Southern Regional Cookery: Condiments

A hallmark of southern tables both rich and poor is the condiment. From its beginnings, the South developed a taste for chutneys in the East Indian tradition to be served with their strongly flavored cured meats, cuts of game, and elaborately composed rice dishes. The East India Company’s long history of “country captains” commanding spice ships is preserved today in a dish of the same name, a straightforward chicken curry from northern India. Every large southern seaport claims country captain as a dish of its own. It is served with an assortment of mixed pickles, grated coconut, roasted peanuts, and the sweet-and-sour tang of homemade chutney made with peaches, pears, or green tomatoes. Preserving was a necessity in the hot and humid South; that necessity begat creativity. After recipes for sweets and drinks, recipes for condiments are generally the most numerous in southern cookbooks, both old and new. Barbecue sauces change hue and tone across county lines: some are little more than vinegar and hot pepper; others are mostly prepared mustard and ketchup, which evolved from a long tradition in the South of homemade ketchups and flavored vinegars. Gravies are offered with both fried and baked meats, as well as with breakfast breads and casseroles. Red-eye gravy, made with coffee and the pan drippings of fried country ham, is common throughout the region. In the backwoods, sawmill gravy is often little more than meat grease, flour, and water (or milk).