13th
Hush Puppies
A friend’s Twitter post today brought back memories of “hush puppies”- little balls of deep-fried (authentically in bacon fat) cornmeal. My daddy, being from the South, used to make them for us when I was growing up. Yum! I haven’t had any homemade hush puppies since I was a kid so, I decided to search for a recipe to make me some of those yummy little artery-clogging delectables.
I’ve always known that the name “hush puppies” comes from the fact that, in the southeastern U.S., the balls of cornmeal were thrown out to the hounds to quiet them. And of course, Hush Puppies brand shoes have been around forever. But, while searching for the recipe, I discovered, through Wikipedia, the connection between the two…
Then, on a selling trip to the southeast, Mr. Muir dined with one of his regional salesmen and the meal included hush puppies, traditional fried southern cornballs. When Mr. Muir asked about the origin of the name, he was told that farmers threw hush puppies at the hounds to “quiet their barking dogs.”
Mr. Muir saw a connection to his new product. “Barking dogs” in the vernacular of the day was an idiom for sore feet. Mr. Muir surmised his new shoes were so comfortable that they could “quiet barking dogs.”
Now, that’s clever advertising. Of course, it wouldn’t work today because the term “barking dogs” refering to aching feet is outdated. And I wonder, in this day and age of heart-healthy consciousness, how many people still eat the food version. Well, I for one, intend to do just that! If you want to partake yourself, check out these recipes- one traditional and one over-the-top-epicurean… http://tinyurl.com/65742q http://tinyurl.com/5l4kfh
Ok, arteries- prepare for an assault!
