On Tue, 03 Feb 2004 11:21:06 -0600, Olivers >
wrote:

>Frogleg muttered....

>>>Certainly, in the US South, "sweetening" has cultural/societal
>>>implications. Pooor man's cornbread remains sugarless unto this day,
>>
>> Don't think so. Sorghum and cane are common in old-time Southern
>> cooking.
>
>But most regionallly marketed Southern cornbread "mixes" contain no sugar
>(and white meal products are popular), while the national brands are
>heavily sugared (and overwhelmingly from yellow cornmeal). Cornbread
>certainly continues to be a food primarily eaten in lower income
>househholds (or those where family members were raised in lower income or
>rural environments). As for sorghum and cane syrups, they are for putting
>on cornbread, not in it...(ahhh, memories of my grandmother's favorite,
>cornbread crumbled in buttermilk, with just a dash of syrup atop...)

Can't say authoritatively. I've never bought cornbread 'mix.'. I can't
think that sugar was ever a particularly expensive ingredient in the
US.

>> Many Southerners put sugar in a lot
>> of things many Californians don't. Southern iced tea is normally very
>> sweet; it's unsweetened in other regions.
>
>Your knowledge of the US South is obviously inadequate. We could drive
>down most any Southern street and pick out restaurants (or homes) where
>pre-sweetened tea will be offered.

Precisely. It's a regional preference. Sweetened (iced) tea by default
in the south; unsweetened in other areas.
>
>> Smithfield, VA, the center
>> of much classic ham production, produces mostly salt-cured products,
>> 'though 'honey-cured' items are available.
>
>"Smithfield" these days being a brand name for a modestly priced line of
>prepared pork products,

Smithfield hams are distinct products processed ('though not
prorduced) within the city limits of Smithfield, Virginia. They are
*not* products of a single company, but rather a local association.

http://www.smithfieldfoods.com/Consumer/Timeline/

"1926 -- To protect the good name of Smithfield products, Virginia
enacted a law defining Genuine Smithfield Meats as peanut-fed hogs
raised in Virginia or North Carolina and cured in the town limits. In
1968, it was amended to include hogs raised elsewhere."
>>
>> The OP inquired about a "North American" fondness for sugar, which I
>> think is a mistaken impression. *I* wonder about the inclusion of
>> sugar in many dishes in Southern US cooking, But it's mostly, AFAIK, a
>> regional preference.
>
>....and pumpkin pie, a "Yankee" dish, is not a vegetable laced with sugar
>to make it more appealing/palatable? Are not dozens of Czech and German
>recipes heavily sugared? British "savory" condiments, a trademark of an
>otherwise bland cuisine?

Again, what's your point? Desserts contain sugar? Yep. I guess they
often do. You got me there. Are you saying that all veg dishes in
North America contain sugar? I don't think so. All meats? Nope. All
ham? Not AFAIK. All jams? Not even those.

The OP inquired about an perceived "North American" fondness for
sugared/sweet foods in relation to a recipe for mac&cheese. I replied
that sweet salad dressings and the addition of sugar to, say, green
beans cooked with a little side meat seemed odd to me, too. Regional
preference. Southern US. Not typical to North America. Not anything to
do with 'class' of food. Not even universal in the Southern US.