Hush Puppies Food Name Origin

Hush puppies are believed to have originated in the southern united states where they are a traditional dish they are typically made with cornmeal flour egg buttermilk baking soda and onion though various spices and other ingredients including garlic and peppers can be added.

Hush puppies food name origin. In the southern usa salamanders were called water dogs or water puppies. When frying a batch of catfish and croquettes a nearby puppy began to howl. The company had developed a method of tanning pigskin and were looking for an outlet for the soft pigskin suede. There are fried hush puppies.

I also have heard a similar story in which runaway slaves would use this favorite food to hush the dogs. This same story is also attributed to a creole cook. During slave days the kitchens were not attached to the houses. The croquettes became popular throughout the south and the name hush puppy came later.

In 1948 an entrepreneur named walter thompson from the tiny coastal town of swansboro north carolina decided to take hushpuppies nationwide. The real story about hush puppies. Hush puppy shoes were produced by the us shoe company wolverine world wide from 1958 onward. An african cook in atlanta is said to have given the name hushpuppy to this food.

When the slaves were bringing the food to the main house they had to whistle so that the owners knew the slaves weren t eating any of the food. The characters change but the story is the same. There was a walkway from the kitchens to the main house called a whistle walk. The naming has often been attributed to a slave who pretty much did the same thing the hunters did in the story above the difference being that the croquettes were being cooked up to go with fried fish not just to quiet the dogs.

He concocted a ready mix blend of cornmeal flour and seasoning packaged it in pasteboard tubes and branded it thompson s fireside hushpuppy mix. The first recorded use of the word hush puppy dates to 1899. They were given the name hush puppies as eating such humble food wasn t something people wanted to discuss. Hush puppy a deep fried or baked ball of cornmeal batter and spices usually served as a side dish.