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BINGE EATING NATIONAL COUNTRY COOKING MONTH

BINGE EATING WASHING IT DOWN

BINGE EATING LAST THOUGHTS

binge eating country food Binge eating, defined by the National Institute of Health, is “when you eat a large amount of food in a short amount of time and feel you can’t control what or how much you are eating.”

And this is one of my guilty pleasures. The Gods have signaled I can indulge in this sinful activity because it is National Country Cooking Month, National Soul Food Month, and National Iced Tea Month.

BINGE EATING NATIONAL COUNTRY COOKING MONTH

My mother’s side of the family lived in North Alabama and Tennessee, and that is where Mother learned to cook.

When I was a kid, we would spend summer vacations on my grandparents’ farm in Tennessee. The relatives would come, and, at lunchtime, everyone would gather around a humongous round dining table and binge on the best country cooking you can imagine. Fresh vegetables, a chicken from the backyard, YUM!

When I learned to cook, the only cooking oil I was familiar with was bacon grease. You dumped it in green beans, fried eggs in it, etc.

In fact, as a child, one of my favorite meals was fried chicken because my mother made white gravy from the leftover grease. She slathered it on a piece of white bread. Oh, was I in heaven.

While I claim country cooking as Southern, it turns out there are many regional variations. Take chicken and dumplings, for instance. I knew the dish by that name, but it is also called chicken and pastry. In Appalachia, the dish is called chicken and slicks, while the Pennsylvania Dutch dub it chicken and bread pie, or bott boi. Who knew?

Whatever you call this fare, check out this film to learn how to whip it up.

One of the most curious country dishes I’ve been introduced to is popular in central Ohio—chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes.

BINGE EATING NATIONAL SOUL FOOD MONTH

Soul food is basic, down-home cooking that originated in the rural south. Its roots are in the enslaved communities. The name “soul food” did not exist until the rise of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.

Interestingly, it is considered the earliest fusion cuisine because it is influenced by Native American, European, and African cooking traditions. And I love it!

Traditional soul food dishes include gumbo, stewed tomatoes and okra, corn cakes, shrimp and grits, jambalaya, collards and other greens, peanut soup, chitlins and cracklings. Don’t forget about the fried chicken, pigs feet, fried fish, oxtail, etc.

BINGE EATING SOUL FOOD VERSUS COUNTRY COOKING

At first glance, Southern country cooking and soul food are very similar. However, John T. Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, stated, “The differences between the foods of [B]lack and white Southerners are subtle. More capsicum pepper heat, a heavier hand with salt and pepper, and a greater use of offal meat are comparative characteristics of soul versus country cooking.”

BINGE EATING WASHING IT DOWN

What is comfort food without iced tea? In fact, iced tea has been around the South for years. I inherited silver from my great Aunt Pearl, which included iced teaspoons. While I love sweet tea, I’ve given it up because of the calories.

While iced tea goes with country cooking, “red” drinks go with soul food. According to the Daiquiri Depot:

Whether it’s strawberry, cherry, or tropical punch, “red” is the official soul-food drink.

Red lemonade was immensely popular with African Americans attending circuses and Emancipation celebrations in the 1870s and 1880s. Red carbonated beverages became more commonly available in the 1890s, and they became the drink of choice until the 1920s when Kool-Aid and other powdered drinks arrived on the market.