 Chefs with Issues is a platform for chefs and farmers we love, fired up for causes about which they're passionate. Hugh Acheson is the chef/partner of Five & Ten and The National in Athens, Georgia and Empire State South in Atlanta, Georgia as well as a judge on the current season on Top Chef, and author of "A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen." He has a very famous unibrow. If you search "Paula Deen" on the Google, these are some of the search suggestions that appear: riding things, recipes, furniture, cookware, meatloaf, and diabetes. I strongly recommend researching the first and last on that list because both point to the decline of Western civilization. Let me preface this with the wish that this piece not be about maligning a personality or calling out specific dishes in a repertoire. Hopefully it is about furthering a constructive discussion to rejoice in a better Southern food. Southern food did not make the South unhealthy, rather a broken arrow of cookery did, one that is ultra-processed, trans fat laden, lard fried, and massively caloric. That’s not how I eat and I eat Southern food pretty much every day of my life. The event began and I starting out lofting soft balls for Paula to swing for the fences and please her amassed fandom. These folks were not there to see a strange little Canadian guy talk about the importance of your local farms and revel in the green bounty that my adopted homeplace of Athens, Georgia has to offer. Paula talked about her history, her family, made light of herself, and chatted up her clothing line at JC Penney. There was nothing out of the ordinary and it was the sort of chat she probably does three times a week. I then decided to ask a pertinent question, at least to me. The question was, “Do you think that Southern food has had a start and a finish or do you think it’s something that continues to evolve?” If there ever was a moment in time where I was speaking Esperanto to the Korean grocer on the corner, this was it. Paula looked a little confused so I went on to clarify. I talked about how we do a dish at my restaurant in Atlanta, Empire State South, conceived by Ryan Smith, the chef there. It is Carolina Middlin’ Rice Grits with Kimchi, Pork Belly and Pickled Radish. The rice grits are the broken kernels of Carolina Gold rice, which historically were an important staple of the rice workers, predominantly the Gullah population, in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. The whole kernels of rice would be exported while the broken kernels were kept by the locals and used to make porridges and paps, starches that when cooked are akin to the consistency of grits. It is a dish that bounces between an homage to history and a celebration of the current. Its core is that very historical rice porridge, yet then it takes a current tangent and is suffused with chopped up house-made kimchi, an ode to the modern proliferation of Asian cultures in the South. Then we return to our Southern history with a small portion (two ounces) of braised and crisped local pork belly, and loop back to the world-inflected South with a simple pickle of local radishes. It is a dish that thoroughly defines my views on the community of Southern food: Southern food is a celebration of the people within the community, using the agrarian bounty that is constantly around them. It pays homage to the past but is a constantly evolving, ebbing with the seasons and flowing with the constant progression of the South. It is a foodways that really has had a much stronger emphasis on vegetables and sides than huge portions of proteins, and one that is healthy if we show off the diversity of our crops and cooking styles. Paula looked at me with moderate confusion and disdain and blurted out to her masses, “What’s wrong with just butter and salt in grits?” And that’s the issue isn’t it? That is the monochrome image of Southern food, one that I am tired of challenging, a simply unhealthy version that has been pushed for decades. True Southern food is so much more than that. The recent news about Paula’s diagnosis with type 2 diabetes should be a wake up call. What may be the most ironic twist is that she has already secured a deal with a pharmaceutical company to be a spokesperson for diabetes drugs. Here’s to hoping that well paid soapbox effects true change in how Southern food is viewed. Previously: |
  Recent Posts
 |
 |
|
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertise with us | About us | Help | Advertising Practices
"Traditional Southern food", like traiditional Pennsylvania farm food and traditional New York farmers food, etc etc is made for people who are burning a lot more calories than the average American does today .. which is why an active high schooler who's involved in sports (or ballet!) every day does fine eating it .... but once you settle into a typical American lifestyle of very little exerciese, be it walking anywhere or at the gym, then calories need to be restricted ... and if you can only eat 1800 calories/day, you can't spare 500 of them for something that isn't very nutrient dense like a SMALL portion of cheesey buttery grits.
On the other hand the Southern tradition of cooking greens with pork fat is VERY healthy – the body needs fat with the greens to be able to absorb the nutrients from the greens ... and traditional diets around the world have alway combined fat with vegetables. Much better to spend 100 calories on butter or bacon fat with your veggies than on an empty calorie processed snack marked "100 calorie pack".
Hey Paula! Love your show,sorry to hear about your illness. Hope you will continue to entertain us! Just gear your show to cooking for people who are diabetic! Why not we all could learn ah healthier way of cooking things! Let the other guys on the Food Channel cook the bad stuff! I'm ah true Fan!
Yes, Southern food, like any cuisine, will continue to evolve. The cultural influences are numerous–Native American, Scottish, African, English, French, etc. Technology, culture, globalism, media–all of these factors have contributed to the ever changing Southern cuisine. Edna Lewis has contributed greatly to our understanding of folk traditions in Southern cuisine and even her definition of Southern food expanded to include foods and ingredients that weren't indigenous to the South, e.g. her famous Coconut Lane Cake. Paula Deen's lens into Southern cuisine definitely reflects more of a globalized, mass-produced, convenience oriented approach. She uses a lot of processed foods and an abundance of sugars, animal proteins and other ingredients that weren't so readily available 50 – 100 years ago. Compare a Paula Deen cookbook to The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Cookery. Even though both cookbooks are rooted in Georgia, the food and techniques are vastly different. Can Southern food be healthy? Well of course it can, depending on which paradigm of Southern food we are talking about. Edna Lewis describes in her cookbook The Taste of Country Cooking that fried chicken was reserved for special occassions (if you're raising your own chickens, can one really afford to slaughter enough chickens for every day of the week, or even enough for several days a week?). The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Cookery has an abundance of traditional recipes that feature plenty of fresh vegetables, fruits, game, etc. However, if you're definition of Southern food is referenced from Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible then you'll find a more Americanized approach (convenience foods, processed, high in carbs, sugars, etc) with an abundance of fats added, such recipes include "Sweet Saltines with Bacon", "Sour Cream, Bacon and Split Pea Soup", "Butter Burgers", etc. I wish Paula Deen all the best. She seems like a great lady, a wonderful mother and wife, a warm and genuine person. I would love to see her take an approach to Southern cusine that really gets to the roots, it's history, agriculture and sustainable, common-sense approach to living in the South.
What's bad about Southern Food is all of the starch. If you go to a typical southern food restaurant you will most likely be offered a choice of biscuits, mac and cheese, fried chicken, waffles, grits, bacon, ham, cornbread, white bread, ribs collard greens, pickles and corn. The only healthy food on the menu is the collard greens, Some restaurants here in the South do serve a type of stew that seems relatively healthy but your typical southern food is too starchy and high in fat and sodium. We really only need a diet of unprocessed vegetables, fruits, whole grains and a little bit of lean meat to stay healthy. A lot of Americans would rather eat bad, get fat, sick and die early than to eat healthy and exercise. And that is why we have a nation full of diabetics.
You don't get diabetes from eating natural, saturated fat. Or heart disease.
Bicuits, grits, rolls, dressing, potatoes, rice, cornbread, pies, cakes, on and on... This AND the volume it is consumed in is where the real blame lies.
So lard me up, and give me a slab of wonderful fatty pork and mustard greens, but keep the Crisco and Martha White to yourself.
Lol M. Thats hella funny bruh.
Sorry but it is a big lie that fat plays no part in diabetes...I have relatives who have passed with the disease and relatives with it now. Of course fat plays one role in the triad of carbs,sugar and unhealthy fat.
And it is also a big lie as Paula has professed that somebody in her physical state can have a piece of cake but not the whole cake. Sorry honey...you need to change your diet when you are morbidly obese as you are and you need to maybe at best have one small piece of cake a month..not a day. Taking a pill isn't going to change that.
Bourdain was right..she is the most dangerous woman in America.
Nice biased choice of answers for the poll.
Gotcha journalism as usual. "Are you still beating your wife" from CNN.... Where's the answer "It can be as healthy or as unhealthy as any regional food".
Do you think Southern food can be healthy?
No, which is why I eat it in moderation (Note: it's unhealthy)
No, and I stay away from it (Note: it's unhealthy)
Yes, if it's done right (Note: it's unhealthy unless prepared in some unspecified way)
Yes, but it just isn't as good (Note: it's unhealthy, unless you make it not-southern)
Other (please share below)
All four of my grandparents were born in Virginia in the 1890s and lived long lives. One of my grandmothers cooked on a wood stove because she preferred it to the electric range she had for canning during the summer. We ate lots of vegetables, but most of them were cooked with bacon grease or a piece of meat to give them some flavor. They raised hogs, raised chickens, ate squirrel, churned butter, fried everything and also had 1500 apple trees they worked themselves. And a new Olds every 3 or 4 years. My other grandparents were farmers too and worked sunup to sundown.
My point? You can eat any way you like when you are that physically active. You need the calories. You keep the spring flowing cleanly, keep the generator going for power at night or burn kerosene, prune trees, mow under them, place limb supports, and on and on. It was a great life. One grandfather died at 91, but that was from a jaw cancer that everybody said made him look like he was still chewing tobacco. He'd quit 40 years earlier.
I grew up in the D.C. suburbs. You can't eat like that if you're not active, trust me. We tried. I'd like to be able to eat fried pork chops twice a week and six pieces of bacon every morning. And sausage. And fried ham. I'm serious. There weren't any fat people in my family until we moved to the city. Fwiw, I'm 61 and my father was 89 when he died last year of kidney failure.
