7 Vintage Southern Dishes That Johnny Cash Enjoyed

Johnny Cash was as big a star as it was possible to get in his day — and the legend always enjoyed some down home Southern cooking. To be fair, it's hard not to enjoy Southern cooking. This is the region that perfected the oh so delicious barbecue and cornbread. If you're unfamiliar, check out these Southern recipes for Northerners to try. Maybe queue up some of Johnny Cash and June Carter's hits while you cook. Hey, some of these recipes have a spicy kick to them — could that be how Cash got that rich bass-baritone in his voice? Knock back a bowl of his favorite chili and see if you don't sing "Ring of Fire" better at your next karaoke night.

Cash and his wife, Carter — a country music legend in her own right — weren't simply foodies who happened to live in a culinary paradise. They also frequently hosted other stars in their Nashville home. A Southern-style potluck is already a wonderful event — but this musical power couple relished hosting, and they made magic in the kitchen. If you were lucky enough to enjoy a meal at the Carter Cash household, you might be treated to one of these vintage Southern dishes.

Not liking cornbread would be sacrilege for a Southerner like Johnny Cash. When you've got a lot of mouths to feed around the table, passing around a basket of hot cornbread is a godsend. The cornbread recipe at the Carter Cash household included white cheddar cheese, jalapeños, and onions. A proper cornbread recipe doesn't need extras, exactly, but it's hard to go wrong with those particular ingredients. Jalapeños bring a little heat, white cheddar mellows things out and adds creaminess, and onions provide a jolt of umami. Cooking this in a cast iron skillet adds even more down-home touch.

The question that's probably on your mind right now is: Did Johnny Cash eat cornbread normally? You know, biting and chewing and swallowing? The answer is, well, almost. Apparently, Cash enjoyed crumbling a slice up into a glass of buttermilk, and eating the whole thing with a spoon. Listen, we're not here to tuck anybody else's yum. This presentation of cornbread sounds like something from a bygone era, though. Whether or not you want to try this odd cousin of cereal yourself is entirely a personal choice.

In a Reddit AMA, fried catfish was one of the first foods Johnny Cash's son, John Carter Cash, said that the singer enjoyed. This should be unsurprising, given that Cash was an avid fisherman. It should also be unsurprising to anyone who's experienced the wonders of Southern fried catfish. The river delight is sweet and mild, with less flake than other white fish. Fried up, possibly chopped into nugget form, and served with tartar and hot sauce — that's good eating.

There might not be a fish more associated with Southern cooking than the catfish. When you're from Arkansas, like "The Man in Black" was, catfish is a huge part of your life. The origins of fried catfish are surprisingly rich and complex. The fish is plentiful in the Mississippi River, of course, but is also a fish beloved in West Africa, where most of the enslaved population of the early United States had their roots. Since catfish was not only abundant, but quick and easy to fry up, the fish quickly became a staple in the African-American community. Delicacies cooked by enslaved people have a way of gaining mainstream popularity, and fried catfish was no exception. By Cash's era, fried catfish was a staple all over the Southern U.S. 

Interestingly enough, "The Man in Black" enjoyed canned biscuits. Probably because he had a whole system for this delightful breakfast. He would start the biscuits baking, then fry the bologna up as crispy as he could get before burning. Then, in the same pan the bologna was fried in, he'd dump the eggs and scramble them up with the bologna grease, adding some salt and lots of pepper. Cooking eggs in leftover grease is just good sense, it adds a whole extra layer of umami flavor. Speaking of umami, Johnny Cash liked to serve a side of fresh tomatoes to accompany his fried bologna and eggs with biscuits. We have to imagine the fresh bite of the tomatoes was a welcome counterbalance to the richness of the other ingredients.

We couldn't determine whether or not Cash employed the simplest trick to better fried bologna. But for those not in the know: Bologna will cup up when you fry it. Pockets of air form in the middle of a slice, meaning the edges get crispy, while the meatier middle is under-fried. Luckily, preventing this is easy. Simply cut thin slits around the edges of each slice of lunch meat. You don't need much, just a little notch on the edge. Either four or five notches is about right. Then, your meat should lay flat in the skillet, ensuring crispy fried bologna goodness throughout.

We're guessing most people can picture a basic chili. Ground beef, tomatoes, broth, and varying amounts of beans and veggies. Well, Johnny Cash liked his chili with a little twist. He skipped ground beef and used chunks of venison or sirloin, which sounds like a stew for the ages. That kind of meat will make for a much chewier, but potentially more hearty, chili. The venison, with its pleasant gamey flavor, seems like an especially inspired addition. Oh, and if you're not already cooking your chili in an iron pot? Take a lesson from the teacher who sang "A Boy Named Sue." Iron cookware imparts its own subtle flavor that really takes chili to new heights.

If you're going to be hosting other country music stars in your Music City home, as Cash and June Carter liked to do, you'd better have a good chili recipe. This is the ultimate food for making sure that everyone eats and you don't break the bank — luckily, venison and sirloin are pretty affordable.

The Carter Cash family recipe for biscuits and gravy came from June's mother, Maybelle, aka "The Queen Of Country." This isn't white gravy, though. The Carter Cash family enjoyed tomato gravy, which is like sausage gravy with canned diced tomatoes. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine. Tomatoes are no stranger to breakfast plates, and the kick of acidity really takes the savory dish to new heights. Still, tomato gravy is a departure from tradition.

Ask a Southerner about biscuits and gravy, and be prepared for a few hours' worth of erudition on the subject. It's one of the top Southern breakfasts that everyone should enjoy at least once, and for good reason. So why did the Carter Cash family tweak this classic so noticeably? In an interview with NPR, John Carter Cash affirmed that experiencing the best Southern cooking involves finding the right grandmother. Maybelle Carter was a matriarchal figure for all of country music. It makes sense, then, that it was her biscuits and gravy recipe that the family enjoyed the most.

It should come as no surprise that the man who performed for prisoners loved this classic working people's food. Pinto beans and ham hocks are a Southern staple that'll stick to your ribs, and it's easy to picture Johnny Cash chowing down on a bowl. The singer made pinto beans and ham hocks from his own recipe, although we have to imagine this wasn't a meal he had often on the road. This dish is best cooked low and slow, so that the flavor of the ham hock has time to infuse everywhere. Whether you use a ham hock or ham bone is up to you, but know that the ham hock is going to have more robust flavor, plus more meat to chew on.

This would've been a difficult dish to make while on the road. Sometimes, though, your community can really come through for you. Writer Everett Vanover even told a story in The Mountain Eagle about his wife, Estelle, making the dish for Cash once. Not only did Johnny like it, the singer praised it as the best meal he'd had in a long time, and kissed Estelle on the cheek. It's not a bad life, being a big enough star that your fans are cooking your favorite dishes for you.

Cheating a little with this last one, because not many people would call a veggie burger a classic, old school Southern dish. Southern food, frankly, is often associated with big portions of meat. For that reason, it is notable that the First Family of Country Music invented a veggie burger recipe. Containing soy beans, bell pepper, seven kinds of brown rice, and plenty of other ingredients held together by tapioca flour, the Cash burger sounds like a tasty reward at the end of an awful lot of chopping. A handwritten version of the recipe survives, and you can see it on Johnny Cash's website.

The Cash burger is a great reminder that although Southern food is typically associated with butter, lard, and heavy meats ... veggies have a place, too. If anyone ever gives you a hard time for ordering a veggie burger, you can simply point to country music's biggest legends as your inspiration. It's pretty hard to argue with the culinary choices of the man who sang "Ring of Fire."