When I moved from upstate New York to Alabama I first saw boiled peanuts and like you I made the face! Like who on Earth would ever eat a boiled peanut to me that sounded absolutely nasty! But I am a big believer in trying to keep an open mind so I gave them a try. There is regular unseasoned which are basically just kind of salty and they're tolerable, and there is Cajun which is a little spicy.. I discovered they are quite delicious and very addictive! At your first giving them a try, do not try the ones in the can you will be very disappointed. Go to a service station that has a lot of business and try the ones that have gone to a deep Brown and kind of fat. Those are the ones that had been cooked thoroughly and they are awesome! Gumbo? Gumbo is to die for! Also they are not kidding about macaroni and cheese being a staple food here in the south! It is served with every meal whether homemade or out of a box, except breakfast which is surprising because they eat so much of it. Try gravy, chicken fried steak and one that you missed,: deep fried pickles are all worth taking the time to try.
Ah fried okra. I love fried okra. When I was a kid there was a buffet restaurant near where I lived that had fried okra. I would grab 1 plate to fill up with some other foods, and then another plate to fill as high as I could with fried okra. I still love it. Pimento cheese is also amazing, as well as sweet potato casseroles, biscuits and gravy, and chicken fried steak. And homemade mac and cheese is definitely amazing.
Love fried okra my ex-mother in law made the best fried okra and squash. Crispy without too much coating where it complete overtook the vegetable. heard she made an awesome white gravy but I don't like it so I've never had it but my son would eat that by the bowl so it must have been good. My grandparents made the best chocolate gravy and I could kick myself for not writing that recipe down before they died
@@robinmills8675 If fried okra is ever an option anywhere I go, I always get it. I get so excited if I see that on a menu. When I can get 2 sides at Cracker Barrel, I always get fried okra for both.
In some parts of Texas and in Louisiana we love frog legs. Although they were way more popular in the 1970s and 80s in places like Dallas, Houston and especially in New Orleans, frog legs can still be found in some of the best restaurants as well as road side stands. They are almost all farm raised now as in southern Louisiana they were hunted to the point where they were endangered but they've come off the list 20 or so years ago. Y'all really should try them if you come here to the south!! Oh Beasley you will absolutely love pecan pie!!! I can't emphasize enough that y'all would be completely missing out if you came to Texas and didn't get some!! Around this time of year I make bourbon pecan pie with good quality chocolate chips that is to die for!!
I've had frog legs a few times and they aren't bad but they still freak me out because they look like fried frogs legs. I've had gator that that bothered me less
@@harryballsak1123 You really have to go to the right place to get alligator cooked well!! Generally it'll be deep fried, overcooked and so tough you need dental work!! But that's for the tourists even (especially) in NOLA!! I personally don't like alligator but it can be somewhat palatable if a Cajun makes it for you. This is NOT a stereotype but an amazing American experience if you're lucky enough to catch one basking on the road and you shoot it or well just... Run it over!! Trust me - as long as it's dead then everything's ok?? They field dress it and put it on the smoker and it's really good!! The consistency of the meat is different and they generally keep the animal whole and because of the heat when the animal is taken off of the pit it's mouth is wide open...... Well you get the idea#!
We can still hunt frogs in Florida; 'gators too. As noted in the comments, proper preparation of both is an art. They are easy to overcook and become tough, tasteless, and "cottony." They are much like shrimp in that regard. There is a perfect point where they are not under or over cooked and it takes skill and experience to get it just right.
@@JGW845 Exactly right about the proper way to cook gator and frog legs. I like to smoke alligator. It comes out tender, juicy and tasty that way. Also when you keep the head on it's one hell of a buffet centerpiece!! I like frog legs lightly dredged in seasoned flour then sauteed in olive oil, butter and garlic. People tend to mess up both proteins because they simply rarely cook them.
@@christianoliver3572 I haven't had good results trying to smoke "delicate" meats like 'gator, frog legs, etc. As you might guess our temperatures are so warm that is difficult to get the temperature of the smoker low enough for long enough and not overcook the meat but still get a good smoky taste. That isn't worded well so I hope you understand what I mean.
Now I'm craving chicken gizzards. So good and usually come mixed with hearts where I live. Definitely worth it. Also squirrel tastes just like dark meat chicken in my opinion. They are amazing.
Y’all saying you’ve never had homemade Mac and cheese truly broke my heart. When covid is over y’all gotta come down and get some of this food! It’ll treat ya right!
When they were talking about fried green tomatoes, they showed a clip from the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" which is a must-see if trying to understand Southern Americans. Or Americans in general!
The TRY channel tried Southern food a couple of times. This will give you an idea of the taste. Pecan pie is amazing. I was surprised that it isn't known very well around the world. You'll never have anything like it.
My favorite pie of all time is _chocolate_ pecan pie. Put, like, half of a cup of good chocolate chips in the pecan pie filling and bake as normal. The chocolate sinks to the bottom and it's soooo good. (Also, gently roast your pecans before using them!! Or any nut for that matter!)
How to make the bicuits and gravy: The biscuits are flour, water, butter, buttermilk, combined into a bread with teh texture of a scone but savory instead of sweet. The gravy is made by recooking the fried grease from the pork meat (bacon, sausage, or porkchops) that you're sering with the breakfast, then add a sprinkling of flour until it begins to solidify, then add milk and black pepper until it become liquid, then cook until the liquid is reduced to the proper texture. Cheese is not usually something you see added to biscuits in the Southern US. That's more of a Canadian adaptation.
Not just any flour! Proper biscuits require flour milled from soft wheat. The brand is named after a British King famous for his knights of the round table. The right flouor makes the difference between a fluffy flakey biscuit and a hockey puck scone.
You know I think you should show Millie (that's how you spell it right?) the WIRED's "Accent Expert Gives a Tour of U.S. Accents," I think it would be neat plus it allows me to remind you that you forgot to watch the third part, so I guess you two can watch that for the first time together.
as a southerner, i gotta plug biscuits and gravy. That first picture in the video did zero justice, plus I've never seen cheese with it. I admit, even a good plate of biscuits and gravy doesn't look exactly amazing, but none of that matters once you taste it. If I had to pick one breakfast to eat for the rest of time, it'd probably be biscuits and gravy - it's just that good. I get the hesitation though, as you hearing "biscuits and gravy" would be the same as me hearing "cookies and gravy," which sounds horrible.
I have lived all my life in the South. Some of the dishes featured were definitely local to New Orleans area. For eating, there is no city better than New Orleans. As for the foods featured, fried catfish is one of the most delicious and sweet fish you can ever eat. I love fried okra but cannot stand boiled okra which is nasty and slimy. My best friend makes the best chicken pot pie I have ever eaten. I was surprised that frogmore stew or low country boil was not covered in the video. It is a wonderful dinner featuring large shrimp, beef sausage, red potatoes, and corn on the cob boiled together in highly seasoned water. Pecan pie is about as Southern as you can get.
Been in the South most of my life and I've never had chitlins, boiled peanuts, and some of these others. IMO, they forgot to talk about all of the varieties of pulled pork barbeque!
John, good comment. Lived in Charlotte NC and Pittsburgh Pa equally in years. I found the South and Deep South quick different in food. I love the South's fried okra. Up North, the folks haven't tried it..
Assuming we don't include the south carolina mustard sauce. Only eastern NC, western NC, Tennessee, and Texas are allowed to participate. Kansas city can F off with their ketchup BS too. Lol.
Let me tell you, boiled peanuts are my heaven. I love sitting on my porch in Florida just sucking out the juices from peanuts and shucking the shells away ALSO chicken gizzards ARE TO DIE FOR
I live in Mississippi, in the heart of the deep South. Chicken and dumplings are wonderful. I worked up in the Mississippi Delta, the rich farmland area of Mississippi along the delta region of the Mississippi River. The town of Belzoni where I worked is known as the catfish captial of the world. It is fram raised catfish that is most popular. Our catfish fries on Fridays during Lent are wonderful - accompanied by husbpuppies, French fries, and coleslaw. I was raised in Chicago and Los Angels, but my home now is in the South.
