Hushpuppies, those golden globes of goodness, are high up on the fried-food chain in the Deep South.
A simple batter of cornmeal, flour, baking soda, onions, salt, eggs and buttermilk, dropped by the spoonful into a skillet filled with hot oil, they come out crispy on the outside, mealy soft on the inside and 100% delicious.
There are a lot of stories about how hush puppies got their name.
My Granny told me that in the days before air conditioning, when houses were built up off the ground with an open crawl space underneath so that the breezes could blow under and help cool the house, the family’s dogs would seek relief from the hot sun by burrowing into the soft, cool dirt under the house.
When the women of the house began cooking the evening meal, the dogs, smelling the food, would wake up; and hungry, start to bay and bark.
The women would fry up scoops of cornmeal batter and throw them over the porch rail (or through the cracks in the wood floors) with the admonishment of, “Hush, puppy!”
Other legends have Confederate soldiers throwing balls of fried dough to the scouting dogs of Union soldiers to keep them quiet so their location wouldn’t be revealed, but I prefer to imagine sleepy ol’ hound dogs howlin’ for hushpuppies in the soft swelter of early evening.
Of course, in skillets of Chefs of the New South, the humble hushpuppy is frequently duded out with chunks of tasso, crab meat or lobster, spiced with jalapenos or drizzled with honey.
I love them most the way my Granny made them. Hot and greasy from the fryer, dunked in her homemade remoulade, sidled up to some fresh fried catfish.
“You can say a lot of bad things about Alabama, but you can’t say that Alabamans as a people are duly afraid of deep fryers.”
― John Green, Looking for Alaska
Drunk on Life 
Hushpuppies dipped in honey butter….Mmmmmmm! Now I want some! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Our chef at work actually makes corn “madeleines” (like mini corn cakes) and serves them with freshly made butter drizzled with honey and house made strawberry preserves. They are so delicious!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, yeah! Now that is some mighty fine eating! As a matter of fact, we had that just last Saturday night.
Visit me at: Life & Faith in Caneyhead
I am Ensign B of Tremps’ Troops
with the A to Z Challenge
LikeLike
Never had a hushpuppy. But I have worn them. Here in the UK Hushpuppies are a brand of shoe. Your version sounds more appetising. 🙂
LikeLike
They have Hush Puppy shoes here, too, but I think hushpuppies are more common. I’m really hungry from all this writing – I think I may have to try to cook this weekend. It won’t be the same as the memories, but I’ll try!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Adding that to my list also… But what is a tasso?
LikeLike
It’s like ham, but it’s smoked pork shoulder. Used a lot in cajun and creole cuisine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ahhh ok, that sounds yum!! Thanks for taking the time to explain!
LikeLike
I like the story about the hound dogs under the house and the quote about the deep fryer is funny. How special that there is this culture and lore that goes along with the down home cooking. Wonderful that you have all the stories from your grandmother.
LikeLike
I found that quote and knew I had to use it somewhere! Now that she’s gone, I so wish I had listened more to her stories and asked more questions. And gotten more recipes!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I used to make hush-puppies when my kids were younger. I don’t know if they liked them or not. It like, I cooked’em-you have to eat them type of thing.
glassy~
LikeLike
It was never any other way when I was growing up. 😉
LikeLike