Sunday, June 15, 2008

Delicacies


Japan has the Puffer Fish. Italy has Calamari. France has Escargot.

We in southern Georgia, USA, have.... the boiled peanut. Tender little legume of perfect saltiness. Boiled for hours in the biggest pot one owns until it achieves just the right texture and taste. Served as an appetizer at summer gatherings and as a snack right out of the fridge.

My grandmother grew up just a few hundred miles away from where we live now. She had never heard of boiled peanuts until she moved to south Georgia. She never did learn to like them. Most non-natives consider them slimy and gross.

12 comments:

Cell Block said...

Most non-natives don't belong here anyway....except for the Australian blogsquad that is, should they ever decide to visit.

Mary said...

Oh we will visit one day - just you wait and see.

Although I may not be able to stomach the delicacies!

Anonymous said...

I'd love to visit - and return the invitation! I'd love to know more about the boiled peanut though. It is really, slimy? Not crunchy? Is it soft?

M said...

Hee hee to Rob's comment. I've just finished Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil so I could only expect that 'blow-ins' are not acceptable... Same in country towns here. Oh and also some streets in Armadale, Victoria.

So, you eat the WHOLE peanut? And shell?

Fairlie - www.feetonforeignlands.com said...

Oh, I'm soooo glad M asked first, so now I don't look quite so ignorant. Do you eat the shell or chuck them away? (Or spit them out the side of your mouth while staring distrustfully at the blow-ins that have just arrived in town?)

Anonymous said...

As an obvious non-native I need to point out that it looks like a pot of worms or caterpillars...

(It's OK because we eat vegemite. I'm sure it tastes like crap, but we love it any way)

Melinda said...

They are soft and salty. The texture of a legume that has been cooked. You shell them and only eat the nut. The shells are discarded.

Ya'll come on over, ya hear? We'll boil us up a mess of peanuts and fix up some sweet tea! If we ever come to your continent I swear I will at least TRY the vegemite.

Aunty Evil said...

Fairlie made me spit at my screen. Laughing that is, not as in "ptooey Fairly, get orf my patch".

I want to see what happens to these two when they come to Australia, and they have to eat their "biscuits" with jam and cream.

Stomper Girl said...

Well I'm pretty sure that if I went to France I wouldn't be trying escargot, much less frog's legs, so I'm not what you call an adventurous eater / traveller. But I'd try ONE slimy peanut if I came to your house, for sure. With maybe a beer in the other hand to wash away any flavours I wasn't happy about.

Cell Block said...

They're not actually slimy at all, people just seem to have that perception about them. My Dad has some home-made brew that will wash away all flavors that you're not happy with...and some that you are. But don't worry, the feeling comes back after a couple of hours.

Minnesota Matron said...

Being picky, the Matron would probably take a polite bite and leave it at that. What do Minnesotans have? Ludefisk, if she's spelling it right. Some kind of Norwegian raw fish concotion.

Sussanah said...

LOL out this post. I've been a good girl writing all the time and haven't even gone online to look at anyone's post. Can I tell you what we have in out fridge right now?

Boiled Peanuts.

Andrew did the groceries. He loves them. I say it is nana food. Old people food.

He can come and live at your house.

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