The gizzards is a muscular structure that all birds have. It is located inside the bird just below the crop. It grinds up seeds other hard things the bird might consume. It usually contains a few pebbles that aid in the grinding process. Sorry, it isn't the red wattle dangling below a chicken's lower beak. 🐔
I’m born and raised in North Carolina and I will say after eating a majority of these throughout my life you can definitely survive pretty well on them. Also there are quite a few other dishes not even listed on there y’all should definitely try.
Beesly, there's a spread that's very southern and that's apple butter. in essence it's really cooked down apples with cinnamon mixed in. it's good on a baegel , english muffin, or a southern biscuit cut in half.
@@randlebrowne2048 there's a slight difference, apple butter is cooked apples with cinnamon, made in a cast iron cauldron, apple sauce isn't really cooked down and has no spices.
The way she sticks her nose up to biscuits and gravy breaks my heart! Don’t let a southerner see you do that again unless you’re trying to offend them!😂
I’m from south Louisiana. Jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, and crawfish jambalaya are great. Many of our meals use rice. A bowl of red beans and rice is so nice. On a cold winter day a bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo goes down so well. Jambalaya can be mad with chicken, pork, beef, deer, duck, shrimp, crawfish, and any other meat you can think of and sometimes two or more combined depending on your taste. Ettouffee can be made with more than crawfish or shrimp. It can also be made with chicken and other meats. The base is a roux and it should come out a light brown slightly darker than peanut butter. It’s served over rice and is thick like a stew. Fried catfish is very good especially if you drizzle a few drops of lemon onto the fish after they’re cooked and on the plate. They’re also not bad baked with a light bit of seasoning.
Some words of wisdom that pertain to Southern cuisine: Waste not, want not. Hence the gizzards and chitlins. Also, take my words for it, you would LOVE the Pecan Pie. As long as it is done right, and you are not allergic to nuts.
I'm from Texas (where pecans are the state nut, and the next county over is named after them) but I hate pecans. And without pecans, pecan pie is basically just syrup pie.
So...the "dangly bit" of a chicken's head is a cobb; and on the neck, is called a waddle. Neither are a gizzard...lol! A gizzard is a part of a chicken's stomach that helps them grind food down.
Gizzards.......Chickens have an extra stomach part called the "Gizzard". When they peck at seeds on the ground, they pick up small pebbles that sit in the gizzard that helps them break down the hard seeds before it enters their actual stomach. Turkeys and other game birds also have gizzards and you will usually find the gizzard in packaged birds from the supermarket enclosed in a bag tucked inside the bird along with the heart, liver and neck.....I boil it along with the other fixing and use it in my gravy.
Well, here in Louisiana we do dedicate entire festivals to our food. We do love to eat good food here. Don't knock a critter til its at least been on your plate once.
I grew up with many of these dishes, so I never actually realized how gross some of them look lol... but I promise that most of these are absolutely delicious. Also, this video didn't do a great job of showing the most appetizing versions of these dishes.
We that grew up eating these good foods know how they should be made. Most of the time, videos like this have footage from some restaurant that doesn't know what they are do and dont know how to make it.
I believe that a lot of the dishes where probably born out of need to stretch the budget of the family thru tough times! I come from a large family and our folks would take us to different fields where for a small price you could pick your own, or fishing and crabbing (for blue.crabs) we had lots of cousins who had gardens and we’d spend a weekend pickling egg plant and such, I always thought mom and dad was taking us to all these things to be able to enjoy our summer breaks and weekends... ( and we thoroughly enjoyed it) but we were the work force helping keep food on the table and the money where it needed to be
Keep in mind, these are iconic Southern dishes. Each region, for that matter each state, has it's own cuisine. It's all based on the different cultures brought to America by the people who settled in each area. You won't find many of these dishes outside of the South, although some are so good their popularity has transcended boundaries and are found in many regions.
If you were to SMELL biscuits and gravy, you'd HAVE to try it! Absolutely one of my favorite breakfasts, especially in the winter. Boiled peanuts are disgusting!
Did anyone else notice that in the part about ambrosia, they showed a banana split where the banana still had the peel on? What???? I'm not sure Millie understood that American biscuits aren't sweet. Some people compare them to scones, but they're really a type of bread. Biscuits and gravy doesn't seem like such a weird combination if you know this. Green tomatoes are tart, sort of like sour apples. They really taste different from ripe tomatoes. There are two main types of gumbo. One is made with okra, and usually includes seafood. The other uses filé powder (powdered sassafras leaf) as a thickener, and is usually made with chicken and sausage. Even if you don't like seafood, you would probably like filé gumbo. Don't knock pecan pie. Most people love it. Laurence Brown of the Lost in the Pond channel says it's his favorite food discovery since moving to the U.S.
We travel full time and we’re heading towards New Orleans now. Had biscuits and gravy last month. Have had squirrel, rabbit, and rattle snake stew. Catfish is everywhere. Had it with waffles not that long ago.
Here in the Carolina's we have Chicken Bog, which is made in a big pot, with chicken, rice, onions, peppers, and sausage. It's a big enough thing in these parts that there is an annual Bog-Off contest held in Loris, South Carolina.
They have Yorkshire Pudding( batter baked in meat drippings) Sherpherd and Cottage pies, Cornish Pasties, Welsh Cawl, Steak and Kidney pies, Lancashire Hotpot, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Cock a Leekie and many others!!!
A lot of the dishes from the Southern US came out of the slaves only being given what you would consider the odd parts of animals. That's all they were allowed to have by the slave owners. "Slaves were forced to eat the animal parts their masters threw away. They cleaned and cooked pig intestines and called them "chitterlings." They took the butts of oxen and christened them "ox tails." Same thing for pigs' tails, pigs' feet, chicken necks, smoked neck bones, hog jowls and gizzards." It's called" soul food" and reflects the great African American spirit of survival.
@@JShirk-po8ln this comment is pure virtue signaling. To say that most Southern food is derived from slavery is just wrong. Southern food was a result of poverty and self sufficient means of survival in remote areas. Like farming your own vegetables and raising your own livestock. Nothing was wasted. This comment made me laugh out loud.
@@midship_nc yes David I agree with you. The person talking about slavery obviously had nobody grow up in the south back in the day. My mother had six sisters and did exactly what you mentioned. Worked their ass off daily just to put food on the table and we still use a lot of those recipes. Slaves my ass!
@@JShirk-po8ln my great grandmother lived in the Virginia mountains and did not have a car. She grew everything she ate. Chickens and pigs were raised and slaughtered and put in the smokehouse. She had an entire room in her house for all the canned veggies dating back years. Wood stove for heat, no ac. She wasted nothing, even the bones were used to make stock then ground into powder for the garden.
If chitlins gross you out because it's intestines... I have bad news about about sausage casings. 😅 when I think of the UK I think about blood pudding and tripe and mystery offal meat pies and Haggis. Those have to be at least as weird as chitlins or gizzards
A chicken gizzards is located in the lower neck/upper chest area. It held small stones the chicken swallows and it's purpose is to grind corn and grains before they actually go to the stomach.
One thing that I think is important to remember is that “Southern” traditional food or “soul food” tends to be the food that was made by Black and sometimes indigenous people in the earlier days of “Southern” culture. The wealthy white people were eating more mainstream European cuisines and the good cuts of meat, the best vegetable and fruit produce. People who were enslaved to them or even free people of color didn’t have access to those foods and were given the scraps from the butchered animals, which is how things like scrapple began to be eaten. Slow-cooked barbecue became a thing because the enslaved people were given the tough, practically inedible bits that had to be cooked for a long time to break them down. Pig feet, snout, ears…people started eating these because it was all they had. Things like collard greens, which is a staple vegetable in Southern cooking, are very tough and stringy and bitter, and they require a lot of cleaning, but they were a food product that people without means could grow themselves. Greens are cooked low and slow because it takes them that long to become edible, basically, and flavored with sugar to cover the bitterness and some sort of leftover meat product like a ham hock. You can buy ham hocks and salt pork in many supermarkets here because of how often they’re used for things like this. Near the end of the Civil War and during reconstruction, many of the white families adapted this kind of cooking because food was scarce and farms had been raided by the retreating armies, livestock was stolen. People ate what they could hunt, like squirrels, wild pigs, frogs, alligators, birds, whatever. In the North, people ate the turnip root like a potato and threw the greens away, but in the South we ate all of it. And that’s why the Southern tradition of using as much as possible of whatever is available came into being-people in the South were hungry.
