Southern American
Fried chicken: brined buttermilk.
Pulled Pork Sandwich
Tender pork shoulder slow-cooked and shredded, served on a bun with barbecue sauce
View page →Southern American cooking is the soul food of the United States — built on African, European, and Indigenous traditions blended over 400 years in Mississippi, Georgia, Carolina, and Tennessee kitchens. Fried chicken — brined, dredged in seasoned flour, fried in lard or cast-iron oil — is the Sunday-after-church dish. Biscuits and gravy: flaky buttermilk biscuits drowned in sausage-and-milk gravy. Collard greens slow-braised with smoked ham hock. Gumbo and jambalaya in the Cajun-Creole borderlands. Mac and cheese, fried green tomatoes, pecan pie, banana pudding, peach cobbler. The cuisine is generous, slow-cooked, butter-and-lard rich, and the foundation under American comfort food. Southerners cook with patience and feed the table generously.
The Palate
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Pork shoulder slow-smoked for 10-14 hours with hickory or oak until bark forms outside and meat shreds with a fork. Piled on a soft bun with coleslaw, vinegar sauce, or mustard sauce depending on region.
Why start here · Pulled pork is the South's BBQ trinity dish (along with brisket and ribs). The wood-and-time technique is the only way; shortcuts are heresy.
Unripe green tomatoes sliced, dredged in cornmeal-and-flour seasoned with salt and pepper, fried until golden in bacon grease or oil. The Southern summer side.
Why start here · Fried green tomatoes turn unripe garden tomatoes into a delicacy — perfect Southern improvisation, beloved across the region.
The Pantry
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Herbs & Spices
Grains & Staples
Dairy & Fats
Sauces & Condiments
Other
How They Cook
Techniques that define this cuisine
Kindred Kitchens
Cuisines built on the same signature ingredients
Other regions
Siblings within American — each its own tradition.
Signature Dishes (40)
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Drinks
1Starters
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