Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go. ~ Anthony Bourdain
We derive much of who we are from our environment, and what we eat is as much a part of that as our first language. In fact, they’re linked, as I mentioned in a July 2024 post. This post will simply be a bit of a nod to foods that were “born” in Tennessee.
Food and Drink Born Here - Drink First
One of the oldest food or beverage producers in Tennessee, and perhaps the best known, is Jack Daniel’s Distillery. Per the Jack Daniel’s website, the first product was Old No. 7, introduced in 1864, and production has continued ever since with only two interruptions. One pause was during the Prohibition years, though Mr. Daniel did store Old No. 7 in warehouses (Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Birmingham), so he had stock available when Prohibition was repealed. The other cessation was during WWII, when the use of Grade 1 corn was limited to food production. Jack Daniel’s resources were redirected to making plywood for aircraft. WHAT? I know, I know.
According to Southern Thing, Mountain Dew was an invention of brothers, Barney Hartman and Ally Hartman, who wanted to create a bourbon mixer. The name was tongue-in-cheek, as it was a nickname for moonshine. Tri-City Lemonade, whose product wasn’t selling, liked Mountain Dew’s marketing and when it started using the brothers’ green bottles for their lemonade product, it became a hit. Go figure.
And then the food
The Goo Goo Cluster came out of Nashville in 1912 at Standard Candy Company and was the first multi-element candy. (Check out the video below for additional details.) As an aside, the original recipe of marshmellow, peanuts, caramel and chocolate is still in production, but [fortunately] options are now available. No, I don’t hate the original, but chocolate and caramel ingredients are better with pecans. There’s also a peanut butter version. Why? I have no idea, but I do know there’s no accounting for appeals to the masses.
Oatmeal Creme Pies were introduced by O. D. McKee in 1933, and he sold them out of his car. He later purchased a defunct bakery for production, and in 1957 moved to a modern facility in Collegedale where he began to diversify. The Nutty Buddy was born in 1958. Yum. The Little Debbie brand did not come into the picture until 1960.
Moon Pies blessed us with their presence in 1917 (also Chattanooga area) when a miner asked for a hand-held treat as big as the moon and the bakery made it happen. They now have a variety of flavors, but I still prefer the chocolate.
But There's More
Of course the state is known for more comestibles than I’ve listed. Some probably originated in Tennessee. There’s George Dickel whiskey, the dry-rub barbeque out of Memphis, and Nashville hot chicken. Bush Beans manufacturing started around Dandridge, and there’s the Appalachian Stack Cake. According to the Knox News story, wedding guests would bring one layer of a cake and assemble it, if you will, by slathering jam on top. Others guests did the same, and voilá! A wedding cake, crowd-sourced. The kitchen tables in our state–and probably yours– are replete with echoes of the past. If we just stop and listen, our food and drink will taste even richer.
Your food comments are interesting and new information to me. I have done more research on Jack Daniels and can add a few things. Jasper Daniels got his knowledge of the trade from two sources. As a teenager, he worked for Dan Call, a local preacher and distiller. Daniel’s mentor was Nearest Green a freed slave and first known African American Master distiller.
If you haven’t been to the distillery for the tour, you need to go. They don’t sell whiskey there, but they do sell a bottle with whiskey in it. 😉