Lady poor folks no matter the color ate what you term as soul food because they could afford to put it on the table to feed the family. You didn't need to be a slave or black to eat like that. Poor folks got to eat what the rich folks didn't deem fitting to be served. Too bad for them, they was missing out. Dog's got treated better than poor folks in the South until they needed something done that might involve getting dirty.
One southern dessert that was skipped was Millionaire Pie. Absolutely delicious and so simple to make. As for greens? Any green I can eat as a meal. Add a side of corn bread and a glass of tea and I'm in heaven.
Biscuits and gravy are the greatest breakfast concoction ever created in history. There’s a diner down here in Phoenix that serves up some amazing chorizo gravy and biscuits made from scratch.
A lot of these food were made from the necessities of the American Western Expansion. The wagoneers of the Oregon trail and Gold Rush, and many who came before them, had to use all the animal that they had so as to get the most food out of one livestock. Then when the Great Depression hit, the people needed to eat what they could get their hands on. Also, Black slaves and later freed slaves facing oppression developed ways to make the scraps that they could get taste amazing. Our food is influenced by so many different cultures from many points of time too. Where in, say, France they moved on to other French cuisine, we kept that and made an American offshoot of that dish. There's a whole lot of history in our food that's not just hot dogs and hamburgers.
The southeastern portion of what is now the US was colonized centuries before the western expansion began. That the south was mostly large plantations dependent on slave labor is overstated. Clearly they existed in large numbers and provided much of the income to those wealthy landowners but there were also tradesmen and farmers who struggled on the frontier to survive. Just as the enslaved workers on the plantations, these people of the land had to be creative to survive. Regional recipes have evolved over the centuries influenced by European immigrants, African slaves, Native Americans, and others.
His pickiness is bit frustrating. If he and his GF get to come to America don't pass stuff up based on looks or 'That's not what I would normally eat". I though fried green tomatoes would be gross until I had them. Then I was mad at all the times I passed them up before
I loved the 'look' on your faces when it came to the chitlins! I've had them and Do NOT Like! To me, they taste just like what is cleaned out of them, before cooking!! YECH! I'll give any and all away to a poor, starving child somewhere! (By the way, these are eaten all over the world, really. In Argentina, it's called "chinchulines" (Cheen-chew-LEAN-ace). No... just, NO!
a less common dish in the cities but more common here in the small towns we have pan-seared snake no not a typo it tastes really good and the spices can change the flavor to make it better
The gizzard is an organ in the chicken's digestive tract. The swallow small stones that stay in the gizzard that helps them grind food before it goes to their stomach, so they have to be cleaned very well. It's very tasty meat, but has to be eaten soon after cooking because it gets rubbery
Beesley, from what I've been told by Southerners, "Bless your heart." can convey 1 of 2 meanings. One is sincere, whereas the other is sarcasm veiled in sweetness. If I read this one right--at the beginning of this video, it was the latter being conveyed. I had my first beignets back in June in New Orleans---mmmm! Not only did I have them in their place of origin, but at the Cafe du Monde. To echo a comment from the previous video, here we are 3 minutes into this video, and already there are several foods the non-picky eater won't try. No names here, but . . Personally, I've never been able to stomach peanuts, almonds, cashews, and such, nor the byproduct, peanut butter. But, if I were down South, I think I'd try pecan pie just to say I did. Who knows? I may like it. Once, 10+ years ago, I was on a dogsledding trip with some friends in Ontario, Canada, at the guide's trapper cabin. After we ate, he skinned the beaver he'd found earlier in the day in 1 of his traps below the ice on a frozen lake. The next morning, he offered us all a chance to try beaver bacon. I was the only one who had the nerve to try it, and I'm so glad I did. It was delicious!! My feeling, Millie, is to give it a try. You can always spit it out. But, your experience may be like mine, and you'll be SOOO glad you tried, because it may end up being your only chance ever. Have you ever run into the channel of Shaun from Edinburgh? He went several years ago (pre-COVID) to New Orleans, and tried everything. He wasn't disappointed with anything!
I tried alligator one time in New Orleans. I mostly remember the spices that was on it, and deep fried. Was actually pretty good. I thought the meat would be slimy or something, but it wasn’t at all. I would eat again if I had the chance. As a matter of fact, I would eat it rather than mud bugs or shrimp or lobster. I can’t stand those.
'chitlins' (aka 'chitterlings') "the intestines of a hog". Millie, I agree, we shouldn't be eating it. They stink when cooked, and I won't eat them either. However, weird fact is we actually do eat them quite a lot. They are made into casings for sausages, so the outer skin of a sausage is oftentimes the intestine :\ (I know, gross)
'No, we shouldn't be eating that' 😂 Girl, same exact thought for me. I'm a Southern girl and all the gizzards and intestines and anything of that nature is a hard no from me.
As someone from the south, you got to get past the looks. Gizzards are VERY good, especially when they're fried right. Boiled peanuts is also very good.
JAMBALAYA is amazing!! If you ever get down to Louisiana, like maybe if you were to go to New Orleans, you have to try Jambalaya it is a great comfort food
Born Southerner, That was the Funkiest Biscuit Gravy I've ever seen, real biscuit gravy is much more appetizing, very much like the fried steak gravy with bits of sausage. The Gizzard is a muscular organ attached to the stomach that grinds down hard foods to be digested, cooked correctly they are delicious.
I agree on the gravy.
I was thinking the same thing.
@@DeLee596 I thought I was the only one thinking that.
I agree that was about the worst representation of Biscuits and sausage gravy
I agree. Where was the actual gravy?
No James, the gizzard is not that little dangly thing lol - that would be the dewlap or wattle. The gizzard is the crop or craw, a type of pre-stomach used to hold pebbles and stones to grind up food before it reaches the bird's stomach.
More specifically, it's the muscle around the crop. The important thing is that gizzards aren't organ meat.
Humans don't have a gizzard, but location wise if you did it'd be closer to the front of your neck than your chin anyway
@@MrTommygunz420 giz·zard
/ˈɡizərd/
noun
1.
a muscular, thick-walled part of a bird's stomach for grinding food, typically with grit.
Well that makes me feel a lot better about them ahah! Legend! Thanks for the correction!
It's what they use instead of teeth.
Nobody makes ambrosia with mayo. It’s made with whipped cream.
I agree with you! : )
YES!!!!!
Truth!
Well, color me wrong, I make it with mayo and whipped cream. It's an amazing contrast of flavors..
@@suzieredfoxfur6982 Each to their own.
As a native Texan I've been eating biscuits and gravy my entire life. I don't know what that mess was, but it definitely was NOT biscuits and gravy.
Yeah…Texan also, this looks horrible. They’re also ladling it over cheese? That just sounds a bit much. I dunno…
I was thinking the same thing
Yeah, why was there cheese? That's not even a thing. And that "gravy" looked like dog vomit.
Fellow Texan as well. What is with that color on the gravy???
@@solidsnake952 I know right! My granny would kill over if I showed her something like that.
As a southern girl myself, I can tell you that you definitely need to have mac 'n cheese made the southern way. Also, no self-respecting Southerner would ever make mashed potatoes from a box! Biscuits and gravy is the BOMB.
Girl I'm Alabama born and bred and sometimes I cook box mashed potatoes 😆😆. I know how to make them where they taste mighty close to homemade though.