I agree with what you're saying here. Just analyzing the food alone isn't looking at the entire picture. My grandparents who lived on a farm ate a regualr diet of wonderful Southern foods and lived to ripe old ages. I love the food, but can only eat it once a week because I don't get enough exercise : )
Here's a yummy recipe for you: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/loaded-mashed-potatoes-recipe/index.html?soc=share
Ive read these comments and the comments attached to the article about Paula being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and they're very sad. Generations from my grandparents back fried everything in pure lard, ate eggs everyday, used pure butter, seasoned food with salt, and did things that would make any cardiologist cringe. They ate no different than then food she prepares on FoodNetwork. They were healthy. The difference is they didnt stay on the couch 12+ hours in a day, they worked the land, picked cotton or what have you from daylight till dark. No one should expect any less when you eat 20,000 calories and stay in front of the computer or video game. Im not a Paula Deen fan and everyone is entitled to thier opinion but dont totally blame her for obesity and sickness in the US.
What is it about all these liberals that make them want to tell you how to live your life.
What to eat, what to wear, who to vote for, what kind of car you should drive, how much money you should make ( not too much ), what you should think about the environment, what books to read, what shows to watch, what movies are great and how to raise your kids.
That is just a very dumb comment! What has being a liberal got to do with this subject? Why do conservatives want everyone to be lazy minded and pray for God solve every problem under the sun? Information allows us to solve our own problems and if liberals put out good information about health and science the I say, awesome. Gee, I want to be skinny. Should I pray to God to make me skinny? Huh...no, I don't think so. Why? Because finding out what foods can make me fat and sick (thanks to research and science) I can avoid these foods and I make myself skinny. Don't believe me? Try reading "Younger Next Year" by Chris Crowley and Harry Lodge, M.D. After reading it even you will understand why Paula Deen got Diabetes.
Emma....you should know better than to quote science to a conservative wack job....come on now. The earth is only 6000 years old and women were created from the rib bone of a man. The Bible says so! It MUST be true. Science, Schmience.....ROFL!!
Liberals want to tell you what to do?? Every Republican candidate is in favor of state control over the most personal decisions of our lives.
To those who think southern food can't be made healthy – it can be. You just have to put a little thought into it. And it can taste just as good. You just have to get an alternative fat source that is healthier, use less of it, and use alternative spices to replace the salt. I do it every day! Saying southern food is so ignorant, that I can now understand why people can't seem to get healthy and stay fit. They are lazy. Pure and simple laziness. It's easy and fun to come up with new alternative recipes that taste just as good. Like i said, put a little thought into it!
You people talk about Southern food as if the only selections are buttered biscuits, chickened fried steak, grits ( which are very healthy – they are ground corn for you folks that don't know) and fried chicken.
This is something you prejudiced types want to believe and just because that fat obnoxious Paula Deen pushes it, doesn't mean for a minute that the majority of us do.
I had a delicious salad last night with buttered lettuce, tomatoes, celery, sauteed chicken breasts and a vinaigrette, tonight I had sauteed salmon on top of a cauliflower puree.
I live in the deep. deep south. We eat well, I have never had a chickened fried steak in my life and haven't had fried chicken since I was 17 years old and my mother cooked it for the family. I'm 56 as of yesterday.
Should we assume all people from Michigan are fat because Michael Moore is? Should we assume that all people from Pennsylvania are sodomites because Jerry Sandusky is? Should we believe that all Hollywood stars are drug addicts because Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Tom Sizemore, Lindsey Lohan, Chris Farley, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Heath Ledger, Brittany Murphy, and River Phoenix are or were? I don't think so, except for that Hollywood bit.
Wow Ben. You are Bat $h!t Crazy man......
Facts are facts. We don't have to assume the South has the largest obesity problem, in practically every study of the top ten, 80% of the states come from the South! I grew up in the deep South. It is a problem. If you want to politicize which group of people make claims, at least liberals are identifying problems and suggesting solutions...
Bro!!!
Any cuisine, when cooked properly with a balanced focus on health and flavor, can be wonderful to experience. The problem with Southern food isn't necessarily the cuisine but the people cooking it. Paula Deen is sadly a prime example. She knows she's overweight and she knows she a diabetic, both of which can kill her, yet she displays no interest in resolving her problem. She continues to use butter, salt, and sugar like there's no tomorrow. Deep fry this, smother that with Velveeta – It's no wonder she's not healthy. The sad part of it is that she and her followers salute the "In moderation" flag and use that as their excuse to continue their unhealthy lifestyle. Eating the trans fat, saturated fat, high sodium, processed ingredient food she and her fans prepare when you're in full blown type 2 diabetes, or hypertension, or heart disease – take your pick; and then saying "It's ok as long as it's in moderation" is no different than saying, "Russian roulette in moderation is not a problem". I'm sorry but Paula and the people like her, regardless of what poison they choose, deserve what they get. What Southern food needs is an advocate to stand up and show the world that this cuisine can be healthy and taste phenomenal. So far, all I've seen is nothing more than "I'll keep my butter and bacon fat – thank y'all very much". Here's to hoping people wake up.
All these people so concerned about what other people eat. How ridiculous. BTW – if you think that Paula Deen represents what people eat in the South, you are sadly mistaken. It is interesting how people love to jump on the bandwagon and embrace such stereotypes. We are as diverse in the south as you are any where else in the US. We have great foods here, great cooks, like every other place in the US. If you want to find a small sample to make a stereotypical point, you can do it very easily, here and other areas too.
Actually, diabetes is becoming an epidemic in the country, one that costs you in terms of allocated government funds and rising health insurance premiums. Everyone should care.
It is what it is. No one forces you to go to McDonald's or to watch Paula Deen or to cook her foods. It's an individuals choice and if they prefer to eat a lot of fat, gain weight, get diabetes, that is their choice, not yours. That reminds me of an old southern saying," Mind your own phuquing business, dork."
Fine – but a BMI cap on medicare patients then.
And raise the premiums of private insurance base upon BMI. Put smoking in there also.
Your wasting your time if you are trying to Re-Invent true Southern Cooking. Its been around for years for a reason. It is what it is. Sure you can take the "Soul" out of food, but your just left with plain ole "Food"...
Great post Hugh! Agree on all fronts.
Butt kisser.
Leave this forum – we've all had enough of you.
Southern food is not unhealthly, poorly cooked food is unhealthy.
Just because something tastes good doesn't mean it was prepared well.
Fried catfish and hush puppies. Mmmmmm good.
I am Southern (many generations back) and I eat southern food every day. Southern food is not just fried chcken, rice and gravy. It is also collard greens, turnips, tomatoes and corn. The trick is learning to balance your diet. As many have pointed out "everything in moderation." This being said there are many people (bothe Southern and Northern) that have unhealthy relationships with food as a way of dealing with their life. In this case the root problem will need to be addressed; butter or olive oil won't make one bit of difference until the persons relationship with food is changed.
So glad to see you taking these intellectual and challenging ideas to the masses! Those of us already in the educated elite have already been sold (see this recent piece on Sean Brock, for example: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/31/111031fa_fact_bilger). It's the masses who still don't know the fascinating history of Southern food and what can be done with it today. Thanks for getting the important message out.
Do you really believe that people in the South are the only ones obese in this country???? Plus more fresh vegetables are grown and eaten in the South due to climate. I read where you start saying what you weren't trying to do in this article.. you failed miserably.
Not the only ones, no, but obesity rates are MUCH higher in the southeast than in any other part of the country, and are among the highest on the planet. That's just a fact. Do you want me to find you a map showing this? There are numerous ones available.
Whoa, Dude. When was the last time you drove or walked down the street of a city and DIDN'T see that 1/3 to 1/2 of all the local pedestrians have a moderate to serious weight problem? Narrowing the majority of the obesity issue down to just the SE portion of the US is like stating that the child illiteracy problem only exists in the NW or the Plains states. Face it, we are what we eat. And as long people eat poorly and don't get enough exercise, there's always going to be an obesity issue in this and every other country. Folks need to get up off of their fat a$$es and quick sucking down the high calorie fast foods and do something other than sit and surf the web or watch the boob tube or play their Xbox or whatever. We've become a society that's hooked personal electronics and that is by design. Designed by the MicroSoft's and Apple's and all of the other electronics manufacturers. Given the choice, most people will take the easy way to get things done. The aforementioned companies have figured out how design their products to make it easy for the consumer to choose the easy way. Ipads instead of printed books for reading. A world of information at your disposal using a PC and the web. Even cars that can parallel park themselves so you don't have to learn how to do it. Modern day electronics should be used 'in moderation', much the way Paula Dean and her followers state how to consume Southern food.
I love this article, thank you so much! I am a southerner by birth, from Asheville North Carolina and simulateously have been a vegetarian for 15 years, I just moved to NYC for a job and the negative stereotypes that are placed on southern culture and particularly southern food is so harsh here. I would never advocate for vegetarianism for everyone but I believe that inherently southern food is and can be healthy, the south is a fertile cornucopia of vegetables and grains and livestock and i believe that southerners have mastered the art of living off the land and creating sustainable meals, using all parts of the plant and saving fat from meats to use in other dishes, eating all parts of an animal and being creative/adaptive to economic hardship I appreciate this article and a voice that helps to negate all the negative connotations that popeyes and churches chicken give to southern food.
The answer that I want to give isn't there: Yes and No. "Southern food" is so diverse now, it covers a lot of ground between my grandmother's grits and the delectable variations on classics, made with local ingredients and a watchful eye on the calorimeter served in a number of fine restaurants in this part of the country. As the population of the South has grown, our cuisine has grown too to include influences and flavors from around the world. "Can" Southern food be healthy? Absolutely. But in my mind, there's plenty of room for both the salt and fat infused comfort foods that I still get when I go home, and the new and exciting twists that I enjoy when I go out for a meal.
