How to Cook Like a Southerner

The stereotype of Southern cooking is that it covers a lot of sins by adding butter, because everything's better with butter. Well, it's true, but you can also say that about French cooking. Deep-frying stuff in batter is typical of the South, yet it's also popular in plenty of other parts of the US. Casseroles are not limited to the South, either, as they are very common in the Midwest and in the Mormon corridor. So what really epitomizes Southern cooking?

To me, raised in a border state, it's the casual attitude towards measurements. I learned a few family recipes growing up, but I altered them past the point of recognition. Then I doubled them to feed a big family. Then I got into the habit of using what I have rather than what I'd have to run out to get. By the time my kids were old enough to ask me for those familiar recipes, it was hard to go through my usual sequence and describe what ingredients and how much of them I use. That's the heart of Southern cooking. You ask for the recipes you love from Mama or Grandma or the nice lady at the church, and they will write them down for you... at least the parts they recall. Grandma doesn't cook anymore and is a bit forgetful, Mama never measured anything, and that church lady doesn't want you to outshine her in cooking. So even if you follow the recipe, you'll have to suffer a crushing blow to your ego in your first failures, then experiment with it by adding a good amount of butter.