My favorite thing is that down here, Mac and cheese is a vegetable
I've never been in the South, and boxed mashed potatoes are an abomination. Real mashed potatoes taste so much better, and are NOT HARD TO MAKE! Can you boil water? Then you can make mashed potatoes!
I will tell you that biscuits and gravy is the greatest breakfast in the history of mankind. The biscuit is like a savory scone. The gravy is milky, peppery, sausage-y HEAVEN.
The color of the gravy that scares everyone is because it's sausage fat/pan drippings cooked with cream flour and butter; the smell of it the first time is what converts anyone on the fence about it 🤤😋
I prefer my gravy made after frying bacon. And throw some bacon in the gravy. And for me, no cheese. But yes, I can eat biscuits and gravy any time of the day or night. As a matter of fact, I would rather eat a breakfast meal for supper(dinner), rather than in the morning.
@@TexasRose50 bacon gravy is the best kept secret in the world. I’d take it over sausage gravy any day and I love sausage gravy.
@@TexasRose50 I grew up in Tennessee before moving to Texas (I’ve always thought there was some historical significance to that, lol)…and cream gravy made with bacon drippings was called “sawmill” gravy…don’t know why. However, don’t sell short “cream” gravy made from the “drippins” from chicken fried deer backstrap!!!
@Tim Caldwell, sawmill gravy! You are so right! Haven’t heard that term in years. Along with cat head biscuits! Oh man, now I’m getting hungry for biscuits and gravy! Have a great week, and may you have a blessed thanksgiving.
That biscuits & gravy looks horrendous! I grew up in the South and I’ve NEVER seen them like that. My dad made awesome sausage gravy & I make my grandma’s homemade biscuits. I’m trying to get the gravy right. Catfish is delicious!
It looked like cat food.
I was going to say the same thing. It looks like barf. Sausage gravy should be runny, not solid.
I have to agree. I love biscuits and gravy, but the one in the video looked unappetizing.
Yes mine look nothing like that!
That biscuits and gravy mess looks like something they'd serve in prison.
A lot of southern cooking was born from necessity and poverty, so it's about trying to waste as little as possible.
Lol, that’s EXACTLY right!! However, go price those “po’ folks” grocery items at the store today…ribs, fajitas and wings, just to name a few…are now more costly than a lot of the better cuts of meat!
It's also about showing respect for the animals sacrifice to feed you. Use as much of the animal as possible.
Yep...A true Southerner will brag about eating the whole hog except for the squeal and all of the chicken except for the squawk!
A lot of it probably started after the Civil War.
@@bobbymckenney1080 Amen my Dad is from the south and he ate good as a kid. Bisquits with strawberry preserves ( home made), Fried chicken, ham they had everything.
Many of the more “adventurous “ ingredients were born of poverty. Off cuts like chicken gizzards and pork intestines were cheap or free and necessity is the mother of invention. Southern cooks figured out how to use it and make it tasty.
Strong African influence on Southern cooking
I grew up eating those regularly. Sometimes I still fancy some gizzards 😋I'm from the north, but family is from the south
The roots are born from something far worse than poverty. Its roots were slavery.
Amen!
My great grand parents would cage an opossum, during the Great Depression, feed it sweet potatoes and dinner was served!
Also chicken & dumplings is one of my all time fav dishes! My mom makes the best ones! The ones in this video, the dumplings are strips whereas my mom makes them and they look like big puffy clouds.. SO good 🙌🏻🤤
My mom makes it differently as well. She makes a chicken stew on the stove without biscuit, and then bakes it in the oven with biscuit covering the top of the stew entirely until browned. It's a two step cooking process and in my opinion.. worlds better than the typical way it's made with small biscuit pieces in chicken soup on the stove alone. Still good, but pales in comparison to how my mom makes it.
I make the dumpling clouds that are dropped into hot liquid with the chicken and veggies.., so good! The trick about the toothpick is spot on. If it comes out clean, they are done. If the toothpick is still stuck to them, they need some more time simmering.
Millie, seeing the chitlins: "No, we shouldn't be eating that." So funny!
Actually, CHITTERLINGS are very good IF, and I mean IF, they are prepared correctly. Cleaned, soaked, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, soaked, cleaned, boiled, and then fried... with onions.
Imagine what she'd say if she smelled them! 😆
James and Millie would really not wanna "Give A Go" if they were shown "Rocky Mountain Oysters" and found out what they actually were
Born and lived in the South for 60 years and I have never had chitlins either - except for what comes in Oscar Meyer wieners.
@@HemlockRidge except common slang, they are chitlins in the south.
Him: "I'm very picky, I don't eat anything!"
Her: "I'm not picky at all!"
Also him: "I'd give that a go!"
Also her: "Oh, no - I cant!"
🤣🤣🤣
She's like a princess 😫😫😫
😂😂😂😂😂
I caught onto that, also. Very funny.
😂😂😂😂😂
Realize that a lot of these dishes are based on a wide variety of cultures that lived in the south of the United States (along with the native peoples, too) over the past 200-300 years. French, African-American, Scottish, Irish, and British, too. Several of them are based on the historical poverty of the south and using all the parts of the animals available. So, if you think of it culturally, gumbo and jambalaya are just stews. There are several dishes based on combining cheese with something. And, of course, the idea that frying anything makes it taste better.
Yeah but in the South's defense a big reason why they went into such poverty in the first place was WTSherman's March to the Sea in 1863 (Pretty sure he's already done Oversimplified's Civil War which glossed over it for ~5-10 seconds.)
Also frying came into being because it’s too hot to roast meat indoors the way they did in the North: you wouldn’t want to heat up the hearth and keep it hot all day to cook. Frying can take place out of doors where the heat dissipates and can be done quickly.
If you’re one to include Florida under the southern banner, in south Florida you also have Cuban, Spanish, & Seminole influences
absolutely re using every part of the food... i lived in cambodia briefly and one of the delicacies was fried chicken heads. i told my grandmother about seeing a platter of them and she was utterly unfazed and remarked that during the depression EVERY part of the chicken was used..
Very true. Keep in mind that this country was founded and built by immigrants from all over the world (which is why it's referred to as "The melting pot") each one bringing their native dishes and melding them into a wonderfully diverse menu. Oddly enough, there's very little contribution from the original immigrants, the English.
My grandmother was from the deep south, so we'd always enjoy gumbo, grits, biscuits and gravy, jambalaya, etc. when we'd visit her. Plus she made the best Key lime pie I've ever tasted. She never made fried okra for us, because my dad hated it, but later I found out it wasn't bad at all!
You absolutely *should* "give it a go" with all of these foods. You probably won't like all of them, but you have to try them to know, and some of them are amazing!
Fried okra is a southern popcorn to me 🤤
Nope. I've never had good okra, or grits for that matter. Personally, both should be served with a shovel for a discreet burial.
A gizzard is an organ that holds small pebbles the bird eats to help it digest food. Clean it out and prepared well, it's amazing
Biscuits in the USA, are more like a very fluffy warm bread. I know in the UK, biscuits are more like what we call "cookies". The gravy really doesn't look thick like that..it's more creamy, with flour, sausage bits, and bacon flavoring. It's really good!! From a Kentucky girl in the USA 🌟🌟💝💝
I agree with the people saying the biscuits and gravy in the video looked terrible! Most of the time, gravy isn't that thick. I, however, love thick milk gravy...without the sausage (it gives me indigestion and heartburn all day, unless it's a particular type of link sausage).
@@michaelfarmer9472 you're absolutely correct, it gives me heartburn and indigestion like a mo' fo' as well! But it won't stop me from eating it!🤣🤣
I haven't had a lot of biscuits and gravy because I don't like sausage gravy but even the worst I have ever had looked absolutely nothing like whatever that was. It just looked liked ground sausage congealed in fat.
@@andrewthezeppo that's the damn truth!!😂😂
I live in South Korea and the city I live in loves intestines. They eat them from cows and pigs. It's very good. Soju goes well with them.
