VIRGINIA MeadowCroft Farm of Swoope, VA makes these authentic sweet spiced peaches. We can't figure out whether they should be served with the relish tray during the main meal, or as a fabulous tasty dessert afterward. It's peach halves immersed the right way with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and allspice. Made in small batches on a working family farm in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley, one of the world's beautiful places.
SOUTH CAROLINA Founded in 1974, Manchester Farms is the oldest quail producer in the United States. It's a second-generation, family-owned operation headquartered in Columbia. Founder Bill Odom was raising Pharaoh Quail to train his hunting dogs in Manchester State Forest when he decided there could be a market for the farm-raised variety. Manchester Farms prides itself on raising healthy birds that are growth promotant and hormone free.
VIRGINIA If you want to buy the quintessential country ham for your breakfast table, you may as well aim for one of the best. ​In 1936, Joseph W. Luter and his son founded a small meat-packing company, The Smithfield Packing Company, along the tributary of the historic James River in the colonial town of Smithfield, Virginia. Over 60 years later, the “Genuine Smithfield Ham” is still born, bred and produced only in Smithfield, now sometimes referred to as the “Ham Capital of the World.” Be sure to follow the directions when cooking a real salt-cured country ham -- and always slice it thin.
LOUISIANA This venerable company was launched in 1910 by Edmond Bulliard by the banks of the  Bayou Teche in South Louisiana. Today the third generation of the family run things at Cajun Chef, located in Martinville., using specially cured green hot peppers packed in a spiced vinegar. The company recommends the sauce as seasoning on all cooked green vegetables, and says it's effective in bringing canned or frozen vegetables to life. May be refilled with stock vinegar as needed.
SOUTH CAROLINA State capital Columbia is the headquarters for this gourmet Southern sauce company. It's a blend of vinegar and not-too-hot peppers appropriate for grilling and dipping. It also doubles as a marinade. 
GEORGIA This chutney salsa is made from Georgia's state vegetable, the world's sweetest onion, by Prissy's of Vidalia. It's concocted from fresh peaches, Vidalia onions, vinegar, red bell peppers, jalapeno peppers.  It's can be used as a dip or topping. 
NORTH CAROLINA Golding Farms of Winston-Salem gives customer the yin and yang of either hot chow chow or sweet chow chow with this 2-pack. ​ The family company describes their relish as  the “Skinny Condiment” because it’s only 10 calories per serving.  It's vegetarian, and made from crisp cabbage, onions, peppers and spices. For use with with meats (including hot dogs and hamburgers) and vegetables.
ARKANSAS Here is a taste sensation involving okra and vinegar that is described as "crisp with a kick." In 1947 in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in Alma AR, Philip F. Bryant began the business of canning jams and preserves.  The business has evolved with a wide range of specialty preserved products that remind us of the South.
​SOUTH CAROLINA ​Boiled peanuts are a regional snack food seldom seen outside of the South. Its distinct salty taste comes from boiling green peanuts, still in the shell, in salt water. The boiling process releases flavors and nutrients from the peanut shell. The Florence, SC produce farmer says its boiled peanuts are canned only hours after being picked. These are really good heated up a bit in the microwave (but take them out of the can first.)
NORTH CAROLINA Lakeside Mills has been producing stone ground corn meal products in North Carolina since 1736. Now the fourth generation of the King family is operating the business out of Spindale, NC. Lakeside Mills can lay claim to truly making its meal products the old fashioned way, offering a choice of roller ground or stone ground consistency.
TENNESSEE The Guenther family makes sorghum -- don't confuse it with its cousin, molasses -- from the Mennonite community of Muddy Pond, located in the hills between Knoxville and Nashville. Great on biscuits, this sweet confection has dedicated adherents in the South. The Guenthers have given up using horses to grind the cane in its growing production line, but the taste is the same as ever. 
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​KENTUCKY Broadbent country smoked bacon has been made the same way for the last 100 years. Every slab is hand rubbed with dry cure ingredients, then slow smoked. Since this bacon is dry-cured with a rub, it does not soak up water like commercial bacons that are brined. This means less shrinking in the pan. From their facility in Kuttawa KY, owners Ronny and Beth Drennan are involved in every phase of the business, from the curing process to packing and shipping.​
SOUTH CAROLINA Crawfish is mighty hard to come by at the supermarket in most places. Charleston Seafood has found a good source and the online reviews are enthusiastic. The crawfish are shipped frozen, but the company that prides itself on offering "hook to table" quality control definitely has its adherents. The crawfish come slightly seasoned.
LOUISIANA When French settlers began colonizing Louisiana, they brought their favorite recipes with them. The original praline recipe was altered by New Orleans chefs in the 19th century to substitute pecans for almonds because of the abundance of pecan trees throughout the area. They also added cream to thicken the confection, and thus created what is now known throughout the American South as the praline. New Orleans Famous Praline Co. of Metairie LA uses a century-old recipe for its superb rendition of this classical treat.
NORTH CAROLINA Company icon L.D. Peeler created Cheerwine in 1917 in Salisbury, NC amid a sugar shortage during World War I. The soft drink with a hint of wild cherry and bubbly effervescence quickly became a regional favorite that has flourished over the test of time. Now, 100 years later, Cheerwine is still a family owned company with L.D.'s great grandson leading the company. And it still tastes real good.
ARKANSAS It's our considered opinion that the that the best cornbread comes from white corn meal, not yellow corn meal. War Eagle Mill is a working gristmill in Benton County, Arkansas. The first mill on the site was established as early as 1832. The current iteration of the mill was built in 1973 by the wife and daughter of owner Jewel Medin, who found old blueprints. They brought back the undershot water wheel that had been used 100 years earlier. It's the only working watermill in Arkansas, and is powered by an eighteen-foot cypress wheel. The family mills and sells organic grain, cereal and flour products. The rest of us are lucky that they do.