Buttermilk

The confusing world of buttermilk and its history.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2012/05/history_of_buttermilk_what_s_the_difference_between_cultured_buttermilk_and_traditional_buttermilk_.single.html


No one in my family had an affinity to buttermilk. I didn't really even know it except as an adjective when describing biscuits from a can or pancakes from a mix when I was younger. This was a pretty enlightening article.

The Great (cheap) Bourbon Discovery

I'm cheap and I like bourbon, and I was out to find the bourbon that gave me the best bang for the buck.

Jim Beam 750mL - $14.99
Jim Beam is the old standby; currently the most popular bourbon in the U.S.  For smoothness and all around flexibility Jim beam is pretty awesome, but I was interested in how some cheaper alternatives tasted.



Evan Williams (Black Label) 750mL - $11.99
Evan Williams was just a little to harsh for me.  Something didn't hit me right, it would probably work well as a mixer.

Old Grand Dad 750mL - $11.49
Old Grand Dad had some kind of interesting character that I couldn't put my finger on, but it wasn't a good kind of interesting.  It reminded me of amaretto or some other kind of nutty liqueur.  I say pass.

Old Crow 1 Liter - $10.29
For my money Old Crow is the winner.  It's a little harsh if you drink it straight (I still do it after adding a touch of water) but it is awesome when mixing with coke and probably even with Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale (I'll have to try that combo soon).  It was once the most popular bourbon in the U.S.



Bourbon facts from Wikipedia:

• Bourbon must be made of a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn (maize).^[1]
• Bourbon must be distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof (80% alcohol by volume).
• Neither coloring nor flavoring may be added.
• Bourbon must be aged in new, charred oak barrels. ^[1]
• Bourbon must be entered into the barrel at no more than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol by volume).
• Bourbon, like other whiskeys, may be bottled at not less than 80 proof (40% alcohol by volume.)
• Bourbon that meets the above requirements and has been aged for a minimum of two years may (but is not required to) be called Straight Bourbon.^[2]
• Straight Bourbon aged for a period less than four years must be labeled with the duration of its aging.
• If an age is stated on the label, it must be the age of the youngest whiskey in the bottle.
• Only whiskey produced in the United States can be called bourbon.^[3]

All whiskeys reviewed above are legally bourbon.


*All prices are from the Alabama Beverage Control Board PDF.

My (Eastern Euorpean) South

It seems I was working harder on this My South post than I had to.  This was from the very first OkraCola.com post:

My paternal grandfather's family came over from England before this country was founded. He married a lady who was born in India to a very posh British family. So I'm only half Southern by blood. My maternal great-grandparents (all 4) came over from Slovakia in the past 100 or so years so I grew up on fried okra from her backyard as well as pirogies.  So I'm only 1/4 southern by having family down here for a long time depending on how you count it, but my Slovak grandparents adapted quickly to southern living and ideals so I consider myself 100% southern! 

That was eaiser than I thought; but wait, there's more!

Brookside, Alabama is not known to everyone as an Eastern European treasure trove of delicacies and traditions, but that’s what I think of when I go there.  My Great-Grandparents immigrated from what is now the Republic of Slovakia and raised 10 kids in Wylam, Alabama.  My maternal Grandmother married another son of another Slovak immagrant family and they settled in the small town of Brookside.  It is such a small town that when there was still a Catholic Church there my Mom and her whole wedding party got ready at my Grandparents house and walked to the wedding. 

I would always go to my grandmother's house (My grandfather died before I was born) where she would fix fried okra from her garden, make meatloaf and banana pudding, fix me chocolate milk and bake tradtional favorites from the old country.  Most of them involved cheese, potatoes and onion; plentiful and relatively cheap staples.  Pagachi, halushki, pirogies, real food.  Every Christmas she would pack a paper grocery sack full of baked goods and remind us that if we left hungry it was our own fault.