That image of biscuits and gravy was pretty horrendous, especially for someone who hasn’t seen what the dish typically looks like. Btw, American biscuits aren’t like yours; they’re more similar to scones but they’re less of a sweet pastry and more of a super extra fluffy, buttery bread and the gravy is made with the left over grease from frying chicken, steak or bacon and you simply add white flour, milk or cream, and salt and pepper. My personal favorite white gravy is made with fried sausage. My mother, who might just be the pickiest eater in the history of mankind, even likes white gravy.
I have to agree, that gravy on the biscuits and gravy at the very beginning of the video was unappetizing and not the way it’ supposed to look. That looked like creamed beef to me, gravy is mostly cream/milk gravy with a little bit of sausage in it. And it doesn’t typically have cheese.
One of the best uses for bread is bowls and you can't change my mind. Had a chilli bowl that was a semi tough bread, that had a super fluffy innerlayer, and was fantastic to dip.
And only a heathen adds the cheese. Biscuits, sausage, and cream gravy don't need more friends. Except, just maybe, a bit of black pepper.
@@HiSummerWasHere It looks more like creamed beef chips than gravy to me. Way too congealed for my liking
@@arborealequine Especially yellow cheese! Yellow cheese with white gravy is just 🤢 if ya ask me
gizzards arent the dangly bit LOL. the dangly bit is called a cockscomb. gizzards are an organ used by chickens to help digestion, more closer to like a liver or kidney.
The cockscomb is actually the fleshy dinosaur-looking crest on top of the head of a rooster. The dangly bit beneath the chin is the dewlap or wattle.
To be fair, the dangly bit looks like it would be called gizzard or something like that lol
"No, we shouldn't be eating that." Thank you. From someone who's been living in the south for 50 years, I agree whole heartedly. 😂
Chitterlings was slave food and i will not eat them
Completely disagree, and I love grilling up some chicken gizzards
@@STOCKHOLM07 chicken gizzards are good but I’ve never and probably never will eat chitterlings.
Beignets are freaking amazing. Especially when they have chocolate inside and dusted with powder sugar. Just think of them as the an amazing donut. Different but way better than donuts imo. I can see that I'm going to be editing my comment a lot in this video lol. Born and raised in the south, food is a huge part of our culture.
We Dineh call them fry bread on Navajo Land.
Pecans are a real hidden gem. Either roasted (lightly coated in melted butter, with a sprinkle of brown sugar and Cajun spice) or in a pie, they are amazing. They are also very good for you and naturally low carb.
And most is from Texas (My home state). But, you can get pecans in any Southern states.
Biscuits and gravy is great! The photo you first saw for it, isn't what it is normally like. There's usually more gravy to it. That picture wasn't the best to show for it and can see why it wouldn't look appetizing to others
Try to get passed that thing of never wanting to try something just cause of how it looks. You would be surprised just how good many things actually are regardless of their look. Moral of the story: NEVER judge a book by it's cover.
The biscuits and gravy is simply amazing and is one of my top favorite southern foods. It is really nothing but sausage cut up in a sausage gravy and put on biscuits.
this
I remember my first experience with red beans and rice. I grew up in western Pennsylvania and it was a restaurant management job iinterview n New Orleans. First time even seeing the dish, looked horrific to my Yankee eyes, but no way to refuse a sample in the interview. Amazing!
And now I'm getting ready to go get the stuff to make some. TX.
Biscuits and gravy is the defacto breakfast in the south. If you go to any church breakfast you're gonna get some version of it. The good ones will make you a believer and the bad ones will make you want to find a waffle house.
She was right about the chitlins in my opinion
I was raised with biscuits and gravy, and my kids were also raised on it. Breakfast, dinner, or lunch, any meal is fine for it. I absolutely love it!!! 🥰
A lot of the 'weirder' stuff like chitlins/gizzards/etc started as poverty food. Once poor folks figured out how to make undesirable cuts taste good, it caught on in other places. Same thing happened with ribs, wings, and brisket too!
chitlins was actually made by slaves because the intestines of the pig was some of the protein they where given.
You do what you need to survive. But you'll find a way to make it tolerable.
"id feel like id survive in the south" boy, you think the typical american portion size is huge. go south and get sometimes even larger portions sizes while also having it all fried. its delicious heart attack on a plate basically. gotta really pace yourself but also at least in the US youre totally fine to take leftovers home and its completely normal so you got food for the week basically.
Love how the got freaked out with the Chitlins when they found out it was pig intestines. I hear Brits love their bangers and mash. What do you think the sausage casings are made from?
LOL You're right, she's already eating this when she eats English sausages
Don't forget black pudding, which is a blood sausage.
I don’t eat chitlins but I do enjoy pork rinds.
@@lorikirby2097 not the same part of the pig. Not even close :)
It's like how they give the French hell eating horse
Waste not, want not! “You shouldn’t eat that.” 😂 You made me laugh so much!
Half of my family is from Texas, so after visiting them every other year, I assumed that I knew all about southern foods, but I was wrong. When I moved from upstate New York to Alabama I first saw boiled peanuts and like you I made the face! Like who on Earth would ever eat a boiled peanut to me that sounded absolutely nasty! But I am a big believer in trying to keep an open mind so I gave them a try. There is regular unseasoned which are basically just kind of salty and they're tolerable, and there is Cajun which is a little spicy.. I discovered they are quite delicious and very addictive! At your first giving them a try, do not try the ones in the can you will be very disappointed. Go to a service station that has a lot of business and try the ones that have gone to a deep Brown and kind of fat. Those are the ones that had been cooked thoroughly and they are awesome! Gumbo? Gumbo is to die for! Also they are not kidding about macaroni and cheese being a staple food here in the south! It is served with every meal whether homemade or out of a box, except breakfast which is surprising because they eat so much of it.
Try gravy, chicken fried steak and one that you missed,: deep fried pickles are all worth taking the time to try.
Boiled peanuts in Mississippi were always put into a bottle of Coca Cola, then you drink and eat the peanuts. Combination of salty and sweet!
Everything is better fried in grease
YES!!! In the South they like to fry EVERYTHING!!! It's not good for you but OMG it always tastes SO GOOD!!!!
Ah fried okra. I love fried okra. When I was a kid there was a buffet restaurant near where I lived that had fried okra. I would grab 1 plate to fill up with some other foods, and then another plate to fill as high as I could with fried okra. I still love it.
Pimento cheese is also amazing, as well as sweet potato casseroles, biscuits and gravy, and chicken fried steak. And homemade mac and cheese is definitely amazing.
Love fried okra my ex-mother in law made the best fried okra and squash. Crispy without too much coating where it complete overtook the vegetable. heard she made an awesome white gravy but I don't like it so I've never had it but my son would eat that by the bowl so it must have been good. My grandparents made the best chocolate gravy and I could kick myself for not writing that recipe down before they died
No matter what meal I order at Cracker Barrel, I always get fried okra as a side.
@@robinmills8675 If fried okra is ever an option anywhere I go, I always get it. I get so excited if I see that on a menu. When I can get 2 sides at Cracker Barrel, I always get fried okra for both.
when i make cornbread i add sliced pickled okra, a good way to sneak okra to people who are afraid to eat it
Fried Okra dipped in Ranch Dressing!
In some parts of Texas and in Louisiana we love frog legs.
Although they were way more popular in the 1970s and 80s in places like Dallas, Houston and especially in New Orleans, frog legs can still be found in some of the best restaurants as well as road side stands.
They are almost all farm raised now as in southern Louisiana they were hunted to the point where they were endangered but they've come off the list 20 or so years ago.
Y'all really should try them if you come here to the south!!
Oh Beasley you will absolutely love pecan pie!!! I can't emphasize enough that y'all would be completely missing out if you came to Texas and didn't get some!! Around this time of year I make bourbon pecan pie with good quality chocolate chips that is to die for!!