Finally, a voice of reason. Thank you.
First and foremost, this is a very well-written article by Hugh Acheson. I have enjoyed watching him as a judge on Top Chef. He is a Chef; Paula Deen is not. She is simply a cook that found a way into Gordon Elliott's path. A path that has made her lots and lots of money. Unfortunately, I do not appreciate her fat-laden recipes nor her constant sexual innuendos. I am not a prude, but I certainly do not watch the Food Network so I can watch a country bumpkin get all excited talking about rubbing meat. I do believe the fact that Paula is now in bed with a pharmaceutical company will hurt her reputation. She should have just remained true to what she started out being – a southern cook. I could watch her earlier shows on Food Network, but now the mere sight of her or hearing her voice makes me turn the channel.
It's interesting that Paula would answer the question about grits with "what's wrong with just butter?" She's the one who puts bacon between glazed doughnuts and fries mac and cheese. Isn't she the one making up Southern dishes?
Southern food is much more than country-fried everything, grits and greens cooked in fatback, since I moved to the South I've enjoyed a range of veggie plates, baked and roast meats, seafood dishes and fruit desserts whose roots I can trace to African, Mediterranean, Northern European and Caribbean origins right away. Southern food is diverse and typical to the region that it comes from, there is no one cooking style to it, although by talking to a local you wouldn't know it, because most Southerners really don't know how international it is.
Right...they don't but you do, Mr. I Know All Fuking Things About Food.
I'm sad for Paula, but not all that surprised. Maybe she should look into a healthier diet to treat her diabetes instead of drugs? There's lots of interesting information available at this noncommercial, science based site (nutritionfacts.org). To quote the good doctor: "It is too bad Paula Deen missed this opportunity" to tell her fans "that type 2 diabetes can be prevented, managed, treated, and even cured". Read more at http://nutritionfacts.org/blog/2012/01/18/paula-deen-diabetes-drug-spokesperson/
I went to school at SCAD in Savannah and at one point lived within one block of Paula "the Hack" Deen's restaurant. Never ate there. Never knew any locals that did. The ONLY people we ever saw actually eating there were the poor sap tourists that were bused in and out like sheep. That was it.
Now, as for "southern" food, having lived in the Costal Empire it was all about seafood. Lots of shrimp, lots of blue crabs, lots of oysters....
Mighty 7, you're right about the abundance of fresh seafood; but it's also about how the seafood is prepared and incorporated into flavorful soups and stews. I grew up in Beaufort, SC about 40 minutes from Savannah. I grew up on REAL southern cooking that didn't include the stereotypical greasy, fried food.
As a fine dining cook having worked for various cajun, southern and french restaurants in New Orleans, I think what the author believes is 'constantly evolving southern cooking', using his reference of grits with an asian touch, is instead called 'new' or 'fusion'. Southern cooking is the base, the core. The classics like continental french, for example, will never change and shouldn't because without the core there can't be experimentation, so it is quite important to define a kind of traditional cooking as non-evolving, and I'll tell you why.
Any variations of the classics should be put in a category of their own and not be seen as an evolution of the basics to which every new cook must reference first, not to say that experimentation and healthier versions should not be encouraged, but one must learn how to cook the perfect traditional grits before adding an asian twist to them, and many young chefs don't give the classics the respect they're due.
Well said Caroline! A very intelligent and sane reply!
Correct – that can be said of any cuisine in the world.
I am surprised that noone has made mention of the fact that her schtick about Southern cooking may be just a front for all the merchandise she is selling. I shopped recently for cookware for my son and his fiancee; I was totally shocked to see that Paula Deen's cookware was far more expensive than the other brands which have been successful for years. Huh, I wondered, did she figure out some sort of miracle cookware? No, she just learned to put her name on a lot of stuff and jack the price up! I will not spend a dollar on anything she puts out.
People that are not from the South or never have been act like we have the traditional dinners each and everyday. We don't. We use salt and lard sparingly. Those 'big dinners' like people think we have every day are only done during special occasions like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Ms. Deen is a chef and nothing more. To go after her for her way of cooking is stupid. The key word being lost is MODERATION. You don't pig yourself out.
I reside in the South. My mother and I cook what we do eat healthily. We use olive oil and canola oil. The only time where we use butter is that if THE RECIPE CALLS FOR IT and there is no way around it by using something like Smart Balance or some other butter substitute.
We also do a lot of baking of meats even cubed steak. Greens can be seasoned with healthy oils.
If we do have fried chicken, it is done a certain way (family secret). And it isn't greasy.
Southern food can be done healthy and still have the same taste. Fat free or low fat items can be used. Again the key word is MODERATION.
Tell that to my daddy. We ate that way every day growing up...and when he cooks peas or greens there is a TON of fatback oil in there. In his true Southern farm world you can't start a pot of veggies without frying fatback first. But damnit it sure is good.
A) Paula Deen is and embarrassing caricature, to say the least. B) Butter not so much, bacon drippings, hell ya!
I would never eat anything cooked by a chef with a big hideous unibrow. Just sayin.
wow superficial much? at least he doesnt have obesity/food-induced diabetes and is now trying to promote an expensive antidote.
HES A CHEF, NOT A MODEL, AND HES NOT SELLING HIS LOOKS. GET OVER IT.
Wow! Cranky much?! And who put YOU in charge of people's comments??
Honey, that unibrow is *yummy*.
Deep thought there, Jethro.
Excellent article! I am not a fan of Paula – I believe she would deep fry and eat a kitten while making sexual overtures to her guest cook if she knew it would make her a buck. Her decision to be a paid spokesperson for a diabetes drug company is akin to a meth dealer being a paid spokesperson for a detox and rehab center.
Except detox and rehab cure the condition, they don't just slap on a band-aid. If she were serious, she would become the paid spokesperson for an organic farm and change her diet to attempt to reverse her condition.
people who believe Paula's food is southern are the same ones who believe taco bell food is Mexican.
I live in Texas where there is a "Mexican" restaurant on every corner. I have also lived and worked with Mexican families and I can tell you that they don't eat any of that garbage. They place an emphasis on fresh fruits & produce. . . going to the markets daily & few processed foods. Of course after being Americanized it is all downhill from there.
I grew up in The South; North Carolina. That is not as "Southern" as Georgia, but it is still Southern. I now live in The Pacific Northwest. I can compare.
My childhood diet had a bit more sugar, fat & salt than my current diet, but not much. Most of our food came from our own garden. The vegetables were supplemented by free range chickens, beef, and pork, all of which we raised ourselves. While my mother used more salt and sugar than I presently use, we ate out much less then. On a balance, my childhood diet was pretty healthy. In my opinion, it was considerably more healthy than that of some of my present Pacific Northwest peers.
So yes, Southern Cooking can be healthy.
Yeah the main part of the north is new england. So fish and chips
You get more and more clueless with each successive post.
He just doesn't quite understand that he is being mocked.
The main part of the north was New England during the Civil War (or should I say the War of Northern Aggression), which you seem to still be fighting. There's quite a bit more to the country now.
I can't stand Paula Deen. She was so drunk on one of her shows she she was feeding a bird on her shoulder. Her Ya'all is so fake. My wife's from Alabama and we both lived in North Carolina for quite a few years. She even says her southern accent is fake. Thank's for listening ya'all.
Well...traditional food is often heavy and full of fat because it was for special occasions, and when it wasn't a special occasion people did not constantly feast like we do.
I just don't see why people are always putting down the south not also is their food good but they also made the blues and jazz and those were the first two original american art forms which if it wasn't for that we wouldn't have country or rock music either.
Maybe it's due to their inability to use punctuation.
Hee hee!
Brilliant.
Hilarious !!!!!!!!!
Hey, don't put yourself down. I like strange little Canadian guys!
In my view, Southern cooking involves such things as massive amounts of leafy greens (collards, turnips, you name it). Also, vegetables and tubers originally from Africa (yams, okra), legumes, and large quantities of seasonal produce made possible by the climate. The fattier and more meat-based food items–the ones seemingly getting all the press–figure in too, but they're only a moderate part of the picture. If one only focuses on this last category, of course the result won't be healthy.
It is so nice to hear people not from the south that think they know everything about it. If you don't want to eat it DON"T – if you don't like it here go away. Everyone assumes her issue is from what she eats, but it come be from her genes. Not all diabetes is caused by what you eat.
There are healthy people everywhere and unfit people everywhere. There are fat people in the north and many people fry fish, chicken, and pork chops in the north. This is a crazy debate. The reason Americans are less healthy is because of our lifestyles. We work too much, exercise a little or not at all and eat most things out of a microwave or at a restaurant. Also, just because you are skinny doesnt mean you're healthy. That's the lie we like to tell ourselves. Everyday they bury lots of skinny people. These cooking shows are just that, shows. Paula Deen never said she was the poster child for healthy living. This is a silly debate. Most people know what foods are healthy. We just choose to eat differently. To the extent that we dont know what's healthy, it's our personal responsibility to find out, not Paula Deen or any other chef.
