One possible explanation for the name is that a simple version of the dish was first made by various peoplesuch as Union soldiers during the Civil War, fishermen, or runaway slavesto quiet howling dogs. All Rights Reserved. The Whistle Walk. By the turn of the 20th century, he had constructed what he called his club house, a frame structure with a neatly swept yard where guests could come feast on fish of every kind, prepared in every way. As an accompaniment, he served what the Augusta Chronicle described in 1903 as the once eaten, never-to-be-forgotten red horse bread.. The History of Hushpuppies and How to Make Basset hound, Hound dog, The Garden Party Jerry Schwartz interesting idea to, Hush Puppies Name came from the slavery times in the, Hush Puppies Womens Bryson Jade Suede Fringe Flat Sandals, What Makes a Dish Authentic Soul Food? Many of these origin stories have reached legendary status, with each one seeming just believable enough. As with any good legend, those of which are relating to the origin of the hush puppy have been a part of one long-running game of telephone. By the 1940s, hushpuppies had crossed over from outdoor fish fries and become staples at the fish houses that served fried fish and steamed oysters up and down the Carolina coast. pic.twitter.com/5RgRdKunOr, Michael W. Twitty (@KosherSoul) February 18, 2022, Twittys claim was echoed in a long-form November 2021 profile about hush puppies in the Southern culinary publicationThe Southeastern Dispatch. We know what you might be thinking. Starting as far back as the 18th century, to hush puppy was to silence a person or to cover-up something in a covert manner. It can be speculated that at least some men lived to tell the tale: that the Rebels successfully hushed their yapping dogs and escaped notice of the incoming Yankee soldiers. Corn was used to make all kinds of dishes from the familiar cornbread and grits to liquors such as whiskey and moonshine, which were important trade items. The funny name soon caught the ear of tourists from up North visiting Florida on fishing excursions. The whistle walk was the path enslaved domestics took to deliver food from the kitchen of a plantation to the dining room. (LogOut/ Etymology is attributed to a variety of sources. Hush puppy definition is cornmeal dough shaped into small balls and fried in deep fat usually used in plural. The Origin of Hush Puppies | History Cooperative So who came up with the word doohickey? Others, well, are a bit more out there. If we blindly accept the folklore about Southern cuisine, were missing out on real stories that are so much more interesting than a bunch of made-up nonsense. All information is believed to be accurate but is not guaranteed by Lancaster Puppies . Mr. Hagy built a processing facility to produce the same products his family had made for generations. Currently, Tena is a substitute teacher in Palm Beach County, Florida and a student pursuing a PhD in Global Training and Development. She is passionate about education & training, coaching, mentoring and consulting. He also perfected the art of cooking up notoriously boney River Redhorse, which is what famously gave red horse bread its name. Hush Puppies Origin Slavery Snopes Related words. After all, who else would have made it out and thought to tell the world the new name for the spherical corn cake? The soldiers, some say, named the bread balls "hushpuppies" for the same reason as the fishermen: to quiet the hounds. When I was out in Salt Lake City this summer, I was surprised when I ordered a platter of ribs and brisket at R&R Barbecue and discovered it came with two ping pong ball-sized hushpuppies nestled against the little plastic tub of mac n cheese. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina. Soon Marple & Co. was advertising the product on radio and in newspapers across the country. The hounds stopped barking and tracking thanks to the cornmeal which later adopted the name hush puppies. Free shipping, get your, Eastgate Street Gloucester old image Gloucester, Old images, Hush Puppies Brogue Black Oxfords 9.5 Medium (D, Rare 80's Vintage HUSH PUPPIES Tan Suede by, Women's Hush Puppies Thora Create (6 M in Black Nubuck, Happiness is a warm puppy. Charles Shultz, Your email address will not be published. Other similar delicacies could be found in Georgia and Florida, though by 1927 they were known popularly as hush puppies. The History of Guns, Greek Mythology: Stories, Characters, Gods, and Culture, Aztec Mythology: Important Stories and Characters, Greek Gods and Goddesses: Family Tree and Fun Facts, Roman Gods and Goddesses: The Names and Stories of 29 Ancient Roman Gods, Mnemosyne: Goddess of Memory, and Mother of The Muses, iPhone History: A Timeline of Every Model in Order, US History Timeline: The Dates of Americas Journey, Ancient Civilizations Timeline: The Complete List from Aboriginals to Incans, Why Are Hot Dogs Called Hot Dogs? In 1939 a reporter for the Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin, attributed the hushpuppys invention to the improvisations of a Florida cook made frantic by the whining of dogs while she fried a batch of fish. As a historical interpreter of enslaved lives, this is social media disinformation. It was told that slaves were required to whistle as they walked as whistling and chewing are incompatible simultaneous actions. Hush Puppies