I've had frog legs a few times and they aren't bad but they still freak me out because they look like fried frogs legs. I've had gator that that bothered me less
@@harryballsak1123 You really have to go to the right place to get alligator cooked well!!
Generally it'll be deep fried, overcooked and so tough you need dental work!!
But that's for the tourists even (especially) in NOLA!!
I personally don't like alligator but it can be somewhat palatable if a Cajun makes it for you.
This is NOT a stereotype but an amazing American experience if you're lucky enough to catch one basking on the road and you shoot it or well just...
Run it over!!
Trust me - as long as it's dead then everything's ok??
They field dress it and put it on the smoker and it's really good!!
The consistency of the meat is different and they generally keep the animal whole and because of the heat when the animal is taken off of the pit it's mouth is wide open......
Well you get the idea#!
We can still hunt frogs in Florida; 'gators too. As noted in the comments, proper preparation of both is an art. They are easy to overcook and become tough, tasteless, and "cottony." They are much like shrimp in that regard. There is a perfect point where they are not under or over cooked and it takes skill and experience to get it just right.
@@JGW845 Exactly right about the proper way to cook gator and frog legs.
I like to smoke alligator. It comes out tender, juicy and tasty that way. Also when you keep the head on it's one hell of a buffet centerpiece!!
I like frog legs lightly dredged in seasoned flour then sauteed in olive oil, butter and garlic.
People tend to mess up both proteins because they simply rarely cook them.
@@christianoliver3572 I haven't had good results trying to smoke "delicate" meats like 'gator, frog legs, etc. As you might guess our temperatures are so warm that is difficult to get the temperature of the smoker low enough for long enough and not overcook the meat but still get a good smoky taste. That isn't worded well so I hope you understand what I mean.
Biscuits and gravy are amazing but rarely if ever served with cheese.
Now I'm craving chicken gizzards. So good and usually come mixed with hearts where I live. Definitely worth it. Also squirrel tastes just like dark meat chicken in my opinion. They are amazing.
Y’all saying you’ve never had homemade Mac and cheese truly broke my heart. When covid is over y’all gotta come down and get some of this food! It’ll treat ya right!
'Fried Green Tomatoes'. Honestly one of the best movies you may ever watch. So heartwarming. Iggy is the bomb!
Agreed!
When they were talking about fried green tomatoes, they showed a clip from the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" which is a must-see if trying to understand Southern Americans. Or Americans in general!
Except the fried green tomatoes at the whistle stop Cafe (in my opinion) are not that good but I love both fried Green tomatoes.
The secret is in the sauce
To be fair to the biscuits and gravy, that's about the nastiest biscuits and gravy that I've ever seen.
My dad's side of the family is southern, mostly from Louisiana so I grew up eating a lot of these foods and love them
The TRY channel tried Southern food a couple of times. This will give you an idea of the taste. Pecan pie is amazing. I was surprised that it isn't known very well around the world. You'll never have anything like it.
My favorite pie of all time is _chocolate_ pecan pie. Put, like, half of a cup of good chocolate chips in the pecan pie filling and bake as normal. The chocolate sinks to the bottom and it's soooo good. (Also, gently roast your pecans before using them!! Or any nut for that matter!)
How to make the bicuits and gravy: The biscuits are flour, water, butter, buttermilk, combined into a bread with teh texture of a scone but savory instead of sweet. The gravy is made by recooking the fried grease from the pork meat (bacon, sausage, or porkchops) that you're sering with the breakfast, then add a sprinkling of flour until it begins to solidify, then add milk and black pepper until it become liquid, then cook until the liquid is reduced to the proper texture. Cheese is not usually something you see added to biscuits in the Southern US. That's more of a Canadian adaptation.
Not just any flour! Proper biscuits require flour milled from soft wheat. The brand is named after a British King famous for his knights of the round table. The right flouor makes the difference between a fluffy flakey biscuit and a hockey puck scone.
You know I think you should show Millie (that's how you spell it right?) the WIRED's "Accent Expert Gives a Tour of U.S. Accents," I think it would be neat plus it allows me to remind you that you forgot to watch the third part, so I guess you two can watch that for the first time together.
as a southerner, i gotta plug biscuits and gravy. That first picture in the video did zero justice, plus I've never seen cheese with it. I admit, even a good plate of biscuits and gravy doesn't look exactly amazing, but none of that matters once you taste it. If I had to pick one breakfast to eat for the rest of time, it'd probably be biscuits and gravy - it's just that good. I get the hesitation though, as you hearing "biscuits and gravy" would be the same as me hearing "cookies and gravy," which sounds horrible.
I don't want to shock you or be a troll but I make the recipe with 1 can of mushroom soup, One tube of sausage and a tube of Pillsbury biscuits.
I have lived all my life in the South. Some of the dishes featured were definitely local to New Orleans area. For eating, there is no city better than New Orleans. As for the foods featured, fried catfish is one of the most delicious and sweet fish you can ever eat. I love fried okra but cannot stand boiled okra which is nasty and slimy. My best friend makes the best chicken pot pie I have ever eaten. I was surprised that frogmore stew or low country boil was not covered in the video. It is a wonderful dinner featuring large shrimp, beef sausage, red potatoes, and corn on the cob boiled together in highly seasoned water. Pecan pie is about as Southern as you can get.
Crawfish, not shrimp, in low country boil.
Southern cuisine is spectacular! And any cuisine from Louisiana is generally addictive.
Been in the South most of my life and I've never had chitlins, boiled peanuts, and some of these others. IMO, they forgot to talk about all of the varieties of pulled pork barbeque!
John, good comment. Lived in Charlotte NC and Pittsburgh Pa equally in years. I found the South and Deep South
quick different in food. I love the South's fried okra. Up North, the folks haven't tried it..
Pulled pork BBQ could be an entire series of videos in itself.
Assuming we don't include the south carolina mustard sauce. Only eastern NC, western NC, Tennessee, and Texas are allowed to participate. Kansas city can F off with their ketchup BS too. Lol.
Let me tell you, boiled peanuts are my heaven. I love sitting on my porch in Florida just sucking out the juices from peanuts and shucking the shells away
ALSO chicken gizzards ARE TO DIE FOR
I live in Mississippi, in the heart of the deep South. Chicken and dumplings are wonderful. I worked up in the Mississippi Delta, the rich farmland area of Mississippi along the delta region of the Mississippi River. The town of Belzoni where I worked is known as the catfish captial of the world. It is fram raised catfish that is most popular. Our catfish fries on Fridays during Lent are wonderful - accompanied by husbpuppies, French fries, and coleslaw. I was raised in Chicago and Los Angels, but my home now is in the South.
The gizzards is a muscular structure that all birds have. It is located inside the bird just below the crop. It grinds up seeds other hard things the bird might consume. It usually contains a few pebbles that aid in the grinding process. Sorry, it isn't the red wattle dangling below a chicken's lower beak. 🐔
I’m born and raised in North Carolina and I will say after eating a majority of these throughout my life you can definitely survive pretty well on them. Also there are quite a few other dishes not even listed on there y’all should definitely try.
Beesly,
there's a spread that's very southern and that's apple butter. in essence it's really cooked down apples with cinnamon mixed in. it's good on a baegel , english muffin, or a southern biscuit cut in half.
I friggin love apple butter! It’s amazing
Apple butter is basically a cooked down form of applesauce.
@@randlebrowne2048 there's a slight difference, apple butter is cooked apples with cinnamon, made in a cast iron cauldron, apple sauce isn't really cooked down and has no spices.
The way she sticks her nose up to biscuits and gravy breaks my heart! Don’t let a southerner see you do that again unless you’re trying to offend them!😂
The biscuits and gravy looks weird to me as well. No self respecting Southerner uses cheese.
They do if they're using the gravy on an SOS, but no one puts cheese on biscuit and sausage gravy. That's just blasphemy.
