Southern Regional Cookery: Seafood

With nine states bordering the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico and the major tributaries of the Mississippi River flowing through the rest of the southern states, fish and seafood have been prominent in southern cooking since pre-Columbian days. Along the Eastern Seaboard, oyster stew is a simple dish of oysters warmed with milk or cream. In colonial and antebellum days, oysters were more plentiful than meat along the coast; they were added to sausages and stuffings. Oyster dressing is still a favorite holiday dish. Oysters and clams are eaten raw and steamed at “roasts” along the shore. Inland, fancy New Orleans restaurant dishes such as oysters Rockefeller and oysters Bienville have gained popularity. Oysters are fried and served with cocktail or tartar sauce or added to po’boys. They are stirred into jambalayas and gumbos. Shrimp are boiled, steamed, fried, grilled, baked in pies, served atop pasta and grits, ground into pastes, pickled, and added to pilaus and soups. Crabs are steamed and eaten at outdoor tables, or the picked meat, usually cooked with hot spices, is added to soups and salads or transformed into crab dips, deviled crab, crabmeat casseroles, and pan-fried crab cakes. Crawfish are enjoyed regionally, particularly in Louisiana.