John Egerton knows that the next best thing to eating Southern food is reading about it. The editor of Cornbread Nation, a compilation of essays and articles about Southern food, will talk about Southern food at 7 p.m. Thursday at The Morris Museum of Art.
Cornbread Nation is a true culinary journey.
From the back streets of New Orleans to the ultimate barbecue pits of the South to the joys of watermelon, country-fried steak and muscadines, the collection is not to be read on an empty stomach.
This is Southern prose at its finest. But somehow the essayists and food writers in this collection overlooked a staple of the South I know and love.
I grew up in central Florida, a melting pot of cultures and while Southern geographically, not "Southern" at all. My love affair with things Southern began when I boarded a bus headed to an Iowa volleyball camp with a group of students from the Gulf Coaststates. I fell in love with their accents, their friendliness and the packets of instant grits they brought to draw attention to their Southern pride.
I had become a wannabe Southerner. So my senior year in high school I made applications only to colleges in the Deep South and chose Auburn University.
It was during sorority rush at Auburn that I was first exposed to the true Southern spread - pimiento cheese. Cheese-lover that I am, I was hooked from the first bite to the little finger sandwiches that were served at the sorority teas all over campus. (I can't say that I selected my sorority based on their pimiento cheese sandwiches alone, but I do recall they were among the best I sampled.)
Now you may have a lower opinion than I of the spread. Perhaps you, like many others, have been fooled into believing that pimiento cheese is what you purchase at your corner grocery store in plastic containers. This is not, in my opinion, pimento cheese, but an overly sweet, off-tasting amalgam of flavorless cheeses, artificial preservatives and food coloring with a consistency closer to cottage cheese than to the "real thing."
Real pimento cheese to me is a simple combination of sharp cheddar cheese, mayonnaise and pimientos. Though this technically is a spread, I simply love how it's referred to as only "pimiento cheese" all over the South, as if it were kin to hot pepper cheese, Monterey Jack cheese and the like.
Fortunately for me, after graduating from Auburn in 1985 I moved to Augusta, which just may be the mecca of pimiento cheese. My first job as a lifestyles reporter at The Augusta Chronicle and the Augusta Herald (back in the day when we printed both morning and afternoon editions) made it easy to discover the city's best pimiento cheese at a little sandwich shop called the Alley, just behind the newspaper building on Broad Street.
The Alley's pimiento cheese sandwiches were spread with the perfect sharp pimiento cheese - not too much mayonnaise. The bread was honey wheat berry, and the lettuce and tomato were fresh and crisp. Upon placing my first order, the counter girl asked me a question I'll remember forever: "Would you like bacon on that?" Ah, I was home!
The Alley has since closed its doors, but great pimiento cheese still can be found throughout Augusta.
It turns out I'm not the only person who likes a pimiento cheese sandwich for breakfast, as golf lovers from around the country have discovered the perfection (and great price) of the Southern treat at the food tents throughout the Augusta National Golf Club during The Masters Tournament.
The pimiento cheese also is good (though a bit heavy on the mayo) at the Fresh Market on Washington Road. Try some with their toasted bread rounds (I like the Cajun) for a quick snack or hors d'oeuvre.
Also, leave it to a Southerner to make a good thing better. If I thought adding crisp bacon to a pimiento cheese sandwich was a great idea, imagine the perfect pimiento cheese spread on rye, topped with bacon, sliced tomato and then grilled. Caterer and restaurateur Vera Stewart serves this over-the-top combination at Very Vera in the Augusta Business Center behind Applebee's on Washington Road. Vera's delicious pimiento cheese also is available in containers to go.
You also can whip up some tasty pimiento cheese of your own, and I'm sharing my recipe here. My secrets are few. First, I always use hand-grated sharp cheddar cheese. Second, I pulse the cheese, mayonnaise and pimientos (undrained) in the food processor. And third, I season the mixture with a couple dashes of Tabasco sauce and a sprinkling of garlic salt. Give it a try and I hope you'll agree that pimiento cheese is God's food - and everyone around here knows that God loves the South.
PIMIENTO CHEESE
12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
3/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 4-ounce jar sliced pimientos, undrained
3-4 dashes Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
Shred the cheddar cheese and place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the mayonnaise and pulse several times. Add the pimientos, Tabasco and garlic salt and pulse until combined. Scrape into a storage container and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Makes 14 1/4-cup servings.
Nutritional information per serving: 143 calories, 6.1 grams protein, 2.1 grams carbohydrates, .01 gram fiber, 12.3 gram fat, 5.8 gram saturated fat, 30 milligrams cholesterol, 283 milligrams sodium.
Nutrition analysis provided by Fran Frye, a licensed and registered dietitian of the Augusta District Dietetic Association. Send questions via e-mail to augustadietitian@yahoo.com.
COMING Feb. 5: Penne Rustica
See Karin prepare the recipe at noon Tuesday on WJBF-TV (Channel 6).
IF YOU GO
What's the next best thing to eating Southern food? Talking about it with John Egerton, editor of Cornbread Nation, a compilation of essays on the subject of Southern food by well-known Southern authors. A book signing follows Mr. Egerton's lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday at The Morris Museum of Art, 1 10th St. Don't go home hungry! Stay and sample tempting, typically Southern dishes. Space is limited and reservations are required. Tickets cost $10 for members and $12 for nonmembers. Call 724-7501.
Write to Karin Calloway in care of The Augusta Chronicle Newsroom, P.O. Box 1928, Augusta, GA 30903. Or send e-mail to karin.calloway@comcast.net. You can find previous Quick Cooking recipes through the online archive at augustachronicle.com/karin.
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