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The Real History of Hushpuppies
Serious Eats ^ | 6/15/15 | Robert Moss

Posted on 06/16/2015 8:44:30 AM PDT by Rebelbase

If you're eating a fried catfish or shrimp dinner at a seafood restaurant in the South (or, increasingly, anywhere else in the country), odds are it will be accompanied by the golden brown nuggets known as hushpuppies. Made from a thick cornmeal batter, they're dropped in balls, fingers, or even long squiggly strands into a deep fryer and cooked till crisp on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle. They're delicious, they're iconic, and no one seems to have a clue where they came from.

Which isn't to say that people haven't tried to explain the origin of hushpuppies. Plenty have. The problem is that no one has really tried hard enough. Hushpuppy Origin Myths: A Catalogue

Here's a quick rundown of the various versions of the hushpuppy origin story that now permeate books, magazines, and the Sargasso Sea of knowledge that is the Internet:


TOPICS: Food
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Finally our long national nightmare is over. A concise, history of the Hush Puppy. (Excerpted due to laziness)
1 posted on 06/16/2015 8:44:30 AM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: Rebelbase

I was hoping this was about the shoes. (Are they still around?)


2 posted on 06/16/2015 8:46:05 AM PDT by fwdude (The last time the GOP ran an "extremist," Reagan won 44 states.)
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To: Rebelbase

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R_yICBdLK8

Buford T. Justice didn’t care much for them.


3 posted on 06/16/2015 8:47:56 AM PDT by Snickering Hound
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To: Rebelbase

You have done the country and FR an incredible service by posting this. Keep up the good work.

(I saw it this morning on Serious Eats, also.)


4 posted on 06/16/2015 8:47:58 AM PDT by x1stcav (Why does Eleanor Clift always look like her private parts are causing her acute pain?)
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To: Rebelbase

Uh, do you realize you’ve been banned? For posting about hushpuppies? Man, the mod’s are getting strict.


5 posted on 06/16/2015 8:50:39 AM PDT by x1stcav (Why does Eleanor Clift always look like her private parts are causing her acute pain?)
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To: Rebelbase
Hush puppy
6 posted on 06/16/2015 8:51:07 AM PDT by Bluewater2015 (There are no coincidences)
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To: fwdude
Wore them often.

 photo HPs_zpsuseii3nj.png

7 posted on 06/16/2015 8:51:25 AM PDT by keat
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To: keat

Dumb.


8 posted on 06/16/2015 8:53:29 AM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh, bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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To: fwdude

The story of the shoes is mentioned towards the end of the article.


9 posted on 06/16/2015 8:54:12 AM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: Rebelbase

There is a restaurant here in Savannah that gives hushpuppies instead of bread. They must actually be donut holes in disguise! They come with honeybutter and are very addictive.

They supposedly have great food, but, after the hushpuppies, who cares!

Ok, the food is excellent, or, at least was, the last time I ate there.


10 posted on 06/16/2015 8:59:28 AM PDT by Conan the Librarian (The Best in Life is to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and the Dewey Decimal System)
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To: fwdude
Not to be confused with Desert Boots.

 photo DBs_zpsspijg1lz.jpg

11 posted on 06/16/2015 9:00:24 AM PDT by keat
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To: Rebelbase

Why does the author think that a black woman cooking hushpuppies is a racial stereotype? Black people don’t cook or eat?


12 posted on 06/16/2015 9:02:26 AM PDT by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
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To: fwdude

Yes! They’re still manufactured by Wolverine World Wide in Rockford, Michigan.


13 posted on 06/16/2015 9:09:13 AM PDT by FrdmLvr ("WE ARE ALL OSAMA, 0BAMA!" al-Qaeda terrorists who breached the American compound in Benghazi)
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To: Conan the Librarian

There is a restaurant here in Savannah that gives hushpuppies instead of bread. They must actually be donut holes in disguise! They come with honeybutter and are very addictive.

They supposedly have great food, but, after the hushpuppies, who cares!

Ok, the food is excellent, or, at least was, the last time I ate there.


Long John Silver gives hushpuppies with its combo meals, or it did back in the day. This is not an endorsement of their cuisine by any means!


14 posted on 06/16/2015 9:09:39 AM PDT by Bluewater2015 (There are no coincidences)
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To: keat

I don’t think those are Hush Puppies. Those are Clark’s.


15 posted on 06/16/2015 9:10:13 AM PDT by FrdmLvr ("WE ARE ALL OSAMA, 0BAMA!" al-Qaeda terrorists who breached the American compound in Benghazi)
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To: keat

“And what about those famous hushpuppy shoes? Yes, they were actually named for the Southern fish fry side dish. After World War II, the Wolverine Shoe and Tanning Corporation developed a new method for making brushed pigskin, which they used to make a casual men’s shoe with a soft rubber-crepe sole. According to the company’s history, one of its salesmen was dining on fried catfish and hushpuppies on a sales trip down South and was told the (supposed) story of the fried fritter’s origin. He thought it the perfect name for a casual shoe, which would “quiet your barking dogs.” Released in 1957, Hush Puppies were America’s first non-athletic casual shoes, and by 1963 one in ten Americans were said to own a pair.”


16 posted on 06/16/2015 9:11:44 AM PDT by ansel12
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To: FrdmLvr; keat

Those are known as chukka boots in the UK, where Clark’s is based


17 posted on 06/16/2015 9:16:42 AM PDT by expat2
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To: Rebelbase
From the article:

"In 1948, an entrepreneur named Walter Thompson from the tiny coastal town of Swansboro, North Carolina, decided to take hushpuppies nationwide. He concocted a ready-mix blend of cornmeal, flour, and seasoning, packaged it in pasteboard tubes, and branded it Thompson's Fireside Hushpuppy Mix. "Just add water," the label promised. "A delightfully different Southern hot bread." It sold for 30 cents a can."

My grandmother lived in Bogue, NC (a few miles up the road from Swansboro, NC) and worked for Walter Thompson for several years during this time. Until she died in 2002 at the age of 96, she would brag about being the one who created his recipe. None of us gave it much credence.

18 posted on 06/16/2015 9:25:07 AM PDT by P8riot (I carry a gun because I can't carry a cop.)
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To: Rebelbase

In the south to have fish, Brunswick stew or pork bar-b-q without hush puppies simply isn’t done. I think it may even be a law.


19 posted on 06/16/2015 9:34:09 AM PDT by MagnoliaB
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To: Rebelbase

The first rule of Hush Puppies Club is to ....... Hush up.


20 posted on 06/16/2015 9:40:34 AM PDT by jdsteel (Give me freedom, not more government.)
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