The fanciful name doesnt account for the beginning of the food. View all posts by Author & Life Coach Tena Lawyer. WebHistory of Hushpuppies. Another fascinating fact is that the usage of cornrows by men can be traced as far back as the early 5th century BC. Back in the Carolinas, local newspapers were amused that anyone could make money selling something so simple as hushpuppy mix to a bunch of Yankees. Hush Puppies Sometime around the turn of the 20th century, guests at South Carolina fish fries were introduced to a brand new delicacy called red horse bread. The women made a batter and hand-shaped it into patties they called croquettes de maise, and the recipe quickly spread across the Southand somehow started being used to hush dogs, the same as in all the other stories. Regardless who first put the two items together, though, North Carolinians quickly discovered that a basket of hushpuppies were the perfect accompaniment for a tray of chopped barbecue and ketchup-laced red slaw. A division of Wolverine World Wide, Hush Puppies is headquartered in Rockford, Michigan. The author of a 1934 travel feature for the Harrisburg Sunday Courier stopped by Joe Browns fishing camp on Lake Harris near Orlando and was treated to a spread of fried fish, French fried potatoes, and a delicious cornbread concoction which Brown called Hush Puppies.. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Not long after the post spread virally, culinary historian Michael W. Twitty noted that as an historical interpreter of enslaved lives, this is social media disinformation. Twitty added that Hushpuppies are a fritter with roots in Indigenous American and African Atlantic foodways, and that they were not known to be used by freedom seekers., "Escaping slaves used to throw balls of fried cornmeal out to distract the hounds from tracking them. Romeo Govan, a famous culinary master known for his red horse cornbread, was known to make magic out of local Redfish, also known as Red Drum or Channel Bass, that was found in abundance in South Carolina rivers. Another theory is that the term hush puppy refers to the noise made by the hot oil when the batter is dropped into it. In fact "doohickey" was already in use by Navy sailors long before it was first documented, which was, according to Today I Found Out's website, in 1914 when it appeared in an edition of Our Navy magazine. The legendary Warner Stamey, who taught an entire generation of Piedmont restaurateurs the Lexington style of barbecue, helped popularize the new menu item. (its your taste buds), 4 or 5 cups vegetable oil (enough to deep fry so that they dont stick to each other). I don't much buy that one because I can't imagine that the slaves would have thrown good food to the dogs. Instead, gravy, or pot liquor, was the first to be called hush puppy. Hushpuppies are a fine example of this intellectual laziness in action. As a matter of fact, the largest separation between the recipes comes when frying cornmeal batter today, since most hush puppy recipes call for peanut oil or vegetable oil instead of using the leftover fish grease in the same frying pan. Hush puppies are the origin of slavery. The following image was offered with the post: Further, a primary result for a search on the etymology of hush puppies led to a Brittanica.com entry that appeared to somewhat substantiate the claims in the post: hush puppy, a deep-fried or baked ball of cornmeal batter and spices, usually served as a side dish. snopes Maybe you know them best as three finger bread or as corn dodgers, but regardless of the name, the fried ball of cornmeal is a staple of Southern cuisine. This story is part of our Carolina Icons series, which traces the history of the signature dishes of North and South Carolina. History of Hushpuppies. The newer creations that so wowed guests at river-side fish fries were deep fried, meaning cooked in a vessel filled with enough hot oil or melted fat so that the orbs would float in the liquid and, effectively, be cooked on all sides at once. I have no idea why people would take a bunch of hunting dogs on a fishing trip, but thats how the story goes. Martha White. Ingredients for Homemade Hush Puppies Recipe: Yellow cornmeal Baking powder Sugar Salt and pepper Buttermilk Eggs Vidalia onion Oil, for frying Step 1: Whisk together Dry Ingredients In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, baking powder, sugar and salt. The batter is shaped into golf-ball-sized portions and fried or baked. Several Southern states claim that the Best Answer. The name hush puppy is thought to come from the practice of fishermen or hunters throwing bits of fried batter to their dogs to quiet them. While it is undeniable that there are Native American influences in the hush puppy of today, there is no single person that is really credited with developing the modern side. Moss referenced a common theme in folk etymology retrofitting a story to an existing phrase in use: There is an entire category of food origin myths that I like to call absurd conjectures. I borrowed the phrase from the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary. Hush Puppies - Wikipedia 6 Types of Most Popular Hamster Breeds Required fields are marked *. Shortly after 1727. The 20th century innovation called red horse bread or hushpuppies was something new, though. "Hey, pass me that green doohickey over