The northenrs burnt down the south
Paula Deen is a chef not a nutritionist. She never presented herself otherwise. The fact that she has diabetes is her personal situation and has nothing to do with the rest of us. There are few chefs on foodnetwork or any of the other networks who champion themselves as a "healthy chef." Typically, chefs cook what they cook. The health of any individual is their own responsibility. The great Julia Child loved butter too and nobody's ridiculing her. Anthony Bourdain called her out but he eats meat and drinks heartily on his shows and doesnt seem to care that many men die daily of heart attacks. Lets put this in perspective. If you want to live healthy and eat healthy, each person as an individual needs to seek that information. Being overweight or sick is just another way for American people to attack someone. Her thing is southern cooking. If you like it, watch it. If she chooses to modify her cooking because of diabetes, its her choice. Maybe its another chefs point of view. Everything in your restaurant is not healthy. We're not all clones of one another. She's a likeable person with a great show and great recipes. Maybe its someone elses job to be the "healthy chef." Seeing her show is like spending the afternoon with my grandma who had a big hug and comfort food. Why doesnt everyone stick to their own expertise? If individuals have a health issue which requires a special diet, its their responsibility to act accordingly. I don't know why people in America want to demonize everything and everybody. Many people in the media are passing judgement but they may have forgotten that they are supposed to report the news not be a part of the story.
Shame on Nono Nordisk for hiring Paula Deen to shill for them. She overeats and gets rich encouraging other people to overeat. Some example she sets! Now they're paying her to tell the rest of us how to overcome diabetes?! All diabetics should boycott both of them!
Let's get one thing straight. Paula Deen is not a chef! She is a food channel personality who thinks big greasy portions of calorie-laden food is what the American public wants. Well, given her popularity I guess she's right!
Wow! Someone who is reasonable actually commented!
My family is from the south. They have ate fried everything,smoked and drank and on average lived to 92 years old.
How was their weight, were they fit?
My family is from Texas and Oklahoma and my family eat fried everything, drink and smoke, and they all mostly live into their 90's, but they're all huge. They may live a long time, but what kind of quality of life is it?
My family – all from North Florida and South Georgia were the same way. They lived well into their eighties. Key word though is WERE.
It was fine to eat like that when everyone went straight into the fields and worked all that fatty food off. The hard labor they put in took care of their weight. These days we do not need all those calories. Most of us are not field hands.
It is nice to indulge sometimes though – love a big Sunday dinner!
"My familey, my family, my family..." Blah blah blah. Blather blather blather.
My Grandmother is 96 and she's still going strong. She eats the worst diet of anyone I know – her daily menu is something along the lines of a biscuit with bacon and homemade gravy; a fried porkchop, fried chicken, fried minute steak or ham with green beans seasoned with bacon or ham, fried potatoes (again in bacon grease), cucumbers or tomatoes plus a piece of cornbread; then dinner is either pinto beans with fried potatoes and cornbread or potato soup made with cream and cornbread with a bedtime snack of cornbread crumbled in buttermilk. Always used real butter and on the weekend she has cobbler.
She's outlived all but one of her doctors; and her only health complaint is severe arthritis.
What I know from growing up in the south is that Southern Food is not one type of food or style of cooking. To say it is all fried, greasy, fatty, sugary, etc. etc. is a misunderstanding and stereotype. Problems of diet in the South are very much representative of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, etc. that is present all over our country (though indeed present in higher degrees in many southern states). The point being that there is delicious, healthful food in the Southern culture that I call my own. Yet like many good things in life, there are certainly twists and bastardizations of food that no one should have in their diet. That's my two cents....
I don't care what Hughnibrow says kimchi isn't southern food, it's Korean. If you open a restaurant that serves mainly kimchi in the south is it considered southern food? No, it's considered Korean food.
Correct! Just what I was thinking.
Right! Kimchi is considered Korean cuisine whether it is cooked in the north, south, west coast, or east coast, lol.
Yours seemed to be the first comment to question Hugh's statements. I'm not the biggest fan of Paula's style either but she's never tooted her own horn on being anything close to a chef either. If that was his idea of 'clarifying' the question then he better get out a pan of ghee (clarified butter- pun intended) because I don't know many at all who could face that kind of pretentiousness twaddle and make a lot of sense out of it. Bourdain gets his press from poking his sticks at others. This guy just came off sounding again like a pretentious a**. He's popping up on all sorts of television now and that is how he comes off there too.
He did not say kimchee was southern, he said it is a nod to the Asian populations that are in the South now. And if you really look at it, pickled cabbage, pickled anything for that matter, is VERY Southern.
Kimchi isn't just pickled cabbage, it can contain many ingredients and different regions typically flavor it differently. But that's what I'm saying. Koreans aren't the only ethnic group that has settled in the south. What if you eat grits with a traditionally Indian curry? Would southern food acurately describe it?
This guy just wants his own TV show.
not with that caterpillar unibrow
I was born and raised in upstate SC. Southern Food to me means a peach off the tree, a strawberry from the vine, so fresh it doesn't need sugar. Southern Food is when your Mama goes out back to the garden right before dinner and picks tomatoes and cucumbers for a salad. Southern Food is when your church friend brings you some plums from his orchard in May and you bring him some of your bumper crop of tomatoes in July. Fresh and local? Heck yeah it is! We also eat fried chicken, fried okra, and buttered biscuits, but not often at all. Those are treats. Paula Deen's recipes are gross, that much butter makes me nauseated. I can't listen to her exaggerated accent, either. Evolve, Mrs. Deen.
We call it country living.
Your comment makes me want to become a Southerner. I'm hungry for that fresh-from-the-vine flavor now :)
Personally, my kids and I like our grits with sugar, butter and milk...but then again, I like red-eye gravy and grits too. It's not what you eat, it's how much and how often. I grew up in the South and I still use lard for frying chicken and fish, real butter for cakes, pies and cookies, and make flour-laden gravy for my smothered pork chops. However, the number of times I do this in a month, I can count on one hand. Southern food is more about tradition than ingredients, what you grew up on, how you were taught to cook, what city, state or area you grew up in. I bet I could get togerther with five of my girlfriends from Tennessee and not one of us would cook the same dish the same way.
I am 73 years old. I enjoy COUNTRY cooking every day. I am in great health. Why?
Yes, it IS what you eat. All that garbage collects in your arteries in a form called plaque. Over time, It constricts blood flow and causes heart attacks and strokes. You'll find out one day.
Just because someone talks with a country accent doesn't mean they're rednecks its just the way they talk. What do you think midwesteners and people out west think of northeners with their crazy jersey and newyork accents
I am in the Detroit metro area. I can go an hour west of here and hear country accents.
Absolutely. Rural is rural. Biggest hicks I've ever encountered were in upstate NY.
JB: I have heard Pennsylvania described as Philly and Pittsuburg, with Alabama in between. I did not know that about upstate NY, but only been through once
"Pittsuburg?"
Sorry Dave, my fingers were moving too fast
I googled southern food images. Thanks a lot now I'm hungry.
Voted "Other", so I'm sharing, as requested. I live in Alabama.
This is what "Southern" food means–you are poor, and you take what you have, and you make it as healthy and filling as it can possibly be. It is not stagnant (otherwise we wouldn't have "Southern" food, which is made up of a melange of 300+ years of mixed cultures, just trying to get by). So today, if your neighbor is Vietnamese, and she gives you a diakon radish slip to grow and recipe to go with it, you try it. And if the family likes it, you add it to the repertoire. Or if your neighbor is Mexican and grows some mean habanero peppers and has a great pork recipe to go with it, it goes on the index card, and habaneros in your garden next year.
That's the ideal. But that is what ends up happening...eventually. It's based on agrarian culture.
As we move more toward urban culture, that "Southern" flavor is lost, and we end up with places in the South (and the North, and the West) that are food deserts, where healthy food isn't available. If you go to rural grocery stores in the South, you discover that the vegetables and fruits are crap, and shipped in from somewhere else. You have to grow your own to be healthy.
What do your screen initials stand for?
Hugh, this is a wonderful and poignant history lesson on Southern food. Its evolution from seasonal and plant based to what it has become is probably something most of us are unaware of. It seems like Paula jumped to drugs immediately instead of trying lifestyle changes. Just think the impact she could have on herself and her audience if she went back to the South's cooking roots....literally!
I also thought everyone was going to be fat that wasn't the case either. There is a lot of intelligent and healthy people down there
"There IS a lot of intelligent healthy people...." ??? LOL The remainder of us rest our cast!!!
I've been to maine,new york,new jersey, philidelphia, indiana,iowa,illinois,and ohio besides lobster in main I can't say I enjoyed the food very much. I've been to S carolina, georgia, florida, mississippi, tennessee,louisiana, and texas. Hands down better food and friendlier people. When I first came to the south I had a stereotypical view of them being all rednecks. I was blown away by there culture and how different it is in each state their food is way better than anything I've had in the country. but this is one mans opinion. So don't get up tight if I don't like your food.
The stereotype that Southerners are rednecks is just that-a stereotype. I live in Raleigh, NC. I work with a bunch of PhDs from all over the world.
A degree doesn't make you any less a redneck. Try again.
From Raleigh, NC also and I had to let ya'll know we sure are surrounded by rednecks though. I have been called a redneck on many occassions. And proud to be. Just because I am a girl who can 4-wheel and change out brakes.
Sorry lard fried is not unhealthy, not by a long shot.
Gimme an ever-lovin' break. Sometimes, food is just that. Food. Cooked for eating. For the taste. Who cares how we "define" "southern food"? If you want to add ham hocks and collards to littleneck clams and call it southern, have at it.And, what a surprise! Another asian fusion number. Knock me over with a bamboo shoot. Paula Deen makes her living cooking and selling good old-fashioned southern comfort food. The kind made with ingredients that were widely available or grown out back. The kind that were cheap and didn't require anything other than a memory of your grandmother to make. The kind people used to eat all the time and which some still do.The other guy makes his an entirely different way. Not all food is meant to be an exercise (pun intended) in nouveau culinary art cum health care delivery. Sometimes, it just tastes good. If you want to stay healthy – go exercise and mix up your comfort foods with the occasional beer, glass of wine or granny smith apple.With apologies to Frank Stitt (whose restaurants I love), I would have reacted to that pablum just like Paula Deen did. You can debate the evolution of macaroni and cheese or call broken off rice kernels and bok choi grits if you like. But it doesn't change mama's recipe and it don't make rice kernals grits. Now do me a favor and pass the salt.
