The Wonders of Mississippi Cuisine: A Journey Through Laura's Delicious Package

Laura recently sent me a package filled with a variety of traditional Mississippi delicacies, each one more fascinating than the last. As I opened the box and began to explore its contents, I couldn't help but feel excited about the culinary journey that lay ahead.

The first item on my list was scuppernong grapes, which Laura assured me were a staple in many Mississippi households. She explained that they are often served as a snack or used in recipes like jelly and jam. As I picked up a few of these small, greenish-yellow orbs, I noticed their slimy texture, which seemed to be the perfect complement to my curiosity about them. Laura shared with me her own experiences with scuppernong grapes, mentioning that she grew up eating them boiled, but also often saw them deep-fried alongside catfish in local restaurants and used in gumbo, a hearty stew originating from Louisiana. She even sent me a pickled version of the fruit, which I was eager to try.

Upon closer inspection, I discovered the white seeds inside the scuppernong grapes, which Laura revealed were her favorite childhood treat. She confessed that she loved scraping out these seeds because they reminded her of frog eggs. The flavor and texture of scuppernong grapes are indeed unique, with a salty taste reminiscent of dill pickles but also carrying a subtle kick of chili heat.

Next up were traditional cheese straws, another staple in Mississippi cuisine. Laura shared with me that even the smallest towns in Mississippi would often serve these crunchy, cheesy treats at social gatherings like baby showers and church events. She described them as having a texture similar to shortbread, but with a savory flavor that grew richer with each bite.

As I continued my exploration of the package, I came across sweet potato-themed items, which Laura assured me were a hallmark of Mississippi cuisine. The first item on this list was sugar-free sweet potato yum-yums, which promised to deliver a taste experience unlike any other. According to Laura, Vitamin Missississippi – known for growing some of the world's sweetest sweet potatoes – possesses a unique soil quality that enhances their flavor. These sweet potato yum-yums did not disappoint, with a refined pecan brittle-like texture and a nutty, buttery flavor reminiscent of pecans.

The next item in this sweet potato lineup was a package of sweet potato cocoons, which looked almost too good to be true. Covered in powdered sugar, these crunchy treats seemed like they belonged on a bakery shelf rather than being sent through the mail. Laura confirmed that each one was handmade and offered a delightful cookie-like texture without being overly sweet. The presence of nutmeg added a warm, aromatic flavor to these sweet potato cocoons.

Last but certainly not least were sweet potato bonbons, which presented themselves as elegant truffles with an unexpected twist: actual pieces of sweet potato inside. Laura mentioned that these treats possessed a subtle boozy and coconutty note, adding depth to their sweetness. Whether enjoyed on its own or paired with coffee or tea, this confection proved to be the perfect way to cap off my culinary journey through Laura's package.

Throughout the contents of this package, I couldn't help but appreciate the cultural significance of each item. According to Laura, many Mississippi foods – including cheese straws and divinity – have managed to survive in a world dominated by mass-produced snacks due to their simple yet distinctive charm. Furthermore, Louisiana-Cajun French influences are common throughout Mississippi's culinary heritage, reflecting the state's rich history as a melting pot of cultures.

As I wrapped up my exploration of Laura's package, I was left feeling grateful for the opportunity to experience these unique and delicious Southern specialties. Her generosity and enthusiasm had made this journey through Mississippi cuisine an unforgettable one, and I looked forward to sharing it with all those who might enjoy such a culinary adventure.