yonder." So lets look into where they really came from. The fried cornmeal orbs made it as far west as Greenwood by World War II, and you can still find a few old timers in the middle part of South Carolina who call hushpuppies red horse bread to this day. Slaves planning to escape in the wee Hushpuppies Recipe & History | Whats Cooking America Doohickey? And Im pretty sure he picked up on it there. She served as a Director and Deputy Director, respectively, of Education & Training in a DoD organizations where she managed the staff of instructors, curriculum developers, and learning facilitators. hush puppies In Jamaica, such fried bread dumplings are known as "festivals", and are made from a flour and cornmeal dough, with added salt and sugar, which is then formed into hot-dog roll shapes and deep-fried. What are hush puppies? The nuns from France who came to Louisiana in the early 1700s invented hush puppies and started making French croquettes with cornmeal. Hush puppy | food | Britannica Baking the perfect cookie using an Easy-Bake Oven from the '90s is pretty much impossible. ", So what is Moss' explanation for the origins of the term "hushpuppy?" (LogOut/ The hounds stopped barking and tracking thanks to the cornmeal which later adopted the name hush puppies. A hush puppies recipe has about a half dozen ingredients. The groups are created to raise awareness, educate, and advocate for those that might not otherwise be heard. Fresh-caught fish without hush-puppies are as man without woman, a beautiful woman without kindness, law without policemen. Hush puppies are believed to have originated in the southern United States, where they are a traditional dish. And so there you have. #BlackHistory. Drop spoonfuls of the mix into the hot oil for 2 or 3 minutes until golden brown. Balls of fried cornmeal batter would quiet the dogs in your stomach, too, especially while waiting for the fish to fry. These funky aquatic creatures hide beneath stones and debris, and are actually one of the few salamanders that are capable of producing audible sound. Deep-fat frying had increased in popularity toward the end of the 19th century, as deep cast iron pans became widely available and mass-produced lard and lard substitutes (like peanut oil and the early shortening brand Cottolene) made frying fats more affordable. The final tale of many comes from a collection of hungry children, bothering their mothers (or nannies, in some tellings) for a meal before dinner was finished. Theyve come up with an array of tales that range from silly to stupid. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The usage of cornrows dates back to 3000 B.C. Thompsons big coup came in 1948, when he signed on New Jersey-based John R. Marple & Co. to be the national distributor for his Fireside Hushpuppy Mix. Slavery didnt start in 1492 when Columbus came to the New World. One possible explanation for the name is that a simple version of the dish was first made by various peoplesuch as Union soldiers during the Civil War, fishermen, or To link to this article in the text of an online publication, please use this URL: https://historycooperative.org/origin-of-hush-puppies/. There is an entire category of food origin myths that I like to call absurd conjectures. I borrowed the phrase from the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary. Hushpuppies are traditionally served with fried catfish. According to my grandmother, there exists a totally different origin of hush puppies in American history during slavery. The batter is shaped into golf-ball-sized portions and fried or baked. The jonnycakeoriginates with the native inhabitants of Northern America; the Algonquians of the Atlantic seaboard are credited with teaching Europeans how to make the food. Across the American South or at any authentic Southern food joint hush puppies are served as a side dish. Lancaster Puppies is a federally registered trademark owned by Online Advertising, LLC. Advertisementsvar cid='7059449011';var pid='ca-pub-2765059058969295';var slotId='div-gpt-ad-truthorfiction_com-medrectangle-3-0';var ffid=1;var alS=1021%1000;var container=document.getElementById(slotId);var ins=document.createElement('ins');ins.id=slotId+'-asloaded';ins.className='adsbygoogle ezasloaded';ins.dataset.adClient=pid;ins.dataset.adChannel=cid;ins.style.display='block';ins.style.minWidth=container.attributes.ezaw.value+'px';ins.style.width='100%';ins.style.height=container.attributes.ezah.value+'px';container.style.maxHeight=container.style.minHeight+'px';container.style.maxWidth=container.style.minWidth+'px';container.appendChild(ins);(adsbygoogle=window.adsbygoogle||[]).push({});window.ezoSTPixelAdd(slotId,'stat_source_id',44);window.ezoSTPixelAdd(slotId,'adsensetype',1);var lo=new MutationObserver(window.ezaslEvent);lo.observe(document.getElementById(slotId+'-asloaded'),{attributes:true});On February 12 2022, a Facebook user shared the following post, which purportedly describes how hush puppies got their name: Escaping slaves used to throw balls of fried cornmeal out to distract the hounds from tracking them. Sometimes pancake batter is used. She whipped up a basic cornmeal mixture and fried up some cakes to give to the pouting pooches. I hereby appeal to the restaurateurs of the Carolinas to reclaim the legacy of Romeo Govan and start calling hushpuppies by their proper name: the once eaten, never-to-be-forgotten red horse bread. As the stories go, escaping slaves concocted fried mixtures of cornmeal, milk, eggs and okra to throw at the slaveowners dogs to keep them quiet. It is further worth noting that a hush puppy throughout history has meant much more than mighty good eating. [6] "Red horse bread" of South Carolina then became "hushpuppies" in Georgia around 1927, then gained national traction around 1943 in Florida.