Mostly, it is served with fried or escoveitch (see also escabeche and ceviche) fish. They are served with jerked meats such as pork or chicken. They are sweeter than hushpuppies, which often contain onion or garlic. In Jamaica, such fried bread dumplings are known as 'festivals', and are made from a flour and cornmeal dough, with added salt and sugar, which is then formed into hot-dog roll shapes and deep-fried. They are commonly made at home or served in restaurants advertising home-style food.Ī plate with a dozen Puerto Rican 'sorullitos' (hushpuppies) appetizers in Ponce, Puerto Rico Hushpuppies are often served with seafood or barbecued foods. The small breads are fried until crispy golden brown, and cooled. Many older recipes call for the batter to be cooked in the same oil as the fish it accompanies. The batter is mixed well, adjusting ingredients until thick, and dropped a spoonful at a time into hot oil. Typical hushpuppy ingredients include cornmeal, wheat flour, eggs, salt, baking soda, milk or buttermilk, and water, and may include onion, spring onion ( scallion), garlic, whole kernel corn, and peppers.

'Red horse bread' of South Carolina then became 'hushpuppies' in Georgia around 1927, then gained national traction around 1943 in Florida.

Associated with former slave chef Romeo Govan, 'red horse bread' is said to have been similar in consistency and ingredients. Although there are many possible origins for the dish, it is found to be akin to 'red-horse bread', named after the red horse fish of the South Carolina rivers. One claims, with little verification, that it came from hunters, fishermen, or other cooks who would fry some basic cornmeal mixture (possibly that they had been bread-coating or battering their own food with) and feed it to their dogs to 'hush the puppies' during cook-outs or fish-fries. Etymology is attributed to a variety of sources. The first recorded use of the word 'hush-puppy' dates to 1899. A southern hushpuppy championship is held annually in Lufkin, Texas, and they are also available throughout the United States at restaurants serving deep-fried seafood. Hushpuppies are strongly associated with the Southern United States. Indian boiled cornbread is present in Southern cuisine as 'corn meal dumplings'. To a far greater degree than anyone realizes, several of the most important food dishes that the Southeastern Indians live on today is the 'soul food' eaten by both black and white Southerners. It could be fashioned into high-rising, fluffy loaves or simply fried for a quick meal. Cornbread was popular during the American Civil War because it was inexpensive and could be made in many different shapes and sizes. Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole cooking introduced one of its main staples into Southern cuisine: corn, either ground into meal or limed with an alkaline salt to make hominy, in a Native American technology known as nixtamalization. The use of ground maize (corn) in cooking originated with Native Americans, who first cultivated the crop.

Hush puppy