Pagachi is everyone's favorite.  (Here's a recipe that looks close.  Scroll down 2/3rds) It is a yeast bread dough filled with a potato and cheese mixture (sharp cheddar) then rolled flat and round like a pizza, and brushed with oil that had been cooking with onions.  She would always make a special batch for my Uncle Joe because he liked dill baked in his.  To this day pagachi is still part the traditional dinner in our family after Christmas Eve Mass.  We go to my mom's and eat ham and pagachi sandwiches.  Once I made a huge mistake by saying I didn't like the pagachi that was served at a cousin's wedding.  It was too thin and nothing like my grandmothers.  My mom's first cousin heard me say it and said, "don't let Momma (my Great-Aunt) hear you say that."  Oops.

My Paternal Grandmother was born in colonial India to a physician, so it was a whole different vibe.  She never really cooked.  We call it the Allan gene.  People say, "what is the Allan gene?"  Well, it took 6 Indian servants to run the Allan household of 4, so the Allan gene is laziness.  If you visit this blog with any frequency you can attest to the presence of this gene.  My love of sweet tea obviously didn't come from that side of the family.

Eating Christmas Pudding with brandy butter and having Christmas crackers were also normal and expected during the holidays in our house in Walker County, Alabama.  Not only that but also weekly calls from my father's first cousin in Edinburough and yearly visits from him with the cool and tasty stuff we couldn't get.  Now we can get most of it from World Market and Whole Foods.


Thanks again to Wade and Rachel to their contributions and let me know if you have a uniquely Southern raisin'!  drew [at] okra cola (dot) com

Buffalo Rock update

Wade has been doing a series on Birmingham's Best Eats and has a brief history of Buffalo Rock as well as some libations made with the stuff.  He even used the photo featured on this blog.

Link

Poke Salad

For those who don't know poke salad is not something you grow in a garden but a poisonous wild weed that is picked for its young leaves (before they get a red hue) then boiled at least twice to get the toxins out of it.  One scientist says that no part of the plant should be eaten no matter how many times it is boiled.

I don't eat poke salad, and I don't know anyone who does anymore, but I do remember going with a friends parents, grandparents and their aunt and uncle to go look for poke salad.  One of my other friends had a school bus driver that occasionally stopped if she saw some "good poke salad."

Many of you have heard the Tony Joe White song Poke Salad Annie which was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama (they've been known for a song or two) in 1969 and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.



Do you have a poke salad story?  Share with us in the comments section and don't forget to follow @okracola on Twitter!

Southern Word of the Week - 'Maters

(n.) Son, go out and cut me two of them 'maters from the garden
(n.) These 'maters sure are juicy. 

'Maters are tomatoes.  Just about every Southerner I know has their own 'mater plant whether they have a green thumb or not. 

And why not?  They are really easy to grow and you can do it in a large pot on your back porch.  Just give it lots of sun and lots of water and you'll be growing 'maters in no time!  We recently bought a Topsy Turvy so I'll try to let y'all in on how that works after the first few tomatoes are harvested.

Last year I did a Brandywine heirloom tomoato and it was one of the most flavorful ones I'd ever tasted!  Some people have their own favorite variety so just get what looks and sounds good.  If you're patient you can make one of the best things to eat on a summer afternoon or evening, a 'mater sandwich.

Got tips for growing tomatoes or any other tomato facts?  Put 'em in the comments!

Pear Salad

And no I don't mean a fancy pear and pecan salad or any other fancy, foodie-type salad with pears.  I'm talking about the pear salad we had in the lunch room growing up in a Walker County, Alabama elementary school.  The one my father-in-law still has with his dinner sometimes.  Here it is:

I had to borrow that photo from FarmHouse Style because I know of only one person who eats eat regularly, and therefore only one person who prepares it regularly so I didn't have a chance to take a photo of it.  I never took to it but usually ate it when it was on my plate in the cafeteria. 