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"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello my beautiful lovelies hi it's emmy welcome back to another m eats today i'll be eating another u.s state and it is mississippi i received this fantastic package from laura f laura f thank you so much for putting together such a beautiful and comprehensive representation of your state i can't wait to taste it so many interesting things including something that is entirely non-edible look at this isn't it beautiful this my friends is real cotton it's so incredibly soft and beautiful and white and just like cotton balls that you would find in a bag but on stems there's this little pod and then inside you've got this fluffy beautiful cotton while this is fluffy and soft this needs to be refined i haven't tasted anything but so far this is my favorite thing in the entire package it is so beautiful thank you so laura's originally from mississippi but lives in arkansas and her mother actually picked this for her to include in the package so thank you laura's mama so much for sending this to me so by now you guys know that i really love to eat but even more than eating i really love to learn and laura included a wonderful letter that details all kinds of information about the products she sent so i'll be sharing that information with you as well and if you like to learn about different cultures and the foods that represent them be sure to like this video so i know it alright let's go ahead and get started let me give you a little bit of background about mississippi besides the fact that it was my favorite state to spell as a child so mississippi is located in the southern united states and has a subtropical climate and has lots and lots of rain let me read to you what laura says about mississippi like much of the south mississippi is somewhat traditional it's a place where things like history junior league and cotillion still mean something so example of junior league this is a junior league cookbook that laura sent me lots of recipes peppered beef crab strudels smoked duck confetti salad watercress sauce really fancy things actually oh let's get to the sweet miss chris is 15 layer lemon cake now we're talking and cotillion by the way if you don't know the word i actually had to look it up is a type of dance or a fancy kind of ball cotillion isn't that a great word so the first item i have is this look at this big bottle it is not wine this is muscadine juice a muscadine is a type of grape laura says musketing grape is a grape that is native to the southern states in north america a lot of these items come from mississippi state laura is not affiliated with them they just have a really good agricultural department so let's give this juice a taste gosh that smells great smells like concord grape has that really distinctive grape smell to it but it's a little bit nutty yeah it smells wonderful okay this has not been chilled but it is cool beautiful color kind of a light amber color all right let's give that a go cheers ooh boy that's nice and this is delicious it tastes a bit like conquered grape it has that distinctive grapey intense flavor to it but it's a little bit different it's not quite as heavy in that grape flavor a little bit crisper a little bit more like apples and also tastes nutty and woodsy a little bit like walnuts and it's really nicely balanced it's sweet without being syrupy it doesn't taste like it has any additional sugar in it and then it's balanced with some acidity in there and tasting a juice like this really reminds you that wine comes from grapes because this tastes just a little bit whiny now that we had muscadine juice let's give musketing jelly a taste and this is bullies that smells heavenly not quite like grape but not like berries either quite a different color than the juice wouldn't you say i would imagine probably due to the skins look at that jelly beautifully clear put that on my corner of butter toast itadakimasu very similar to the muscadine juice a little bit sweeter and of course you've got this really great jelly texture and it's just crystal clear transparency beautiful really great on toast but i think i like the juice version better i think you can taste more of the complexities in the juice so this jar of jelly has got to have the best name ever scuppernong jelly isn't that a wonderful name scuppernong is a specific variety of the muscadine grape and it is actually quite hard to find so you often find homemade versions of this the scuppernong has a lighter color as opposed to the muscadine jelly oh so this one has virtually no scent to it let's try it by itself wow it has a nice little tangy finish but the grape flavor is much more subtle than the muscadine jellies nice but just not as assertive i'm gonna have a bite on toast scuppernong scuppernong i could just say that all day hey scuppernong love it i have one more jelly and it's this one and it's the mayhaw jelly look at that have you ever heard of a mayhaw i've never heard of a mayhaw laura says the major bear grows in swamps and in bogs and does well in mississippi do the frequent rains look at that beautiful color though isn't that gorgeous oh it's so pretty all right here we go oh wow that's very interesting it's initially tart and then sweet and then call me crazy but it almost tastes kind of oniony am i bonkers yeah it always tastes savory it's good it's just not like anything i've ever had but and it also reminds me a little bit of lingonberry as well nice the last thing i have for mississippi state university is sourwood honey yes as some of you may know if you follow me on social media i am going to be keeping bees i can't wait they're arriving in a couple weeks let's get back to our sour wood honey and let's see oh yeah look at that