PAULA WE LOVE YA
SOUTHERN FOODS THE BEST // IM FROM VA/ IVE /// HAD SOUTH LAND FOOD ALL MY LIFE / IM IN GOOD HEALTH AND IM 70 NOW // IF I GET ANOTHER LIFE GIVEIN TO ME ILL START WITH SOUTHERN FOODS AND END WITH IT / ITS THE BEST // CANADIAN FOOD OR NORTHERN FOOD IS JUST NOT GOOD / AND TASTY BAD I LIVE IN PA NOW WE DONT AND WONT GO OUT TO EAT HERE WE LIKE SOUTHERN COOKED FOODS SO WE COOK IT AT HOME AND EAT THE BEST / DONT EVEN TRY TO PUT DOWN SOUTH LAND FOOD YA CAINT / POOR MANS GRAVEY IS THE BEST POURED OVER PANCAKES I FRIED EGG // AND IF YOU DONT LIKE SOUTHERN FOODS YOU CAN KISS MY GRITS /
I don't even know where to begin with a rant like that. Ignorance is bliss, I guess.
S/He's from the Suthren branch of Western Union. They talk like that, too.
To the Pollster: the question should read, Do you think southern food can be HEALTHFUL, not 'HEALTHY!"
The food itself may be healthy. I saw a chicken fried steak running a marathon once...:)
Amen, my brother. Thanks for helping educate. Virginia
Most of the southern food I had was fresh homegrown veggies and lean game meat like deer and fish. And it was not deepfried. Even the fried food here is better than the fried food in the north. Ill take fried chicken over fish and chips anyday.
Holy bat cra p, Batman. Have you hit alt+f4 yet? Hurry!
L M A O! I did, too funny!
You are in the minority, pal. Try doing a google image search for "southern food" and see what turns up.
As for your snobbery about other parts of the country and what you think they eat, no one cares.
Fish and chips are not northern cuisine, unless you are in England
I'm not from the south I'm from oregon. I've lived in the south and I'm currently in ohio. Southern food is much better, the foods you're describing on here are the worst southern dishes out there they have way better food than what's served at waffle house. Real southern food is awesome the weather is awesome and they have prettier girls and nicer people than the north. I can't wait to return for a visit.
What a load of BS. I wish CNN would put an IQ filter on their threads.
Then I would be the only one allowed to post.
What I gathered from this article was that Chef Acheson was attempting to ask Paula (and other cooks like her) why the cuisine of Southern food hasn't changed for them. Lots of cooking styles originated from Agrarian societies that had to use what was available. They used lard,suet, animal organs, duck fat, blood, etc to supplement their diets. French cooking used tons of fat and butter. German cooking relied on sausages and potatoes. While modern cooks might use these sometimes, they've come to rely on oils, herbs and spices to make things taste good, and less on animal fat. Many southern cooks like Paula are stubbornly entrenched in the past. They don't even bother to look for ways to make things better. Anyone can follow a recipe, but it takes a real cook to reinvent a great dish and make it even better.
Whoa! Sounds like the Southerners are still hostile to the Northerners (or Yankees as you say). While it's nice to defend your local dishes, there's no reason to bash anyone elses. I have lived both north and south and have to say, that although I enjoyed pulled pork, ribs, grits n' cheese, fried chicken, corn dogs, dumplings, and sweet tea (to name a few), they are not the healthiest choices and could lead to problems down the line. I do have family living in NC and constantly remind them to eat healthy. Unfortunately, the south has been known for these delicasies and not the more healthy meals. So don't attack the "Yankees" because they have a different view of healthy food. The war is over....remember?
Wow. You get an F in reading comprehension. The chef is originally from Canada, now a longtime resident of, and celebrated chef in, Georgia. Paula Deen is a famous southern chef as well. Her hometown is Savannah, Georgia. So I'm wondering, how did you make the colossal mental leap to trolling about Yankees (which simply has nothing to do with Canadians) vs. Southerners and baiting about the civil war being over? The only person showing bias here is you.
Paula Deen is about a far from being a chef as it's possible to get. Even she will admit that.
I am from the South and agree that most of the foods we eat are not traditionally healthy. Let's face it, we like our chicken fried over grilled and our cornbread slathered in butter. With that said, we are all responsible for our own health and cannot blame Paula Deen if we are fat (everything in moderation). What I do find interesting is that she is coming out with her diabetes diagnosis within a week of her son Bobby's show airing on Food Channel promoting healthier versions of his mom's food. Coincidence, I think NOT!
Have some grilled catfish or shrimp. If anything southern food has a spicy flavor not fried or sugared out. Like I said you didntr have reasl southern food
Then you are saying only those southerners who meet your personal elitist standards eat biscuits and gravy, grits, fried okra or fried chicken? You keep on tryin' sugarplum. One of these days you might even figure out how to reply to the person you are talking to rather than shouting into the crowd. Maybe then you will understand that several people have been making fun of you. Cheers.
Explain yourself and quit saying everything is candyed up what dishes did you have. A moonpie and barqs rootbeer is not a dish
You must be new here. To report someone to the internet police, be sure to hit alt and F4 at the same time.
What's in sugar
I've eaten at Empire State South and Five & Ten and thoroughly enjoyed both of those. I enjoyed the new take on pimento cheese at Empire with the bacon marmalade. But the whole grits scenario presented above: I'm with Paula. It's fun to go to a restaurant and enjoy a dish prepared by a trained chef as something different, a new spin on an old Southern food. But kimchi? As a Southern food just because Asian people live here now? Most home cooks here in the South would never cook that way. I agree that the prevalence of processed foods has destroyed many of the old recipes here. But by and large, Southern food consists of vegetables grown out in the garden (local and fresh), slow roasted beef or pork, baked or fried chicken and various fish dishes. Different regions have different variations of all these dishes. I grew up on a farm in rural Georgia and salt pork was used liberally as a seasoning agent for vegetables; but tomato relish was also used as a condiment. When in season, there were fresh vegetables on the table and when not in season, there were home-canned or frozen vegetables. And honestly, many of the recipes from Paula's cookbooks can be found in hundreds of church cookbooks across the South. To say that she doesn't cook real Southern food is ridiculous. While a lot of what she cooks may not be traditional Southern food, and may not be something that would ever show up on my table, much of what she cooks are dishes that have been at potlucks and on Southern tables for generations.
Who gets to determine what is "real" Southern food? Hugh Acheson, who is not even from the South? Some other culinary trained chef who has been taught to add, experiment and create new dishes? Real Southern food is what was available, what was inexpensive, what was homegrown and what was hearty, filling and tasted good. And most of it, with the exception of fresh vegetables, wouldn't be considered healthy by today's standards. But that's why most of us don't eat old Southern recipes every day anymore–our lifestyle won't support burning the calories like many years ago.
Paula Deen is an entertainer. She isn’t responsible for anyone else’s food choices. If she wants to hook up with a drug company then that’s her choice. If you’ve never been a single mother wondering how you could put food on the table to feed your kids, then you have no right to judge how she makes her money. That puts a sense of desperation in your mind that never completely goes away, regardless of how much money you have in the bank. If you don’t like her, don’t watch her show. Don’t buy her cookbooks. Don’t buy her other products. But don’t try to claim that everything she cooks is not Southern food because that’s simply not true. And don’t insult her viewers by assuming they don’t have the intelligence to realize they shouldn’t eat her food every day.
And Mr. Acheson—those rice workers you mention were actually slaves, and the most they would have had to season with was butter, bacon, or cane syrup or molasses. Maybe you felt you “lobbed a soft one” to Paula—but all you’ve really done here is proven yourself to be arrogant and disrespectful of the very cuisine you claim to represent. Buy a 1930s or 1950s church cookbook. Spend some time in the rural South, speaking to grandmothers and great-grandmothers and looking at the recipes that have been handed down through generations in their families. Study the food of the Great Depression. You might learn something—and you just might be surprised.
I agree with Old South. While Paula's dishes are not entirely healthy, they are not dishes you eat everyday, either. I love her food and I love southern food and I am from the north. I love and can appreciate all kinds of food from all over our country and all over the world. I am accountable for what I eat and how much. Blaming Paula's recipes for making people overweight is like saying McDonald's is reponsible for making people fat. While McDonald's food may not be real healthy, it's your choice what you eat and how much. That's what makes you overweight, not to mention inactivity. Paula's sons aren't overweight. I just think we can appreciate all kinds of foods. And Hugh Acheson (or the UNIBROW as I like to refer to him as), he is arrogant. Didn't he lose Top Chef?
Maybe it's just me, but I didn't read the piece as an attack on Paula's cuisine and Southern Cuisine in general but on the overall cartoon-ization (yes, I totally made up a word) of the ethos and lifestyle itself. Hugh asked her about the evolution of Southern cuisine and whether or not it had a beginning and end and she blurted out a tagline because she is incapable of creative thought outside of her Southern-brand/trademark Target-stamped processed style of cooking.
I applaud and take my hat off to your response which speaks volumes as to what the south and Southern cooking was really about. Also for lambasting Hugh Acheson for trying to put a mask over the truth about the workers (slaves) not the locals who cooked with what they had at their disposal from the meager left overs of the crops they worked and harvested. For him to even mock or try to put a spin on a southern dish with Kimchi and the other garbage that he wants to laud as a created dish. Just the thought of the ingredients and the make up of it would make me puke.
