While I am passionate about the topic of southern food, it's probably fair to offer up a few caveats. Not all southern food is good eatin'. There are a few things that still smack of mysterious danger and from my view, should be approached with all due trepidation.

Scrapple is probably more indigenous to Pennsylvania, but as far as I'm concerned, it's clearly the missing link of all nasty pork variations so it must be cited here. Since it appears to look like an innocuous pork sausage patty to the naked eye, further research had to be undertaken. Scrapple is typically made of hog leftovers, such as the head, eyes, heart, liver, bladder, and other scraps, which are boiled with any bones attached (often the entire head), to make a broth. Once cooked, bones and fat are discarded, the meat is reserved and cornmeal is boiled in the broth to make a mush. The meat, finely minced, is returned and seasonings, typically sage, thyme, savory, and others, are added. The mush is cast into loaves and allowed to cool thoroughly until gelled. OK, there are some key words here that guarantee I will never eat scrapple. They completely lost me at the mention of The Head. No one should ever be compelled to eat any part of any creature's head. EVER.

Digest that. It's all downhill from here.

Puddin' meat is a Southern variation of scrapple. It's essentially the same thing except it contains lots more liver. Internal organs are also on that "avoid all costs" list.

Squirrel pie is considered quite a delicacy. A client from Huntington, WV once sent me his favorite squirrel pie recipe as part of his Christmas greetings. The delicately transcribed recipe suggested one capture, kill and skin your own squirrel so the meat will be absolutely fresh. I had an unfortunate image of chasing around Central Park with a machete, hunting down the source of my dinner, followed in close pursuit by the SPCA and NYPD.

Souse is a kind of head cheese. The very notion of the words "head" and "cheese" together evoke foul images of sexual infections. And there's that whole creepy head thing again.

Pork loaf is the southern version of what people in New Jersey call "pork roll," both of which are distant cousins to our notorious friend, Scrapple. It's a blatant example of abusing the good pork name.

Make a note of this because I rarely say this, but there are some foods that shouldn't be deep fried. Dill pickles are one of them.

Hog maws and snouts sound like something you'd see festooned on the alter at a satanic ritual..and we're waivering in head territory again.

You can't fool me by using such a cuddly little downhome word as window dressing. I know chitterlings are a pig's small intestines. There is no amount of batter and deep frying to make this foodstuff even remotely appealing.

Southerners love their ice tea and agreeably, I like it too. But the version that is still up for debate is sweet tea. I've had some variations that made Kool-Aid taste like a fine pinot noir.

So my fellow gastronomes, what's on your list?