Southern Cooking: Finger Lickin' Good Quiz

Answer: greens

The greens can also be washed and microwaved if one is worried about losing the great nutritional value of these leafy vegetables. Besides ham hock and salt, there are a variety of spices and flavors that one can add to this dish.

Answer: pulled pork

If no smoker is available, one can make pulled pork with a slow cooker or an oven. The variety of pulled pork is endless, and there can be regional preferences in the preparation of this delicious pork meal.

Answer: grits

One can make grits by taking a corn kernel (hominy), drying it, and then grinding it. The simple recipe is boiling the grits for a few minutes and then adding salt and butter. Shrimp and/or cheese are a common addition. One can even add bacon bits or tomato gravy. It is a very versatile dish.

Answer: cornbread

There are a variety of ways to make cornbread including sweet, salty, and even spicy. Cornbread can be baked and the fried. However, a traditional cornbread mix would be poured into a cast iron pan and baked in the oven. The simplest way to make a type of bread from corn was early southern farmers using their hoes or shovels as a pan to make cornbread over an open fire; hence the term hoecake.

Answer: turkey

Turkeys must be deep fried and are basted or injected with seasoning or marinade. The other three items can be coated and pan fried. Other deep or pan fried foods can include ham, liver, okra, squash, pork rind, chit'lins, grits,gizzards and pie. At the 2012 State Fair of Texas (famous for its odd fried foods), the winners for the Big Tex Choice Awards were fried jambalaya and fried bacon cinnamon rolls.

Answer: Coke

So popular is this Atlanta, Georgia based Coke that southerners often use the word as a generic term for any soft drink (carbonated beverage, pop, soda, cola, fizzy, tonic, etc.) Coca cola can be used as a glaze on ham or as a sweetener in sauces to go on a variety of meats.

Sweet tea is a favorite too but NOT carbonated. Both Yoo-Hoo and Dr. Brown's are northern based drinks.

Answer: Brunswick

Brunswick stew is a collection of vegetables and meat, including wild game, that is simmered over a long period of time. The controversy surrounding its origin is debated between the areas Brunswick, Georgia and Brunswick County, Virginia.

Answer: New Year's Day

The idea of Hoppin' John (and black-eyed peas) bringing luck may go back to Jewish traditions that were brought to Georgia in early colonial days. This dish of black-eyed peas (or field peas), rice, and bacon (ham or sausage can be used instead) may also be traced to slaves coming from Western Africa.

Answer: marshmallow

Of course there are all types of size and flavor varieties, but the MoonPie that was created in Tennessee almost a hundred years ago was chocolate and big enough for a working man's appetite. This appeal, along with it becoming a regular Mardi Gras parade throw, has made it a noted southern treat.

In fact, Mobile, Alabama (home of the oldest Mardi Gras celebration in the United States--1703) celebrates New Year's Eve with a giant MoonPie that lights up at midnight.

Answer: tomato

The book is Fannie Flag's "Fried Green Tomatoes at the WhistleStop Cafe" and the movie is simply "Fried Green Tomatoes" (1991). Given southerners penchant for coating things with flour and cornmeal and then frying, one might suppose the other vegetables listed above could be fried, but tomatoes (while they are still green) are a fried favorite at many southern restaurants.