It is literally half of a canned pear, a dollop of mayo in the middle then sprinkled with shredded cheddar cheese.  This photo makes it look way fancier because of the lettuce leaf and the cherry.  Has any non-Southerner heard of this salad?  Anybody love it?  Hate it?  Let me know what you think in the comments.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Eat some corned beef and cabbage sip on a Irish Stout or some Irish Whiskey.  Sláinte!

Southern Quotables - Grits

"An inexpensive, simple, and thoroughly digestible food, grits should be made popular throughout the world. Given enough of it, the inhabitants of planet Earth would have nothing to fight about. A man full of grits is a man of peace."

-The Post and Courier 1952

Southern Style Sweet Stuff

Looking at a bottle of Arizona Southern Style Sweet Tea it made me remember that we do like things sweeter in the South.  I even remember a rumor that Coke and Pepsi were made sweeter down here because that's how we like things. 

I add about cup and a half of sugar to one gallon of tea, my wife's family cooks green beans with sugar and sweet potato casserole might as well be a dessert.  Think about this though, if you even mention or kid about putting sugar in your grits you almost automatically get labeled a yankee.  I admit I don't like sweet grits, but do like a sweet cornbread and the same alligations follow.  Why do we like everything else sweet, yet look down on folks that like sweet grits or cornbread?

Talk amongst yourselves in the comments, and please be sweet to each other.

Moon Pie and a RC Cola

I don't know where I first heard of this very Southern combination.  I think it may have been at Bob Baumhower's Wings Restaurant  where they had a Blue Collar Combo on the menu.  It consisted of one wing, a Moon Pie and an RC Cola.   (For those that don't know RC stands for Royal Crown).

In my limited research I found out that some miners wanted something filling for a snack as they didn't get time for a proper lunch break; Mr. Earl Mitchell, Sr., a bakery salesman, took the challenge.  At the time the workers had taken to dipping graham crackers into jars of marshmallow fluff they could buy in the company store.   Mr. Mitchell took this idea and ran with it.  It became known as the workingman's lunch.  for 10 cents the worker could get a Moon Pie (the biggest snack on the rack) and a 10oz. RC Cola.  A Southern classic was born.

They are still made in Chattanooga, Tennessee and have a web presence at MoonPie.com and even a Facebook Fan Page.  You can actually buy the shirt to the left and it's definitely on my birthday short list this year.

If you've ever been to a Gulf Coast Mardi Gras you've no doubt caught a mini Moon Pie.  In the 70's parade floats used to use Cracker Jack's as throws but the sharp corners of the box became problematic and they looked for a softer snack and Moon Pie stepped in to fill that need.

I can't find RC Cola, though I used to drink it pretty regularly back in the day.  You can buy it from the Moon Pie shop in tubs, baskets and boxes for nostalgic friends and family members.

I still get a hankering for a Moon Pie now and then and it has to be chocolate or a banana. What's your favorite RC and Moon Pie memory, or your favorite Moon Pie product?  Let us know in the comments!

Mardi Gras!

Carnival, Fat Tuesday whatever you call it today is MARDI GRAS!  The day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, folks let down their hair and binge on the stuff they're supposed to give up for the next 40 days and nights.  For most its just a hedonistic reason to go out and do what you wouldn't normally do.

Most people know that New Orleans is the home of Mardi Gras in the U.S., but Mobile, Alabama actually has the oldest organized Mardi Gras celebration.  It's now celebrated in Biloxi, Galveston, all over different cities in Louisiana and many other Southern and non-Southern cities.

Parties, balls and parades are held; doubloons, beads, cups, Moon Pies are thrown, and much alcohol is usually consumed.

Another tradition of Mardi Gras is the King Cake.  A large ring of a coffee cake/cinnamon roll type of pastry filled with anything from spices and nuts to cream cheese.  It is usually iced and sprinkled with 3 different colored sugars: Purple for the Passion of Christ (justice); Green for hope (faith); and Gold for the treasures of leading a Christian life (power).  Traditionally a trinket or more recently a plastic baby was hidden in the cake and whoever had a piece with the trinket in it was king or queen for the day; but also had to buy the next King Cake or host the next party.