And you are in the camp that believes that Southern food was an era. Thanks for chiming in. How is this an arrogant post?
I think it is the condescending, dismissive tone, particularly of Paula Deen, woven throughout your article, Mr. Acheson. You begin by saying you're not out to malign a personality, but your aim seems clearly to be just that.
What struck me as arrogant was your tone in your remarks toward Paula, to wit:
"The event began and I starting out lofting soft balls for Paula to swing for the fences and please her amassed fandom."
"If there ever was a moment in time where I was speaking Esperanto to the Korean grocer on the corner, this was it. Paula looked a little confused so I went on to clarify."
"Paula looked at me with moderate confusion and disdain and blurted out to her masses, “What’s wrong with just butter and salt in grits?”
To me, those statements come across as someone who views Paula Deen with disdain and even the stereotypical Southern trait of "stupid." But maybe that's not what you meant.
My argument and discomfort is with the critics who are saying the what she features is not real Southern food, or that she is somehow responsible for the choices that others make. And as I said, I would agree that a lot of what's on her shows is not real, traditional Southern food–but a lot of it is. And in no way could it be considered healthy.
It seems that you're trying to say that traditional Southern food is healthy and has been taken apart over the years by people like Paula Deen and fried and doused in butter to evolve into the fat-laden cuisine of today. But the reality is that Southern cooks have been cooking that way for generations...my grandmother cooked the way her grandmother cooked who cooked the way her grandmother cooked and so on. If that's an era, it's a pretty long one, and it dates back hundreds of years, not decades. The most prevalent changes were probably in my grandmother and mother's generations of the additions of processed foods, which we can agree was not a good thing. And yes, there was always a larger concentration of vegetables to protein, but they were usually boiled with fatback, unless it was sliced tomatoes, cucumbers and onions from the garden in the summer. And the protein, more often than not, was fried. Like it or not, that is real Southern food. Most of us realize today that we can't eat the way our ancestors did and either modify those dishes or choose something else. But every now and then, if you are a Southerner who grew up in the South, you just want fried chicken, butterbeans with fatback, and mashed potatoes with butter and cream. And when you want that, you don't want cornflake crusted oven fried chicken. You want the real deal.
I have no problem with you creating and evolving recipes and calling them Southern in your restaurant–in fact, I thoroughly enjoyed every single thing that I ate at both. I applaud your efforts to showcase Southern food with a twist and to make it healthier. But don't try to claim that by adding kimchi and cooking with broken rice kernels that you are the one who is getting back to authentic Southern food. That's what seems arrogant and dismissive of a way of cooking that has lasted for many, many generations. That way of cooking may not be healthy, but every now and then, it's what we Southerners want to eat. I'm hopeful that Paula's diagnosis and as you stated, paid soapbox, will influence others to choose those good ole' foods in moderation.
Thank you for your thoughtful and spot on response. I'm a chef & a fitness instructor so understand the value of healthful eating. However, I do not see the value in what Chef Acheson is doing by "calling-out" someone who isn't truly on the same playing field in any number of ways. Respectfully not a fan of how he handled himself here.
Before I write too much, let me reassure anyone about to tell me to "go back up north" that I am a true bred GRIT- Girl Raised In The South. Born in Alabama, raised in North Carolina. That said, Southern food should be the epitome of healthy. Garden fresh vegetables, home cooked meals, no processed foods. Until a few decades ago, Southern food would have been healthy because the main meal was eaten at lunchtime, you spent the afternoon working hard in the agarian society that the South was at that time and at supper, you ate the leftovers for lunch. Greens, beans and grains are the staples of Southern cooking. What has turned it bad is the sedentary lifestyle that most Southerners lead now. Even if you throw fatback into the greens while they're cooking, if you're working hard in the afternoon, you work off those calories. Not anymore. The South is no longer the agarian community it once was. We can no longer eat those types of foods then spend the afternoon sitting in a cubicle, then going home in the evening to sit in front of the tube. Paula is using this as another opportunity to make a bloody fortune off a diet that should be eradicated. I wonder what's going to happen when it comes out that she's also probably on cholesterol medication? How is she going to treat it when she has the heart attack that has to be coming? Paula could use this for so much good for her legions of supporters. Instead she is simply going to turn this into another moneymaking scheme. I feel so sorry for the masses of Southerners who are now going to think that, not only can they be like Paula in the kitchen, but now (how exciting!!!) I can also take the same kind of medicine that she takes!!!!! Chef Acheson, please continue to do what you do. There are many of us Southerners who appreciate you shaking up what is, in reality, a very boring diet.
Bravo!
Paleo you're a fool and wouldn't know what good food was. And you ate stuff like that I feel sorry for you that's not southern food.
First, please learn to use the "reply" button. It will help you to look like less of a simpleton.
Second, please explain to me how these foods, which are served heavily in people's homes in the south are not considered southern: grits, deep fried __ (anything from chicken to hushpuppies), corn bread, overcooked greens that no longer resemble anything found in nature... These are the cornerstone of southern cuisine. If it isn't wrapped in flour and fried, it is marinated in sugar (or sugary sauce).
Like what. I didn't have a lot of sugar dishes down there
Like what
like them
Southern food, or soul food, was about making the most with very little. This seems to be totally lost on the interviewer.
So was Mediterranean cuisine. Sicilians in particular have been impoverished for millenia and their diet, which consists mostly of whatever they could grow and catch, is among the most healthiest in the world. What's your point?
Hard to type with gloves on excuse my grammer
These people have never had real southern food. Just because you went to popeyes chicken or crackerbarrels doesn't mean you had southern food or good food. Have a someone from the south cook you food and quite going to restaurants. Real southern food is amazing and its not bad for you
My experience with southern food: it is deep fried, loaded with sugars and other carbs, wrapped in cornmeal, smothered in flour-paste "gravy" or (in the case of greens) disgustingly overcooked. I have yet to see one healthy AND tasty thing on a restaurant specializing in southern food. The only thing worse for you than the pro-inflammatory "please sir, give me diabetes, hypertension and heart disease" cooking is the fact that they think it is ok to chase it all down with a glass of high fructose corn syrup liquid candy.
They would deep fry a salad if you would let them. I am convinced.
Wow! Way to promote stereotypes. Have you even been to the South?
I have indeed been to the south. There is no state in the south where I have lived for less than a month and some where I lived for more than a decade. I have eaten in people's homes and in restaurants. I think southern food, even though it borrows heavily from other cultures and regions in the US and elsewhere, is generally gross and over-sugared.
Eaten that stuff all my life. Nobody in our family is overweight or diabetic. Leave us alone. Go back up north and eat your tasteless "health" food.
Nothing bad will ever happen to your body. Have another deep-fried, grit-smothered donut sundae. Don't forget the Dr. Pepper.
Paleo is just jealous because he irretrievably committed to a diet of tofu and bean sprouts and now finds that he's painted himself into a corner. Enjoy your bean curd and peanut butter stew Paleo. That leaves more of the really good stuff to people who actually know what's good and what's not.
I don't allow tofu and bean sprouts into my home. Last night I had pan-seared salmon with vegetables. The night before that I had some friends over for "frostbite grill" some nice, thick steaks and baked sweet potatoes with butter, side of broccoli. There is no boring and flavorless food here and we don't feel the need to candy it, grit it, or smother it with crap. Peanut butter? nah...I am not a fan. You must be looking for the Thai food restaurant downtown.
Paleo – you are 100% spot on. And the reverse-snobbery they affect over anyone who dares tell it like it is makes them all look like nincompoops. Period.
Hey PaleoRules – you should check out Paleo Comfort Foods – might change your perspective on combining some good old comfort foods within a paleo framework. You can be grain/legume/dairy free, healthy, and enjoying some tasty comfort foods (many of which have a southern spin).
Southern Food is part of the overall Southern culture. Traditionally, Southerners prefer grits that are simply prepared (only butter). I don't think it's appropriate for someone who is not a native of the South to criticize a native Southerner's preference. The writer stated he's from Canada. He is is from the outside looking in. It's fun to create twists to traditional dishes but don't insult the Southern culture while doing it.
Your problem john was going to restaurants and diners you need to meet locals who actually cook there food instead of going to the deepfried gasstation food court
Johngalt you were just going to all the wrong places I'm sorry your expeirence was bad.
There is nothing unhealthy about many southern stables. Hell, collards and black-eye peas are extremely healthy.
There's just so much more to offer than fried chicken and shrimp and grits (as awesome as those things may be)
Can't be that healthy if you're eating in a stable. Isn't that where animals live?
touche, though you should be able to pick it up from context
I made black eyed peas last night. A vegan version of Hoppin' John
Lest anyone think otherwise, I am not claiming my food is better than anyone else's
I spent a year in Montgomery, Alabama one week. It was sickening. Every eating establishment except one had food preparation options that ranged from fried to deep fried. I found one deli that specialized in Mediterranean food and ate every meal there except breakfast. At least the hotel served oatmeal. I've spent a lot of time in Georgia, too over the years and been to New Orleans as well. Between the cigarettes and the food, I don't understand how anyone lives past 30. But, they almost all look 90, which makes sense.
Southern folk are hardy folk (hearty, too). We've been thru and overcome alot – just like folks all over the world.
Sadly, we can't seem to shake the stigma of serving deep fried anything and overcooked vegetables.
Maybe someday ....
