Abstract
Among the many culinary icons that shape the cultural landscape of the American South, few are as unassuming yet symbolically resonant as the hushpuppy. A simple fritter of cornmeal, corn, onions and leftovers from other meal components, traditionally deep-fried and served alongside fish or barbecue, the hushpuppy occupies a liminal space in Southern foodways. An essential meal component considered humble yet celebrated for its flavor and textural difference, utilitarian yet ritualized, geographically fixed yet widely adapted. Despite its ubiquity in regional cuisine and its frequent invocation in narratives of Southern identity, the hushpuppy has received comparatively little sustained scholarly attention. Its origins remain contested, its evolution unevenly documented, and its cultural significance often included in popular narratives rather than revied and disscussed by critical academic inquiry. This study repositions the hushpuppy by meaningful analysis which reveals entanglements of memory, migration, labor, race, and regional belonging. By tracing the hushpuppy’s emergence from early Indigenous corn-based food traditions, examining its culinary codification in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and analyzing its contemporary presence in commercial and vernacular contexts, this study interrogates the processes through which everyday foods accrue symbolic power. In doing so, it contributes to broader conversations within Southern studies, and cultural anthropology about modest dishes becoming vessels of identity, nostalgia, in highly contested historical memory.
Presenters
Barry KarrhInstructor, Culinary & Baking and Pastry Arts, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Mississippi, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Cultural Significance, Racial Divide, Culinary Validity, Multifaceted Cultural Uses