Of course in our fine country of lawsuit happy people plastic babies are now not usually supplied by bakers; if they are they don't insert it into the cake.  The last few I had were baked with a whole pecan to represent the baby/trinket.

So what are you giving up for Lent?  You don't have to be Catholic, we could probably all use a little mortification now and then.  Think of it as a good reason to pick up the New Year's Resolution you gave up about a month ago (more exercise, fewer cokes, reading more).  If you aren't giving anything up, let us know your favorite hangover cure in the comments.  Also, please let us know your family Mardi Gras traditions.

Regional Tastes - Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale

Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale is a Golden Ginger Ale which is darker in color and much stronger in flavor compared to dry ginger ale (Canada Dry, Schweppes, etc.).  It was created and has been in production in some way-shape-or form since 1901!  I know it is distributed in Birmingham by the Buffalo Rock company, but I have know idea of the brands reach in the Southeast.  

I really have just found a taste and liking for it lately, but know people who's grandmaw's swore by it.  Any time they had a stomach ache or felt bad, Buffalo Rock came to the rescue.  I also know many Otherners and locals who have tasted it and thought it was too much ginger for their tastes.  I have to admit that the first few times I tried it I coughed from inhaling too much before the first swig.

I think I developed a taste for it because of my very British grandmother that ate candied ginger and loved ginger beer (which hasn't got a lick of alcohol in it by the way).

So what's your regional taste?  Got a drink, snack, or dish that is very specific to your region?  Shoot me an email (Drew [at] Okra Cola (dot) com) and we may have you do a guest post on it.

Do you have a Buffalo Rock story?  Tell us about it in the comments.

Southern Word of the Week - Swig

(v.) Can I get a swig of your coke?
(n.) Do you have a swig left in your glass so I can take this medicine?

A swig is either taking a sip of a drink or how much you have left in your cup or can.  My grandmother would also use swaller (like swallow) the same way.  "Can I have some of that?  I just need a swaller."

The other day someone used swig and it was an odd usage, not that they didn't do it right, but it wasn't something I expected to hear from them.

Do you use swig, or is there another regional word thats similar?

Hot Sauce

I love hot sauce.  I put it on a lot of things especially steak fries at BBQ joints and leftover (warm) pizza.  I love chicken wings and plan on making my own sauce one day.  A basic wing sauce would be hot sauce and butter/margerine to taste to coat the fried wings.  One place I know smokes the wings then fries them until crispy, then tosses with the sauce.  Moore's makes a really good wing sauce as well as Frank's Red Hot.

I also want to make a BBQ sauce one day since I love my rub, and just don't wan to go through the trial and error on that yet, but I'm sure it will include Tabasco which is my brand of choice.

Found this via Lifehacker.com
I especially like:

15. Melt with butter and douse over your movie popcorn--yum!
20. Add to chutney for a little pep to the sweetness.
 5. Put a dash of heat/smokiness into ribs.
18. Dollop on raw oysters for fresh-out-of-the-sea heat.

There are 3 entries in the comments to add them to your grits with regular cheese and/or parmesan.
They list other everyday uses for hot sauce for nail biters and keeping squirrels out.  So what's your favorite hot sauce?  What do you use it on?

Here's the link at SeriousEats.com

Coke - Soft Drinks - Soda

In the South you can ask for Sweet Tea, lemonade or three fingers of Jack Daniel's without any problems, but when you ask for a Coke some folks will ask you what kind. 

This confuses some people, not often at resturants, but at private homes they will often ask what kind you'd like. "A Coke," could be your answer but down here a Coke is any soft drink.  My wife often asks for a Coke and when I'll ask her what kind she'll say, "I don't care" meaning any soft drink will do. 

A Coke is synonomis with a soda but you'll find few people to say that down here.  It's a very yankee thing to say and you'll probably get looked at weird.  It's just something we grew up with and it's part of what makes us Southern.

