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As a Georgia peach with roots in Huntsville, Alabama, I knew dressing to be a particular bundle of characteristics: day-old cornbread crumbled into a pile that looked as high as a mini-mountain in a mixing bowl, drippings from a turkey roasted in a Reynolds oven bag, with coarsely chopped green peppers, onions and celery showered into the mixture of bread and broth. And it was always perfectly browned and crispy at the edges once removed hot from the oven.

But ask someone else and you might hear about stuffing (as opposed to dressing), the different types of bread used to make it, or whether its cooked inside the cavity of the turkey. Through the years, the differences between versions of this side dish have become an annual source of contention in November.

Which is the ultimate version and whether its called stuffing or dressing is a subjective question at best, and limiting at worst. Differences seem to straddle geographic regions and, in some instances, racial lines.

When thinking of Thanksgiving, most Americans rely on the fable of European pilgrims and indigenous people gathered in an amicable setting to break bread. Today, we know it was not like that. But we dont know exactly what was served on that supposed first Thanksgiving.

What we can definitively conclude is that whether dressing or stuffing was involved, the dishs bread base plays to the strengths and culinary traditions of the region where this side dish is being served.

Dressing Is For Southerners

As a black woman from the South, dressing is the only name Ive ever known for the hallowed Thanksgiving side dish. This is the solid truth for most Southerners, whether black or white.

Southern Living suggests that going to the map illustrates this point succinctly. A quick scan of Google Correlate using the term dressing as a query shows that this time of year, finding just the right recipe and technique for making it is on the minds of those residing in Southern states, including Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and Arkansas.

The term dressing, per the History Channel , originated around the 1850s, when the Victorians deemed stuffing too crude for the dish to be named. This happened around the same time that the term dark meat began to refer to chicken legs and thighs.

Just like today, cornbread was used in dressing because it was a staple in the typical Southern diet. Old, stale cornbread was repurposed instead of being thrown away, and was mixed with aromatic herbs, broth, salt and pepper. Then it was baked until it had the consistency of a casserole, and eaten alongside turkey, collard greens and sweet potatoes.

This is something that Kia Damon, sous chef of New Yorks Lalito whos originally from Orlando, Florida, knows to be true about the dressing she grew up eating. Now, much older and wiser, I have so much love for dressing and watching my mother make it every time Im home for Thanksgiving, Damon told HuffPost.

Damons mothers special dressing combines her own turkey broth with giblets and bits of the neck and boiled egg, and is served with a dish of cranberry sauce.

Stuffing Is For Northerners (And The Pacific Northwest)

Those outside the Deep South historically veered toward using breads for stuffing sourdough, challah, leftover crusty baguette, even regular white sandwich bread no longer soft enough for sandwiches. Depending on which region you live in, stuffing can include seafood mussels, oysters, clams especially in New England or the Pacific Northwest.