Sounds like you didn't go to very high end restaurants. There are a lot of different types of Southern food, which include many vegetable dishes. If you visited the South and only ate Mediterrean food, than I feel sorry for you, because you missed out on the cultural experience–the whole reason for the trip to the South. You may not be a fan of Southern food but the South is one of the few regions of the U.S. that has its own unique cultural and dishes. It is not something to be be missed, especially the food in New Orleans.
So other regions of the US don't have a unique culture and/or dishes? Niiiice.
I have yet to visit a place in the US that did NOT have a unique culture and cooking, from Alaska to Maine. Travel more before you make such foolish statements, please.
What you just posted is so far from being the truth that it's hularious. Trot yourself up to Maryland and tell them that the bay area doesn't have a regional cuisine. Then head up to Maine and try it again. You'd be laughed out town.
What a curious perspective – "feel sorry for." I'm almost 50. Yet despite a horrible family history with cholesterol and blood pressure, I have excellent numbers and I compete nationally in Olympic weightlifting never waivering out of my weight class. I feel fantastic precisely because of my habits. I consider food fuel, not entertainment (or comfort).
John1Galt: I feel the same. But instead of weightlifting, I do ultramarathons
So, to encapsulate your little article; You're a "real" southern chef who "cares" about what people eat and you hope Paula Deen dies a horrible death to enhance your belief. I guess that make you the "true" southern gentleman. Tell us; if you "looked" at me would I too "look confused", or do you think I would be "smart enough" to graduate to "moderate confusion" as you so graciously depicted Paula Dean? To live in a world where you're only dream is for "us" to die so that "you" can be proven superior is at the very least a sad existence. You must be soooooo proud.
Has "anyone" ever "told" "you," "You" "use" a "lot" of "quotes."
Did you just learn quotation marks? I'm really not sure you quite grasp their grammatical usage just yet, but I'm so proud of you for being brave enough to just go for it! You should probably work on semi-colons though, you're way off with those.
I'm not a huge fan of Paula Deen's, but I do empathize with her based on your post. I'd look at you like you had three heads if you asked me that question. Granted, I'm not a chef, so my profession doesn't depend on having a culinary point-of-view, but man, your question sounds like your grits – too much thought put into it and overly complicated. "Do you think Southern food is evolving?" is a more simple and accessible way of phrasing it, sort of like only using butter and salt with your grits.
We get it, you're smart and creative and a good chef. Kudos on trying to go outside her normal interview comfort zone, but come on. If she's not expecting that sort of question, I can't blame her for being taken aback.
Southern food, can be, and often is, healthy. Like the article mentions, Southern food is about community and the bounty of the farm/garden. As a child, I never ate much Southern food. In my twenties, though, I've learned to love it. Southern food does not mean fried chicken, fried potatoes, bacon grease, and grits. Pretty much any kind of greens–turnips, collards, mustards, etc. are very healthy (and you don't even have to cook with bacon grease!) and delicious. I come from the Gulf South, so our delicious seafood is very healthy–so long as it's not ALWAYS fried. I think Southern food is about simplicity. Kind of like with Italian and French cuisine, it's about few ingredients that are cooked well. It's certainly not nearly as refined as French cuisine, but give me some family recipe gumbo, red beans and rice, greens, fish, etc. any day of the week. It's unfortunate that Paula Deen and THOUSANDS of Americans suffer from Type 2 Diabetes (my mother was recently diagnosed, and while I blame her diet in part, a lot of it was genetics and the side effects from other health problems that led to this), but I think it's due mostly to FAUX FOODS (those food-like substances like margarine, a lack of whole grains, etc.). Southern food, when done right, doesn't have to use such things. While I love to experiment in the kitchen and enjoy Asian, Italian, Greek, etc. foods, I will always love good old Southern comfort foods.
The southern dish you described that was prepared at your restaurant wouldn't be fed to the hogs in the south. A true southern cook is one that can throw together a meal out of the simplest available ingredients all the while making it taste like it came from a 5 star restaurant. It is apparent that neither you or your chef, Ryan Smith grew up in a traditional southern home because if you did, your Momma would be disowning both of you right now for trying to re-invent good ole' southern cooking. Somebody needs to feed both of you a big ole' hunk of cornbread and collards cooked with a hog jowl or a ham hock.
Minus the 5 star restaraunt part because most southern food is NOT of a very creative quality, only appealing to the stomach's satiation. Big difference, and that is TRADITIONALLY what American food does, appeals to your comfort instead of you sense of taste.
That is a pretty ignorant statement. Food is traditionally different everywhere you go, in every southern state, in every southern city or town.
Let's be clear: Paula Deen is not a chef who has had extensive culinary training. She is a home cook who wrote cookbooks and caught a tidal wave on a Food oriented TV network. Chefs are masters with vision, home cooks are merely assemblers of ingredients. Engaging Paula Deen in an intense discussion of evolving cuisine is like engaging Kim Kardahsian in a discussion about relationships. Leave her the hell alone because it is not a level playing field in the food world. It's like rec league softball players going up against professional baseball players. You food snobs need to dial it down a notch or two...
Amen!!! So true!
Chip..very well said. I live in Arkansas and you can cook healthy southern food. This jerk of a Chef, may think he is superior, but inn reality..he is a real horses ass. Paula Deen made mistakes and it cost her, but she is one hell of a good cook and though she may like butter and mayo to the extreme, she did announce on her show the other day that she doesn't use all the butter and mayo on a regular basis.
As far as the so called Chef...WHY they choose him to be on Top Chef is a joke! He didn't win any contest and was an ass the whole time he was cooking.......
You lost all credibility when you called her a good cook. Sorry.
While every food culture have their own stereo types like Chinese – Chowmein, Indian – Curry, Italian – Pasta...etc. Only people who do not eat things that a Chinese/Indian/Italian would regularly eat will stick to these stereotypes. It's unfortunate that Paula Deen's diabetes is being blamed on her cookery show & books. Are we sure she ate all of what she cooked? And why the heck blame southern food at all? Shouldn't we also blame the millions of us who gorge on Donuts, fries, KFCs ? Or say Nigella Lawson who promotes calorie rich food. I'm not sure why the reporter wants to prove that he's a "smartass" here? We all know who Paula Deen is and we don't really care who he is!
Most people think our Sunday meals and feast fare are all there is to Southern food. What is being promoted as "southern food" is a fantasy of our special occasion meals. Every day Southern food is naturally healthy and good for you and doesn't have to be "prepared right".
Just what we need...a carpetbagger telling us what we are. It's absurd to suggest that just because there are Koreans living in the south that their native food can be incorporated into a southern dish and that dish be considered southern cuisine. It's anachronistic. I'm sure it tastes good, but it's not really a southern dish unless southerners decide they like eating it.
I like eating it.
Absolutely right! Obviously a Yankee's perspective.
That xenophobia and jingoism is what perpetuates the southern stereotypes. Good grief.
How much of Southern cuisine came from Africans living there?
Born and raised in the South and have eaten at all of Mr. Acheson's restaurants with the new Empire State South being my favorite. He does Southern food how I grew up eating, but recognizes its evolution and its past. Fresh, non-processed ingredients, just like from my grandparents prepared. Free range chicken, just like the ones that used to roam the front yard. Is there butter, sure. Is there sugar, yes. But this complements what came out of the ground or was grazing in the grass. I've been to Paula's place in Savannah too. It is like Denny's on steroids. That's not a good thing. Fresh? Nope. Processed? Yes. Overdone with a big marketing campaign? Yes.
Ignorance is a major part of the issue. Our bodies do not know how to properly break down artificial foods therefore we store them in our bodies as toxins or fat. Of course I say this and I use artificial sweeteners but I am working on that! Its not really a theory but a fact. Southern food is wonderful and can be healthy. I do feel like any other food it should be eaten in moderation. For example, last night I took organic okra, tossed in egg whites and salt and roasted them for an hour. I asked my daughter(who is 10) before serving it up if she liked okra and she said only fried. I put a handful of crispy brown okra on her plate and after dinner asked her how it was-she said that is was just the way she liked. What we feed and our children and their perception of food comes from us and what we put in front of them. educating them on it with out over doing the "good for you" factor that kids hate so much. We can make it fun for them. As for Paula Dean, come on! Look at her and look at you. I personally could never hear or see Paula Dean again. The highest rate of diabetes is in the south and mostly in poor rural areas- That is a fact. Its has a lot to do with the "traditions" of the south.
I love seeing people actually serving up healthy Southern Food and not feeling guilty after eating it.
Tell me more......I eat artificial foods, work two jobs ( one of them coaching basketball ), and have actually been told I need to gain weight. How about eat what you want, but also eat fruits and veggies, everything in moderation, exercise, and stop spreading half-truths to feel better about your particular lifestyle
I've known people with heart and cholesterol problems, who are thin. Just because you're told to "gain weight" doesn't mean you are healthy, particularly if your diet consists of processed food.
I agree with Hugh. Southern food should pay homage to tradition but explore new areas of cooking that include other nationalities and regional cooking styles. And no, not everyone is overweight or unhealthy, but many people are because they eat traditional foods while sitting behind a desk every day and getting zero exercise. Our grandparents ate the way they did because the majority of them were farmers, ranchers, miners, loggers, etc. and burned large amounts of calories during the workday. And what is so wrong with exploring new foods? Nothing in my opinion.
Southern food won't BE southern food once it's ilfitrated with other stuff. Why can't it keep its unique taste and blend? Not everyone is overweight or diabetic, so leave us alone and let us eat whatever we want to....and quit trying to make US responsible for the people who choose to become fat, lazy, gorging slugs.
