A Culinary History of Southern Delaware

Denise Clemons discusses her book, A Culinary History of Southern Delaware with Hagley’s Ben Spohn. By Clemons’ own estimation, Southern Delaware begins somewhere below the C&D canal where the suburban sprawl surrounding Wilmington ends and the rest of the state begins. This area consisting of only two counties- Kent and Sussex- is small yet mighty. In this conversation Clemons traces the history of local foodways back to Delaware’s indigenous peoples and traces the rise of local crops and foodstuffs that most of us associate with Delaware: scrapple, chicken, and peaches, but also some of Delaware's less familiar gustatory delights: strawberries, watermelon, muskrat, and much more. But that’s not all. In addition to the history of the above foodstuffs, Clemons discusses recipes for them and local restaurants and farmer’s markets where one can sample these goods. Maybe you’ll bring some of these Southern Delaware foods to your table this holiday season?

If you’d like to purchase your own copy of A Culinary History of Southern Delaware, it is available at Huxley and Hiro in Wilmington, Delaware.

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