@@mysticmama_3692 amen brother, amen. Whoever told them that's how it's made needs to go to the forever box
I’m from south Louisiana. Jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, and crawfish jambalaya are great. Many of our meals use rice. A bowl of red beans and rice is so nice. On a cold winter day a bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo goes down so well. Jambalaya can be mad with chicken, pork, beef, deer, duck, shrimp, crawfish, and any other meat you can think of and sometimes two or more combined depending on your taste. Ettouffee can be made with more than crawfish or shrimp. It can also be made with chicken and other meats. The base is a roux and it should come out a light brown slightly darker than peanut butter. It’s served over rice and is thick like a stew. Fried catfish is very good especially if you drizzle a few drops of lemon onto the fish after they’re cooked and on the plate. They’re also not bad baked with a light bit of seasoning.
Bless y'all's little hearts!! Southern food will stimulate and cure your little pallets right up!
Some words of wisdom that pertain to Southern cuisine: Waste not, want not. Hence the gizzards and chitlins. Also, take my words for it, you would LOVE the Pecan Pie. As long as it is done right, and you are not allergic to nuts.
I'm from Texas (where pecans are the state nut, and the next county over is named after them) but I hate pecans. And without pecans, pecan pie is basically just syrup pie.
So...the "dangly bit" of a chicken's head is a cobb; and on the neck, is called a waddle. Neither are a gizzard...lol! A gizzard is a part of a chicken's stomach that helps them grind food down.
Yes, it's sometimes referred to as a 'wattle' :)
As someone born and raised in the US South, I can attest to the deliciousness of each and everyone of these dishes.
Yes, even the chitlins.
I had a little Cajun fellow worked for me, and his Cajun breakfast every morning was a Double Deluxe Moon Pie and an RC Cola!
That picture of biscuits and gravy didn't look like any I've had or made. I didn't think it looked appetizing myself and I love it.
Gizzards.......Chickens have an extra stomach part called the "Gizzard". When they peck at seeds on the ground, they pick up small pebbles that sit in the gizzard that helps them break down the hard seeds before it enters their actual stomach. Turkeys and other game birds also have gizzards and you will usually find the gizzard in packaged birds from the supermarket enclosed in a bag tucked inside the bird along with the heart, liver and neck.....I boil it along with the other fixing and use it in my gravy.
Well, here in Louisiana we do dedicate entire festivals to our food. We do love to eat good food here. Don't knock a critter til its at least been on your plate once.
“No, we shouldn’t be eating that” 😂😂 The correct response when offered chitlins. The smell of them let’s you know that from 10 feet away lol
I grew up with many of these dishes, so I never actually realized how gross some of them look lol... but I promise that most of these are absolutely delicious. Also, this video didn't do a great job of showing the most appetizing versions of these dishes.
We that grew up eating these good foods know how they should be made. Most of the time, videos like this have footage from some restaurant that doesn't know what they are do and dont know how to make it.
I believe that a lot of the dishes where probably born out of need to stretch the budget of the family thru tough times!
I come from a large family and our folks would take us to different fields where for a small price you could pick your own, or fishing and crabbing (for blue.crabs) we had lots of cousins who had gardens and we’d spend a weekend pickling egg plant and such, I always thought mom and dad was taking us to all these things to be able to enjoy our summer breaks and weekends... ( and we thoroughly enjoyed it) but we were the work force helping keep food on the table and the money where it needed to be
Keep in mind, these are iconic Southern dishes. Each region, for that matter each state, has it's own cuisine. It's all based on the different cultures brought to America by the people who settled in each area. You won't find many of these dishes outside of the South, although some are so good their popularity has transcended boundaries and are found in many regions.
If you were to SMELL biscuits and gravy, you'd HAVE to try it! Absolutely one of my favorite breakfasts, especially in the winter.
Boiled peanuts are disgusting!
They are WET peanuts
They are so disgusting that my family eat them by the gallon. Glad you don't like like them. More for me that way.
@@wpeale71341 that's absolutely how that works. If you and your family enjoy them, then who am I to say you're wrong?
Jellied eels seems pretty strange and dodgy to us Yanks to be fair.
Did anyone else notice that in the part about ambrosia, they showed a banana split where the banana still had the peel on? What????
I'm not sure Millie understood that American biscuits aren't sweet. Some people compare them to scones, but they're really a type of bread. Biscuits and gravy doesn't seem like such a weird combination if you know this.
Green tomatoes are tart, sort of like sour apples. They really taste different from ripe tomatoes.
There are two main types of gumbo. One is made with okra, and usually includes seafood. The other uses filé powder (powdered sassafras leaf) as a thickener, and is usually made with chicken and sausage. Even if you don't like seafood, you would probably like filé gumbo.
Don't knock pecan pie. Most people love it. Laurence Brown of the Lost in the Pond channel says it's his favorite food discovery since moving to the U.S.
biscuits aren't sweet we all agree. Now let's debate cornbread. Me quietly ducking out the comments
We travel full time and we’re heading towards New Orleans now. Had biscuits and gravy last month. Have had squirrel, rabbit, and rattle snake stew. Catfish is everywhere. Had it with waffles not that long ago.
Here in the Carolina's we have Chicken Bog, which is made in a big pot, with chicken, rice, onions, peppers, and sausage. It's a big enough thing in these parts that there is an annual Bog-Off contest held in Loris, South Carolina.
I’m beginning to think that y’all only eat an English breakfast,fish & chips, crisp, and tea.😂
Pizza! We like pizza 🤪
Brits aren’t exactly known for their cuisine 😂
They have Yorkshire Pudding( batter baked in meat drippings) Sherpherd and Cottage pies, Cornish Pasties, Welsh Cawl, Steak and Kidney pies, Lancashire Hotpot, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Cock a Leekie and many others!!!
A lot of the dishes from the Southern US came out of the slaves only being given what you would consider the odd parts of animals. That's all they were allowed to have by the slave owners. "Slaves were forced to eat the animal parts their masters threw away. They cleaned and cooked pig intestines and called them "chitterlings." They took the butts of oxen and christened them "ox tails." Same thing for pigs' tails, pigs' feet, chicken necks, smoked neck bones, hog jowls and gizzards." It's called" soul food" and reflects the great African American spirit of survival.
A lot of dishes or most dishes come from Appalachian people that had to create what we eat in the south now.
@@JShirk-po8ln this comment is pure virtue signaling. To say that most Southern food is derived from slavery is just wrong. Southern food was a result of poverty and self sufficient means of survival in remote areas. Like farming your own vegetables and raising your own livestock. Nothing was wasted. This comment made me laugh out loud.
@@midship_nc yes David I agree with you. The person talking about slavery obviously had nobody grow up in the south back in the day. My mother had six sisters and did exactly what you mentioned. Worked their ass off daily just to put food on the table and we still use a lot of those recipes. Slaves my ass!
@@JShirk-po8ln my great grandmother lived in the Virginia mountains and did not have a car. She grew everything she ate. Chickens and pigs were raised and slaughtered and put in the smokehouse. She had an entire room in her house for all the canned veggies dating back years. Wood stove for heat, no ac. She wasted nothing, even the bones were used to make stock then ground into powder for the garden.
but the smell in the house is pretty horrific cooking chitterlings, experienced that at my grandparents one time and thas was enough.
If chitlins gross you out because it's intestines... I have bad news about about sausage casings.
😅 when I think of the UK I think about blood pudding and tripe and mystery offal meat pies and Haggis. Those have to be at least as weird as chitlins or gizzards
At least, but gizzards, chitlins and/or scraple are actually delicious
And 'Spotted Dick.'
A chicken gizzards is located in the lower neck/upper chest area. It held small stones the chicken swallows and it's purpose is to grind corn and grains before they actually go to the stomach.
Fried Okra is FABULOUS! I’m born and raised in CA, but my father introduced me to it. Then there’s Pecan Pie!!! That is pure heaven on a plate!!!!😍🥰❤️
No, the chicken gizzard is not the dangly thing. It is the stomach. And yes, it's yummy.
Technically, it is a fleshy bit inside the stomach used to grind it’s food during digestion not the stomach itself.