oh that's beautiful honey is such a gift and all of you know that honey comes from nectar that's collected by bees but did you know that the bees collect the nectar from the flower bring it to the hive and then they regurgitate from their nectar stores and in that process they add enzymes to the nectar once some of the water has evaporated from the nectar it has become honey so those enzymes are part of the reason why honey never goes bad cool cool cool wow such a unique tasting honey and contrary to its name it is not at all sour it doesn't taste like wood it's actually got a very floral flavor to it almost like lilacs or something it's lovely it has a little bit of a crystalline texture to it which i don't mind at all in fact i enjoy that i really liked creamed honey because i love that spreadable kind of thick texture to it scrumptious scrumptious the next item i have is this and this is anderson decent's country store hot pickled okra if you've never had okra before it's a wonderful little vegetable it's about this long it looks a little bit like a hot pepper it's green in color when you cut it open it has lots of white seeds inside and it has a really great slimy texture to it i love it laura said she grew up eating it boiled but you often see it deep fried often alongside deep fried catfish and also used in gumbo which is a stew but she sent me the pickled version because of course it would keep laura says you could find this in people's refrigerators and you would eat it just as you would a dill pickle as a little snack or alongside a sandwich maybe so let's do a little ogre dissection here so there you see there are the white seeds my favorite thing as a kid was to scrape out these seeds because i thought they looked like frog eggs loved them all right here you go quite salty and the flavoring is very similar to dill pickles but this has some chili heat in it which i really like tart and tangy dilly sour and spicy yum next we're gonna try these and these are traditional cheese straws laura says even the smallest towns simple social events like baby showers or church events will call for family recipes and a bit more formality than there might be in other areas as a result foods like cheese straws and divinity that might be served with coffee or tea have survived a world of nobisco and other mass manufactured snacks indispensable southern staple oh those look great looks like they've been kind of extruded out of a piping bag beautiful yellow color they smell like cheez-its and butter the texture is quite different than a cheese it or a typical cracker more like shortbread crumbly and rich and the cheese flavor kind of grows as you eat it with each little chew it gets cheesier and cheesier and richer and richer delicious what's interesting to me about this is that it has a texture of a cookie like a shortbread or a sandy but the flavor is all savory the next items i have are all sweet potato themes and this first one is the sugar-free sweet potato yum yums so vitamin mississippi is known for growing the sweetest sweet potatoes in the world much like vidalia georgia known for its onions vitamin is known for the sweet potatoes there's something in the soil that makes them taste better look at that and it smells like pecans you know that unique buttery nutty smell that you can only find with pecans all right let's give that a go it's a really refined pecan brittle this thing is chock full of pecans and just has a little bit of this kind of candy holding it all together but it's much lighter than say like a peanut brittle there's less of that hard hard syrupy candy and it's lighter in texture almost like seafoam i really really like the texture nutty yet crisp not overly sweet surprisingly too and i was concerned because this was sugar-free and it contained splenda that would have a really strong kind of artificial sweetener aftertaste but it doesn't at all really surprised by that this is delicious all right so the next sweet potato item i have is this and these are sweet potato cocoons look at these so these are all covered in powdered sugar look like these are handmade they're a little bit different sizes let's cut one oh look at that so they're crunchy it looks like it's more like a cookie all right let's give that a go and those are delightful the texture is cookie like but the all-around kind of flavor reminds me of powdered sugar doughnuts there's a little bit of nutmeg i think maybe in there and it's actually not too sweet all the sweetness actually comes from the powdered sugar on the outside delightful and my last sweet potato items are these and these are sweet potato bonbons that looks like a truffle let's cut it so you can see what it looks like on the inside look at that so there's actual pieces of sweet potato in there it smells vanilla and sweet alright let's give that a go definitely definitely candy the outside is very sweet and tastes a bit vanilla and it tastes just a tiny bit boozy and coconutty but a delicious little homemade confection so laura also said it's worth mentioning that mississippi's food and other cultural pieces like architecture and given names often reflect a cajun french influence gumbo crawfish and dewey sausage are also many common sights in the mississippi wowzers wow's resist package was just wonderful laura thank you so much for sending this package to me and teaching us so much about mississippi your beautiful state and i hope to do a more in-depth tour of the south sometime soon all right thank you guys so much for watching i hope you guys enjoy that i hope you guys learned something let me know in the comments below if you've ever had scuppernong and jelly before and yeah follow me on social media share this video with your friends and i shall see you in my next video toodaloo take care bye\n"