Got any Coke/Soda stories?  Share them in the comments.

Happy New Year!!!

It's 2010!  Can you believe it?

In the South you have certain things you have to eat on New Year's day: black eyed peas and greens.  It is said if you do you'll have luck throughout the next year.  I usually soak my black eyed peas the night before because the quick soak which is boiling them fast for a while then letting them soak for an hour breaks them up too much and they aren't as good in my opinion.  After the soak drain and rinse them then recover them with water and add your pork (bacon, ham bone, fatback, jowl or any pork you have handy), bring to a boil and simmer until they're as tender as you'd like.

Eating greens is another Southern tradition and I'm told eating them will bring money in the new year.  My family never has eaten many greens, but we do eat something green with our peas.  I hardly ever see collard greens at the store in the produce section, but saw a boatload this past week because of this tradition. 

As you can see there is a new look for the site and now I own OkraCola.com!  My goal was to have it up by the new year and I'm amazed that I actually did.  If you have suggestions or comments please send them to drew [at] okracola.com.

Happy 2010 y'all!

Barbecue - Part 1

If somebody tells me to come over for barbecue, or a barbecue, I expect slow cooked pork butt or ribs.  I have learned now to ask if it is a grill out with hamburgers, hot dogs or brats.  All too often the latter is what the gracious, yet somewhat misinformed host actually meant.

Barbecue or BBQ, in the South means to cook meat slowly in a smoker or via an indirect heat method outside.  Typically it is done in a pit or on a smoker usually with hickory in my neck of the woods.  If you are simply cooking burgers and dogs then that is a "cook out" or you are "grilling." 

Barbecue is barbecue and everybody thinks their recipe, or dad's or uncle's, is the best.  People take it seriously, very seriously.  If you don't belive me just check out the new TLC series starting tomorrow (12/03/2009) Barbecue Pitmasters. 

I really enjoy smoking.  I typically do ribs with my own secret rub but have not conquered sauce yet so to some racks I add Big Bob Gibson's Red Sauce to the ribs for the last 30 or so minutes on the smoker. 

So remember, if you are grilling out please use the appropriate term.  It ain't barbecue unless it's low and slow.

Southern Word of the Week - Sweet Milk

Sweet Milk
(n.) Hey Jeanie, could you get me some more sweet milk at the store when you go out?

Butter milk is butter milk, goats milk is goats milk and sweet milk is, well . . . milk.  Plain old, run-of-the-mill, fresh-out-the-carton/jug whole, 1%, 2% or skim milk.  I do now people that call anything but whole milk, milk colored water, but either way as long as its plain milk you're talking about then it is also sweet milk.

By the way, if you need butter milk and all you have is sweet milk you can add one tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice to a one cup measure then add milk to the one cup line.  Stir and let stand for 5 minutes then use as you would butter milk.

Tomato Sandwiches

You can call them tomato sandwiches, 'mater sammiches, whatever; I'll just call them delicious. It is literally slices of tomato on bread and I think most people add mayo and a little bit of salt and pepper. I can't believe this a foreign concept to some folks!

I think the best tomato sandwich is one with homemade sourdough bread and a fresh tomato from your garden or patio that's still warm from the sun. Buying or planting tomatoes in the spring are one of my highlights for the year. I love being able to pull a few off for salads, sandwiches or just on a plate with a little salt.

This may be a little highfalutin' but sometimes I combine the humble tomato sandwich with a Tyler Florence recipe for a grilled cheese. Sourdough bread with pesto sauce (I buy mine, but have made it before with walnuts, easier to find and cheaper than pine nuts) and thick slices of mozzerella and tomato, on a panini press, or if you don't have a panini press, in a cast iron grill pan pressed with a foil covered brick. Yummy!!!

How do you like your 'mater sandwiches and which varieties of tomato do you like to use for sandwiches, salads, sauce etc.?  Let us know in the comments!