South – Foodie Travel USA

In Season: Watermelons!

In Season: Watermelons!

When farmers’ markets and grocery stores across the U.S. stock large quantities of watermelon, is there a juicier sign it’s summer? With increasing regularity and creativity, watermelon dishes are popping up on drink and food menus at restaurants nationwide. The top four watermelon-growing states are Georgia, Florida, Texas, and California, according to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. Other states grow watermelons, too, so you might find a local supplier wherever you live. Only when the fruit vegetable isn’t in season is it imported from other countries to ensure that watermelon remains available year-round.

estrnboarder2019-07-08T21:03:28+00:00July 9th, 2019|Categories: Featured, Regions, Salads, South, Southeast, West Coast|Tags: Agritourism, Fruit, Recipes|0 Comments

Cajun vs. Creole Cuisine

Cajun vs. Creole Cuisine

In Louisiana, Creole and Cajun food often get blended together, but the old timers will tell you they are not the same at all. First, they come from two different regions of the state and, second, they include different ingredients. The main distinction between the two is that Creole food has tomatoes and Cajun doesn't, but of course it's a bit more complicated than that.

estrnboarder2019-06-24T20:44:53+00:00June 25th, 2019|Categories: Cajun/Creole, Cuisines, Featured, Regions, Restaurants, South|Tags: Restaurants|0 Comments

10 Fun Foodie Festivals

10 Fun Foodie Festivals

Food traditions, regional agriculture, local novelties, and simple good tastes are celebrated across the U.S. with countless seasonal festivals and themed parties. It’s easy to fill up your travel calendar with foodie events. To help you get started, here are a few suggestions; this is by no means a comprehensive list! These featured foodie events aren’t necessarily the best known or largest of their kind, but they all offer a variety of events and last multiple days.

estrnboarder2019-06-17T20:15:09+00:00June 17th, 2019|Categories: Featured, Midwest, North, Northeast, Northwest, Pacific, Regions, South, Southeast, Trends & Trails, West Coast|Tags: Festivals & Events|0 Comments

Destination Beer: Fayetteville, North Carolina

Destination Beer: Fayetteville, North Carolina

Beer and baseball: Two great pleasures invite you to visit Fayetteville, North Carolina, a three-time winner of the All-American City Award from the National Civic League. The growing brewery scene keeps exciting suds on draft while the Fayetteville Woodpeckers—the Single A Houston Astros affiliate—deliver hit after hit of on-field entertainment. The breweries keep the taps open year-round so you can savor a pint any day of the year, but visit during baseball season and it’s like hitting a walk-off grand slam.

estrnboarder2019-05-31T19:18:05+00:00May 31st, 2019|Categories: Beer, Cuisines, Featured, Regions, South|0 Comments

Celebrating Crawfish

Celebrating Crawfish

Crawfish season officially gets under way in early spring, and the bright red crustaceans usually remain in supply through June. The majority of crawfish in North America come from Louisiana, where rice fields are flooded in late summer to make way for the Cajun delicacy. Louisiana leads the nation in crawfish production, with crawfish farms producing more than 100 million pounds a year.

estrnboarder2019-05-02T16:24:54+00:00May 9th, 2019|Categories: Americana, Cajun/Creole, Cuisines, Featured, Northeast, Northwest, Regions, South, West Coast|Tags: Festivals|0 Comments

Deviled Eggs

Deviled Eggs

What’s an American picnic, holiday gathering or family reunion without deviled eggs? The dish of boiled eggs sliced in half and stuffed with a yolk/mayonnaise filling has been an American staple for decades.But our love affair with deviled eggs wasn’t born in the New World. The dish’s origin dates back centuries to ancient Rome, Spain and other parts of Europe. Around the first century A.D., Romans enjoyed boiled eggs enhanced with spices, oil and wine. Spain began stuffing its eggs in the 13th century, adding flavors such as cilantro, pepper and a fermented fish sauce. Over the next few centuries stuffed egg fever spread across Europe, and what filled the boiled eggs ran the gamut from raisins to herbs.

estrnboarder2019-05-06T13:11:24+00:00May 2nd, 2019|Categories: Americana, Appetizers, Cuisines, Featured, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, North, Recipes, Regions, South, Southeast, West Coast|Tags: History, Restaurants|0 Comments

Cooking New Orleans

Cooking New Orleans

Ever wondered what makes a perfect gumbo, crawfish etouffee or praline? Is the secret in the roux, sauce or seasoning? Find out by signing up for a cooking class in New Orleans, a Louisiana city with 300 years of culinary history.Established in 1980, the New Orleans School of Cooking promises fun, food and folklore. Classes are held in an 1800s renovated molasses warehouse in the French Quarter, where Cajun and Creole experts teach the basics of New Orleans cooking, blended with history and tall tales.

estrnboarder2019-04-18T16:34:02+00:00April 23rd, 2019|Categories: Cajun/Creole, Cuisines, Featured, Regions, South|Tags: Cooking Schools, Museums|0 Comments

5 Biscuits Worth a Road Trip

5 Biscuits Worth a Road Trip

It was so flaky, buttery and light I had to suppress a loud “mmm” sound and the urge to stash a couple more delicious biscuits in to my purse for later.The experience of eating these heavenly light brown rounds was enhanced by sitting on the elegant porch of Mississippi’s Biscuit Queen herself, Chef Regina Charboneau, in Natchez, the Biscuit Capital of the World.As a child of the South and a lifelong biscuit lover, I am saddened by the state of what most places call a biscuit—they’re too often dry, tasteless and a waste of butter. But in my passionate pursuit of biscuit perfection, I’ve been lucky enough to encounter a few gems. Here are five biscuits worth a road trip.

estrnboarder2019-03-12T18:08:46+00:00March 14th, 2019|Categories: Cuisines, Featured, Regions, South, Southeast, Southern|Tags: Recipes, Restaurants|0 Comments

Mama Jo’s

Mama Jo’s

There just maybe isn’t a bigger little food town below the Mason-Dixon Line right now than Oxford, Mississippi. After all, this is the wee burg Southern Living dubbed “The South’s Best Food Town of 2018.” This is where James Beard Award-winning powerhouse John Currence built his empire, beginning in 1992 with City Grocery, famed for its dazzling shrimp and grits. It’s home to joints like Saint Leo, a 2017 James Beard "Best New Restaurant" semifinalist and purveyor of some of the country’s finest pizza, and chef Corbin Evans’ Oxford Canteen, beloved for gut-busting goodies like beef brisket grilled cheese.

estrnboarder2019-03-07T17:23:59+00:00March 12th, 2019|Categories: Featured, Producers & Purveyors, Regions, South|Tags: Restaurants|0 Comments

March is National Peanut Month

March is National Peanut Month

You’ve probably heard the expression “working for peanuts.” Once considered animal fodder not fit for human consumption, the peanut is now a jewel in the crown of American culture and cuisine, and since March is National Peanut Month, we’re sharing the history of this tiny legume from “soup to nuts” as the saying goes.

estrnboarder2019-03-05T14:49:06+00:00March 5th, 2019|Categories: Featured, Producers & Purveyors, Regions, South, Southeast|Tags: Agriculture, Recipes|0 Comments