Ok, what in your opinion is southern foods? What is the problem with trying new foods? No one is going to "take away" southern foods. But people, in the south and other places around the US, need to be educated about what southern food really is and that it isn't bad for you. It is about local ingredients, healthfully prepared in a way that is delicious and respectable. I would also like to say that just because you live in a region does not mean that you can only eat food from that region. Many foods can be grown in many places in the US, right now someone is eating "southern food" in Wisconsin and nobody is telling them not to.
Being from out west and having an un bias view on the civilwar I don't see how the south could get over it. The south wasn't burning down homes and killing civilians like woman in children like the north did in georgia and mississippi. The north were barbaric in there actiions
hachetjack...wow! Being from out west clearly didn't make you unbiased. Perhaps under educated in this situation though. The South didn't burn their own homes or kill their own women in (and) children simply because it was their home turf. But they did commit heinous acts during the war too. Both sides were guilty of war crimes. The Southerners who still carry the chip on their shoulders from a war fought 150 years ago need to get over it. No one alive suffered the atrocities of that war.
Eating deer and fish is more healthy than eating fastfood
I agree! It is much better for you body and much better for the environment.
Seems that Bourdain was right in his evaluation of the Deen dishes and culture.
A mississippian made me chicken and dumplins from scratch with bisquits. best thing I've ever eating in my life hands down.
Blah blah blah. I'm sick of the food police. Guess what? Not everyone is overweight or diabetic. Get away from our plates and our kids. In my family it's accidents that kill people, not eating. We live into our 90s because we fry everything in lard, drink milk right out of the cow, and smear real butter on our biscuits.
No one is saying that those food items are going to kill you if you consume them in moderation or that they are even bad for you. It is when you start eating only those items for every meal and getting very little exercise a day that people become unhealthy. When we think about food we have to consider lifestyle as a whole, not just individual food choices.
I am not responsible for what you, or other people, eat. Stay off my plate in turn. I'm sick of being nagged, or hearing my kids nagged, about eating a Twinkie or drinking a soda when everybody in our family is genetically thin. Food police, go away.
As I said before – grow up.
Yeah, grow up. No one is telling you what to eat! You need to open up your dense head for two seconds. NO ONE IS TELLING YOU WHAT TO EAT!!!!!
Peanutbutter and banana on wheat. So awesome.
living in alabama, southern food is what i eat. i can tell you for a fact, just about every meal my grandmother ever made me was hardly unhealthy. lots of veggies with some seasoning but not much. maybe a little pork in the green beans, but just enough to flavor it so slightly. and the meat was never deep fried or anything like that. to me, that's real southern food. it's what you're cooking and how you're cooking it. doesn't really matter how much butter, sugar or salt you add.
not to mention when i was a kid, if i ever went somewhere and the cornbread was sweet, we called it "yankee cornbread". we don't put sugar in cornbread.
Amen to that.. if it was sweet it was corn CAKE not cornbread. Cornbread was flat and best cooked in an iron skillet.
I've lived all over the country and the south by far has the best food.
Southern Food is healthy. Paula Deen has been the most toxic thing to happen to Southern Food since Crisco. This is something I have witnessed happen to cajun food (by this I mean Southern Louisiana cuisine) during my lifetime, and now it's happening to southern food in general. At least there are champions to the cause of truth here with chefs like Sean Brock and Hugh exploring the very real traditions we have.
There is definitely a Southern Food Revolution happening. It will re-write the books. At that time, the clowns who dance a rodeo on a big stick of butter will be perceived as just that... clowns (she already has the make-up... she just needs the funny wig... oh wait, she has that too).
The only problem with Southern food is the number of Yankees we have down here screwing it up.
Can we just stop with this "Yankee thing" now? The civil war was won by us over 150 years ago....seriously....get over it..............we are all Americans.
Spoken like a true Yank. Sorry, you haven't shut us up in 150 years. Won't happen now. Go home and eat your tasteless tofu.
This is the kind of statement that is keeping our country from reaching its true potential. Why can't everyone just be accepting, get along and live in 2012?
As a Yankee, I chuckled at HH's comment. Don't take it so personally
HH – you are a cl0wn and epitomize the reason y'all are stereotyped to the extent you are. Grow up.
Yeah, stop with the Yankee crap. This southern born and bred a*shole doesn't like whiners. You know who the real "yankees" are? The ones that scooped up that Paula Deen and pimped her nasty food out to America calling it real Southern. Listen to Hugh,someone who actually knows a little about this history of your food, and maybe you you will know what real southern food is and was. But, go ahead, eat your processed super fat "southern" food, while the rest of us enjoy the healthy slim picking food like grandma in South Georgia used to make. Be a man, and stop whining about Yankees.
I appreciate this article, and while I think Southern food can be healthy, people need to embrace a desire to change. As someone originally from New England, I am surprised by how the friends I've made "down here" cling to the persona that Southerners are all about fried foods, sugar, and biscuits bathed in butter. It is somewhat of a joke when gathering for meals with friends. Unless people are willing to embrace healthier choices, unhealthy trends are likely to continue.
Never gonna happen. I'm from the South, I still live here and I love it here, but there's a far-too-rampant attitude here that if the "Yankees" think you shouldn't poke yourself in the eye with a stick, we'd rather be blind than agree with them. And the one-note response to criticism is always "Why don't you just move back to ______."
After all this commotion, I won't be surprised to see a new Southern food revolution where chefs try to top each other in ridiculously unhealthy cooking methods.
Definitely checking out Hugh's places next time I'm in ATL. Whether you consider his dish true Southern food or not, it sounds delicious!
I grew up in the south, South Carolina to be exact. We were farmers and ate tons of veggies! Actually meat, and fried meat at that was very infrequent. A breakfast of fresh laid eggs and grits was a staple. You have your carb/starch and protein. For Lunch we generally had a home made veggie soup or beans n rice. For dinner we had rice, stewed tomatoes and maybe a fish, chicken or pork chop. Turnips, collards or mustard with cornbread also made dinner several nights a week. In Season, cucumbers and tomato was every meal too. Yes the meat was fried or the chicken baked but it lacked the chemicals now found in food. We made and used real butter and yes, lard was used in biscuits. More often than not the pork was pit cooked. Having left the South when I was a teenager and eating a 1000 carlorie a day strickly vegan diet became insulin resistent in my late 30's. A genetic test revealed that I was not getting enough fat! So alot depends upon genetics. Genetics also explains how the thirty year old healthy person who eats the daily recommended diet can die of a heart attack. His / her body does not rid itself of the fat taken in no matter the amount it builds up over time. I would focus on the fact that many in the South are on Food Stamps or fixed incomes and purchase sugar, sodium and fat ladden products from the grocer as they are less expensive and fit within their budget. Also is the working group who now eat out or by quick meals at the grocer. When I grew up in the South the Grocer was a meat market that sold lard, flour, sugar and fresh locally grown veggies. We sold veggies to them. Now there is the soda issue to factor in where in we drank water, tea and coffee. Soda is pure sugar in a bottle. Many of those who used to cook Southern Meals have long gone and their replacements were 9-5 office or plant workers who no longer garden or take the time to can foods. This generation is dependent upon the grocery store and all the chemicals they have to offer. The South has changed and in many ways, not for the better and certainly not for a healthier lifestyle.
This is a well-written and well-thought post. Thanks, Hugh, for your contribution and continual culinary growth.
"Southern" food is SOOOO overexposed. Butter, corn, greens, bacon, ham, chicken, etc... are not "Southern". Those are foodstuffs that are found in many regions and nationalities food traditions. Perhaps the funniest claim I have heard is that fried chicken was invented in the post-civil war south. A _few_ foods (chess pie comes to mind) do spring out of the south, but by and large, it is overblown hype and marketing. You'd find cornbread in 1830's Boston just as much as 1880's Savannah. You'd find fried chicken just as much in 200AD Rome as you would in 1920's Atlanta.
So true!
What is healthy? To me, healthy is about WHOLE foods cooked from scratch and eaten in moderation. And if one raises his or her own food, more the better: the exercise we receive in tending gardens and/or livestock can be a huge boost to healthy living.
Absolutely! Great post. I question the chemicals put in foods and frown upon the sugar and sodium in store bought foods.
I agree! Processed foods with tons of additives do nothing to alleviate health problems. There are always going to be genetic health problems but most health problems can be solved with what you said, whole foods, local foods, home prepared foods and exercise.
I appreciate the advancement of southern food. I'm a Georgia boy and was raised on soul food. Old school. The stuff you can't get in a restaurant. Paula Deen is a caricature of herself. She needs to realize that putting a stick of butter or a cup of mayo in everything she eats is not only unhealthy, it does nothing to elevate fresh local ingredients.
I'm very sorry that she now has diabetes, but did her doctors not see that coming? After doing tons of research on cancer when my father was sick, I definitely know that doctors in the United States are merely pawns for the pharmaceutical industry. Doctors are taught what drug to give you instead of telling you to eat right and exercise. You definitely are what you eat!
Doctors treat the syptoms not the problem. They are busy booking 5 patients into a 15 minute time slot for 1 doctor! Every time you go they want to shove some new medicine in you. Absurd. I call it "money care"
I too am from the South and we never cooked like Paula Dean. We ate what we grew.
I hope that all is well with your father.
Way to overgeneralize an entire profession to advance your ridiculous anti-doctor agenda. I am sure Doctors never tell their patients to live right, and the patients decide not to anyway. It is the evil big pharma doctors fault.
Good job. Way to live a bitter life, and go Occupy a holistic store
You're absolutely spot on, and I totally agree w/ you.
Great post, I would like to recommend a Resturante in Spain, Valencia http://www.la-querencia.com has been the surprise of 2011
Si yo podía hablar a español podría retirar su sitio Web.