@@emanymton713 agree.
One thing that I think is important to remember is that “Southern” traditional food or “soul food” tends to be the food that was made by Black and sometimes indigenous people in the earlier days of “Southern” culture. The wealthy white people were eating more mainstream European cuisines and the good cuts of meat, the best vegetable and fruit produce. People who were enslaved to them or even free people of color didn’t have access to those foods and were given the scraps from the butchered animals, which is how things like scrapple began to be eaten. Slow-cooked barbecue became a thing because the enslaved people were given the tough, practically inedible bits that had to be cooked for a long time to break them down. Pig feet, snout, ears…people started eating these because it was all they had. Things like collard greens, which is a staple vegetable in Southern cooking, are very tough and stringy and bitter, and they require a lot of cleaning, but they were a food product that people without means could grow themselves. Greens are cooked low and slow because it takes them that long to become edible, basically, and flavored with sugar to cover the bitterness and some sort of leftover meat product like a ham hock. You can buy ham hocks and salt pork in many supermarkets here because of how often they’re used for things like this. Near the end of the Civil War and during reconstruction, many of the white families adapted this kind of cooking because food was scarce and farms had been raided by the retreating armies, livestock was stolen. People ate what they could hunt, like squirrels, wild pigs, frogs, alligators, birds, whatever. In the North, people ate the turnip root like a potato and threw the greens away, but in the South we ate all of it. And that’s why the Southern tradition of using as much as possible of whatever is available came into being-people in the South were hungry.
Lady poor folks no matter the color ate what you term as soul food because they could afford to put it on the table to feed the family. You didn't need to be a slave or black to eat like that. Poor folks got to eat what the rich folks didn't deem fitting to be served. Too bad for them, they was missing out. Dog's got treated better than poor folks in the South until they needed something done that might involve getting dirty.
If one dislikes something they've never tried?
Pre-judging?
There's a word for that.
Biscuits and gravy is chopped sausages chopped and cooked then made is a white sauce served on biscuits for breakfast.
One southern dessert that was skipped was Millionaire Pie. Absolutely delicious and so simple to make. As for greens? Any green I can eat as a meal. Add a side of corn bread and a glass of tea and I'm in heaven.
I was born and raised in Louisiana. I promise you, once you try authentic cajun gumbo and crawfish, you will crave them forever.
Boiled peanuts are really good. I don’t like them any other way.
Sounds like i need to give them ago!
"We shouldn't be eating that..." Oh, I woke my wife up laughing at that. I'm from Texas, and I agree, we shouldn't!!!
Farmer lunch is pouring the peanuts into a soda bottle and eating/drinking while on the tractor working.
Biscuits and gravy are the greatest breakfast concoction ever created in history. There’s a diner down here in Phoenix that serves up some amazing chorizo gravy and biscuits made from scratch.
A lot of these food were made from the necessities of the American Western Expansion. The wagoneers of the Oregon trail and Gold Rush, and many who came before them, had to use all the animal that they had so as to get the most food out of one livestock. Then when the Great Depression hit, the people needed to eat what they could get their hands on. Also, Black slaves and later freed slaves facing oppression developed ways to make the scraps that they could get taste amazing. Our food is influenced by so many different cultures from many points of time too. Where in, say, France they moved on to other French cuisine, we kept that and made an American offshoot of that dish. There's a whole lot of history in our food that's not just hot dogs and hamburgers.
The southeastern portion of what is now the US was colonized centuries before the western expansion began. That the south was mostly large plantations dependent on slave labor is overstated. Clearly they existed in large numbers and provided much of the income to those wealthy landowners but there were also tradesmen and farmers who struggled on the frontier to survive. Just as the enslaved workers on the plantations, these people of the land had to be creative to survive. Regional recipes have evolved over the centuries influenced by European immigrants, African slaves, Native Americans, and others.
I’m beginning to think Beesley is the least picky eater 😆😆
His pickiness is bit frustrating. If he and his GF get to come to America don't pass stuff up based on looks or 'That's not what I would normally eat". I though fried green tomatoes would be gross until I had them. Then I was mad at all the times I passed them up before
I loved the 'look' on your faces when it came to the chitlins! I've had them and Do NOT Like! To me, they taste just like what is cleaned out of them, before cooking!! YECH! I'll give any and all away to a poor, starving child somewhere! (By the way, these are eaten all over the world, really. In Argentina, it's called "chinchulines" (Cheen-chew-LEAN-ace). No... just, NO!
a less common dish in the cities but more common here in the small towns we have pan-seared snake no not a typo it tastes really good and the spices can change the flavor to make it better
The gizzard is an organ in the chicken's digestive tract. The swallow small stones that stay in the gizzard that helps them grind food before it goes to their stomach, so they have to be cleaned very well. It's very tasty meat, but has to be eaten soon after cooking because it gets rubbery
Beesley, from what I've been told by Southerners, "Bless your heart." can convey 1 of 2 meanings. One is sincere, whereas the other is sarcasm veiled in sweetness. If I read this one right--at the beginning of this video, it was the latter being conveyed.
I had my first beignets back in June in New Orleans---mmmm! Not only did I have them in their place of origin, but at the Cafe du Monde.
To echo a comment from the previous video, here we are 3 minutes into this video, and already there are several foods the non-picky eater won't try. No names here, but . .
Personally, I've never been able to stomach peanuts, almonds, cashews, and such, nor the byproduct, peanut butter. But, if I were down South, I think I'd try pecan pie just to say I did. Who knows? I may like it. Once, 10+ years ago, I was on a dogsledding trip with some friends in Ontario, Canada, at the guide's trapper cabin. After we ate, he skinned the beaver he'd found earlier in the day in 1 of his traps below the ice on a frozen lake. The next morning, he offered us all a chance to try beaver bacon. I was the only one who had the nerve to try it, and I'm so glad I did. It was delicious!! My feeling, Millie, is to give it a try. You can always spit it out. But, your experience may be like mine, and you'll be SOOO glad you tried, because it may end up being your only chance ever.
Have you ever run into the channel of Shaun from Edinburgh? He went several years ago (pre-COVID) to New Orleans, and tried everything. He wasn't disappointed with anything!
If it’s the same guy I’m thinking of, he also has a video trying biscuits and gravy. (Rave review, Millie.)
I tried alligator one time in New Orleans. I mostly remember the spices that was on it, and deep fried. Was actually pretty good. I thought the meat would be slimy or something, but it wasn’t at all. I would eat again if I had the chance. As a matter of fact, I would eat it rather than mud bugs or shrimp or lobster. I can’t stand those.
Some of the strange foods were invented during hard times like the Great Depression so you had to feed your family, you did what you had to do.
'chitlins' (aka 'chitterlings') "the intestines of a hog". Millie, I agree, we shouldn't be eating it. They stink when cooked, and I won't eat them either. However, weird fact is we actually do eat them quite a lot. They are made into casings for sausages, so the outer skin of a sausage is oftentimes the intestine :\ (I know, gross)
Not so often anymore, there aren’t enough for the amount of sausage links we make now so most use artificial casings now.
I buy skinless sausage. I like it a lot better.
Brunswick stew is really good!! Use whatever vegetables you want with leftover bbq meat. Sooo goood!!!
A gizzard is an internal organ used for grinding the birds food, especially grains and seeds.
'No, we shouldn't be eating that' 😂
Girl, same exact thought for me. I'm a Southern girl and all the gizzards and intestines and anything of that nature is a hard no from me.
You have macaroni & cheese from Pizza Hut?? That is sooooo strange. Pizza Hut definitely does not make mac & cheese in the US.
As someone from the south, you got to get past the looks. Gizzards are VERY good, especially when they're fried right. Boiled peanuts is also very good.
Baked sweet potatoes with mini marshmallows is the best! Favorite Thanksgiving side dish for me as a child.
JAMBALAYA is amazing!! If you ever get down to Louisiana, like maybe if you were to go to New Orleans, you have to try Jambalaya it is a great comfort food