[7]. "Romy" Govans, as he was familiarly known, was an African American man born into slavery around 1845. In 1915, Senator H. H. Casteel of Mississippi explained in a speech that pot-liquor in his section was known as hush-puppy because it kept the houn dawgs from growling. The hounds in this case seem to be the metaphorical ones growling in a diners stomach, a much smarter use of pot liquor than throwing it to the dogs. iPhone History: A Timeline of Every Model in Order DEUT 2868, Hush Puppies, Easy Street at 6pm. By 1949 the Wilmington Star-News was reporting that Thompsons Fireside Hushpuppy Mix was being sold in every state in the union and had been shipped to numerous countries overseas, including a package that was mailed by request to the U. S. ambassador at the American Embassy in Norway. Thinking quickly, they fried up some cornmeal cakes, tossed them to their raucous dogs, and ordered, "hush, puppies! The name refers to a type of fish, for in the early 20th century red horse was one of the many species of river fishlike catfish, bream, black bass, and shadthat were caught by South Carolinians and cooked at big fish frys on the banks. Basically, when push comes to shove, what is better to quiet howling dogs than to give them some piping-hot, fried hush puppies? Pot liquor also known by the traditional spelling, potlikker is the remaining liquid that is left over after boiling greens (collard, mustard, or turnip) or beans. Coopers recipe called for white stone-ground cornmeal, eggs, baking powder, and salt mixed into a batter and fried in the same pan as the fish. or "Where'd that doohickey with the spinning bit go?". At the end of the Civil War, he settled on a plot of land Thats still a conjecture, but its not totally absurd. Some Southerners get all precious about hush puppies and Rawlings did as well. A hush puppy (or hushpuppy) is a small, savory, deep-fried round ball made from cornmeal-based batter. Change). Today, corn meal is mixed with milk, eggs, butter and okra, fried until golden brown they are perfect served along with a fish fry all year round! Where are Slush Puppies from? Moss authored a similar piece for culinary site Serious Eats in June 2015, again describing the myriad hush puppy etymology myths as lazy: Its downright distressing the extent to which food writers blithely repeat these stories without any effort to determine their veracity. Associated with Meanwhile, add enough oil to a medium or large heavy-bottomed pot to come 1 1/2 inches up the sides and set it over medium-high heat. WebHush puppies origin slavery snopes. Dictionary.com defines doohickey as simply an informal word used to described "a gadget," and, amusingly enough, it supplies the word "thingamajig" -- another of the South's favorite nonword words -- as a synonym. Further inland, they became staples at fish camps along the rivers of the Piedmont, where mill workers and their families would fish in the afternoons and pay to have their catch cleaned and fried for dinner. No, it wasnt red in color, and nobody was feeding it to horses to shut them up. Oh, and of course: they ordered the pooches to Hush puppies.. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The ingredients and steps are nearly identical: cornmeal with water, salt, and egg, and dropped by spoonfuls in the hot lard in which fish have been fried.. They are sweeter than hushpuppies, which often contain onion or garlic. Contrarily, hush puppies were not originally golden rounds of fried up cornmeal. A different breed of bogus backstory that was apparently circulated in earnest asserts that the term "hushpuppy" comes from Cajuns in Louisiana who enjoyed battering And it all starts along the banks of the Edisto River in the Midlands of South Carolina. You gotta hush those puppies somehow. : Where does a puppy come from? | Reddit, This post on Facebook is nonsense. She is a Certified Life Coach and has a Certificate in Human Performance Improvement (HPI) from American Training & Development (ATD). By some, it is thought that hushpuppies originated in Native American cooking with maize. Slaves Plus, she'll offer up some sure-fire tips and reveal the four key ingredients that will make your dishes the talk of the church potluck for decades.You can watch it here! It's easy to see how doohickey would be linked to doodad, another word often used for when you can't remember what something is called, but how exactly did hickeys get involved in this? [8] Hushpuppies are often served with seafood or barbecued foods. Born into slavery in the 1840s, Govan married a woman named Sylvia (or Silvy) Jennings shortly after Emancipation, and they settled on a plot of land near Cannons Bridge on the banks of the Edisto River, about five miles east of Bamberg. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. A croquette is derived from the French word croquer, which means to crunch, since the outside was crunchy and the inside remained doughy.