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Fun Trivia: B : Breads and Grains

Special Sub-Topic: Hushpuppies


Which of these ingredients would usually be found in hushpuppies?

    Corn meal. Other ingredients for hushpuppies include flour, baking soda, eggs, salt, milk and water. Some folks add corn, peppers and/or onions to spice up the recipe. Pancake batter can also be used.

How are hushpuppies prepared?
    Deep fried. Hushpuppies are deep fried in vegetable or peanut oil until they are golden brown. Then they are placed on a paper towel where the grease can be absorbed before the hushpuppies are eaten. Most recipes have you heat the oil to 350 degrees F. Then you drop a small amount of batter into the oil to see if it will float to the top. If it does, then it is ready for cooking.

From what geographic area did hushpuppies originate?
    Southern United States. Hushpuppies are a southern treat. One legend states that they got their name because Confederate Soldiers would throw the bread to their dogs whenever Union soldiers would come near the camp in order to "hush the puppies". Some food historians believe hushpuppies were created by a group of French nuns who came to New Orleans in the 1700s.

In what shape are hushpuppies usually prepared and served?
    Spherical. Hushpuppies are often shaped like a ball. The batter is spooned into the oil, when it floats to the top the hushpuppy is fried for about 5 minutes. The cook spins it around in the oil making sure all sides are cooked to a golden brown. Some people cook hushpuppies in an oblong shape as well.

With what food are hushpuppies traditionally served?
    Catfish. Another legend regarding how the bread got its name is that an African cook in Atlanta was frying a batch of catfish when a nearby puppy began to howl. To keep the puppy quiet, she gave it a plateful of the fried bread and said, "Hush, puppy." Catfish and hushpuppies are a classic Southern combination.

At which of these restaurants would you find hushpuppies on the menu?
    Long John Silvers. Hushpuppies are usually served at restaurants that specialize in fried fish. Besides Long John Silvers, you will find hushpuppies at Captain D's, Arthur Treacher's, and Skipper's. Hushpuppies were a "poor man's" bread, because corn meal was cheap and in abundance. Therefore the fried bread is rarely found in "fine dining" establishments.

By what other name are hushpuppies sometimes known?
    Corn dodgers. While a corn dodger and hushpuppy have the same or similar ingredients, corn dodgers are often oval shaped and flat, not ball-shaped like hushpuppies. However, the names are interchangeable in some parts of the USA.

You are cooking hushpuppies and the batter does not float to the top. What does that usually mean?
    The oil is too cool. The oil used in cooking hushpuppies must be hot or the hushpuppies will soak up the grease. However, if the oil is too hot, the hushpuppy will be brown on the outside and raw on the inside. If the oil is too cold the batter will not float to the top. That is why you need to check the temperature by dropping a small amount of batter into the oil before cooking. If it floats to the top you are ready to start cooking.

What type of bread are hushpuppies?
    Quick bread. Quick breads are made with chemical leaveners such as baking soda. Therefore they can be prepared and cooked in a short amount of time. Yeast bread often takes hours to rise and of course uses yeast as the leavening agent.

"Hushpuppies" is also the name of a famous US manufacturing company. What do they make?
    Footwear. According to the company's website the name happened as follows: "The origins of the Hush Puppies name are decidedly low-tech. A company sales manager sat with a friend for a dinner of catfish and deep fried corn fritters called "hush puppies." Intrigued by the name, the salesman discovered that farmers also used these hush puppies to quiet barking dogs. At the time, tired feet were known as "barking dogs" and the salesman reasoned that his soft, lightweight comfortable shoes could quiet them, too". The shoe company was started in 1958 and claims to be the creator of the worlds "first casual shoe".


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