You know you’ve arrived in the Deep South when you start
seeing the fruit and vegetable stands along the roads advertising Boiled
P-Nuts. With rare exceptions these
advertisements tend to be hand painted on a piece of plywood or an old
door. I’m not really sure how doors
became so popular for being used as signs but check it out if you’re ever
driving through Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia or Florida, it’s a fact.
When I mentioned
these little morsels of delight to my Texas friends I usually got the same
strange “are you an alien look” you would get if you proclaimed yourself to be
a liberal from California, unless of course you were in Austin where you would
be showered with love and affection. One
time after much debate at the hospital about my claims of boiled p-nuts being
one of the greatest treasures on the planet I decided to whip up a batch and
prove it to all the doubters. Now I’m no
expert on the preparation of this delicacy like Max Howard, a great Mulberrian
who always seemed to have a big bowl of these goodies sitting around that he
generously shared. The recipe is quite simple, a dump truck load of salt,
boiling water, p-nuts and patience and I made a very acceptable gift to share
with my anxiously awaiting co-workers.
Well, let’s just say the reaction was less than
overwhelming. A few folks liked them, a
few nodded and smiled and a few spit them out like they had just bitten into a
fresh cow patty. Maybe it’s an acquired
taste, I don’t know and I really don’t care it just means there’s more for
those of us who delight in sitting around eating p-nuts, having a frosty
beverage and talking about SEC football no matter the time of year.
While at Vogel State Park earlier this week we stopped by a
really cool little place that has been in Blairsville forever or at least close
to it called Sunrise Grocery. Outside
the smoke was rising from the wood flame burning under a huge cast iron pots
that for generations has produced some of the finest boiled p-nuts this side of
heaven. I’m not really sure why these
are so good, maybe it’s the ambience or maybe it’s that the pots have cooked up
so many tons over the years that the flavor is cooked into the cast iron
similar to some of the great bbq pits where the flames never die. If you’re
passing through this area or any other back roads of the south and you see one
of these stands and you’ve never had them,, stop, expand your palate and enjoy
one of life’s true pleasures!
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| Sunrise Grocery-Blairsville, Georgia Fancy Sign and Fancy Spelling! |
