Crossing the Line

So like I said, checked out of the Alluvian Hotel and headed toward Marvell, Arkansas.

We are looking for Shadden’s Grocery and we ain’t grocery shopping. We are bar-b-que shopping. Between our map and our guide, “A Southern Belly” by John T. Edge, we have no trouble finding it.

Shadden’s is on a two lane, very busy Highway 49 and is actually 4 miles outside of Marvell, proper. Eighteen wheelers seem to be flying by as we pull into a parking lot in front of an old, I mean old, white house. There is no mistaking where you are, as there is a menu, hand painted about 10′ x 4′ hanging on the side of the house.

The large trucks are pulled off the side of the road and the truckers are all inside. Most folks seem to be ordering chopped pork sandwichs. As the nice old lady takes orders and heads towards the back to put in those orders, she turns and ask if any one else wants a chopped pork sandwich. Stacey and I raise both hands and the nice old lady laughs and ask if that means we want two each. Yep, two each we tell her.

I grab a cold beer and we sit at one of the four toppers. Half way thru my beer, our sandwiches are handed to us in a brown paper bag. We tear into the bag, unwrap a couple sandwiches and take a bite at about the same time. We sit and chew for a second and then look at each other and we both say “coleslaw”. That’s a good thing, creamy slaw on tangy bar b que. The perfect yen yang of the food kind.

We each finish one sandwich. I grab our other two and we hit the road, saving those sandwiches for later. For now we are headed to Helena, back towards the Mississippi River.

Helena is kind of desolate. We pull in to town, take the main street til we have to take a left or a right. We choose right and drive past some very cool buildings. Most are closed. The ones that are open are almost vintage looking. They are in good repair but old. It’s like we are on a empty movie set. One building has a old Buster Brown sign. Then you hit the end of this street and looking to the left you see a large outdoor stage. We are hardly seeing any signs of life, except an old lady pulling a rope with a cardboard box tied to it. Just dragging her box down the street.

We were looking for Bullock’s Cafe, and it was right in front of us. Man it looked rough. Now Stacey and I are not shy and we will eat anywhere with anyone, but this place made us stop and think for a second. So what we decided to do was go in the liquor store we had just passed. I always feel comfortable surrounded by liquor. Also there was a giant bar b que pit on wheels out front, just smoking up a storm.

We went in and ask the little old man behind the counter what he was cooking and could we buy some, whatever it was. He said we would have to talk to the guy working the drive-up window. The guy finished up at the drive-up and turned to take care of us. He was a stout man kind of dressed like a cowboy with both the cowboy hat and a six shooter on his hip. Actually I think it was a 9mm, but what’s the difference?

After talking with him a few minutes, we learn he’s the Sheriff. No kidding. Anyway, he was very friendly and we chatted with him about the city and told him it looked kind of empty. He agreed. Told us the city had two large festivals which were what really keep the city going. One was a Delta Blues Fest the other was a Bikers Fest. He showed us his bike out front. It was a Honda gold-wing or something like that, but he told us all sorts of bikers come and filled up the town for the weekend. He showed us the racks of ribs on the smoker. Said he didn’t really sell them. I think they were for a family party or something, but he said he would sell us a rack if we wanted.

Well since there was really nowhere to eat them, and we were there to try Bullocks, we ask him if they would “welcome us” there. That was my way of asking, is it safe. He said they would love the business, so down the street we went.

This place is a juke joint. A pool table right in the middle, a small bar and a few tables pushed to one side. Christmas lights draped here and there. Cora is there, just as Edges book said she would be. Just us and Cora.

No sign of food, so we ask and she rattles off what she has. We start to tell her what we want and she just hands us a plate and tell us to follow her. We go behind the bar, thur a door into a narrow, tiny kitchen. It has a huge commercial stove taking up almost the whole kitchen. Pots and pans every. She shows us everything in the pots and tells us to help ourselves. So we pile it up, fried chicken, mashed taters, gravy, rice, peas, beans, it’s all there. But it’s all cold. To bad because you could tell it would have been really good. I guess we could have ask her to warm it up or something, but instead we picked and ate what we wanted. I think we were both thinking of our sandwich from Shaddens.

Oakleigh

When I was 12 years old my mom and dad bought a house in the Oakleigh Garden District in Mobile, Alabama. The year must have been 1974 or 75. I remember the day we moved in. My brother and I had a bedroom with 12′ ceilings. There we three doors, one fireplace and no closets, and that was just our bedroom. We played a air hockey game and couldn’t believe our folks had bought a house like this. This house was built in 1896 and they have been taking good care of it for the last 35 years or so. If you didn’t grow up in a house like this or in a in-town neighborhood then you might not know what I am talking about.

I am attracted to old, rundown, industrial neighborhoods. I love old stuff. Always have, always will. It is something that has grown not diminished over the years. Since we moved into that great old house, I have lived in really old places. Except when we bought a brand new house in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Atlanta, I have lived in old places.

For years we lived in the Castleberry Warehouse District, in Atlanta. That was a lot of fun. We explored 100 year old warehouses that were empty. We explored the railroad tracks. There were about 8 tracks that ran between our warehouse loft and downtown Atlanta. We live there in the mid-eighties, not a lot of others lived in that area yet.

Anyway, I think what I’m talking about is growing up in old, downtown environments. As small as Mobile was, living downtown made it very different. I met all kind of different people and I lived in all kinds of different places. Went to Atlanta and did the same thing.

Now we live in a house built in 1917 in East Point, a suburb of Atlanta. We are slowly renovating it. So far we have finished the kitchen, one of the bathrooms and one of the bedrooms. The livingroom is good but, we still have a bath and two bedrooms to do. It’s slow work but it’s worth it.

Someday I want to build a house. I plan to use lots of old salvaged parts. Some of the materials I have stored away, some I will look for when I start and let what I find lead me in the design of the house.

I make my living building furniture from old salvaged wood. It seems just about every other house around here is either being torn down for new construction or being renovated. That means lots of antique pine for the taking. It’s on the way to the dump and builders are happy for me to take it. The furniture I build is either finished in a distressed paint or stained. It all looks old when I finish with it.

Lately I have been painting pictures. I use the same approach to painting as I do with furniture. I like to make them look old. I will paint the picture on plywood and when I am happy with it I take a sander and blowtorch and rough it up a bit. It’s a lot of fun to make a living this way.

So you can see “old” is a big part of my life. I know the reason I like old stuff, old neighborhoods, ect. is because of that house my mom and dad moved us into way back when. I think watching them work so hard to fix it up, and watching others doing the same, I new it was a labor of love. And has become the same for me. My parents have done a beautiful job with their house, it is the place where everyone gathers a few times a year for some really cool occasions. I will tell you about some of these events sometime in the near future.

Mississippi

I’ve been to Mississippi and I like it.

Not long ago Stacey and I spent a few days driving around the central Mississippi area. We didn’t know for sure where we would go, but we had a book written by John T. Edge on places to eat in the southeast. The name of the book is ” Southern Belly” and a new edition has just come out.

Edge is one of the folks responsible for the Southern Foodways Alliance. He has become a leading advocate for the promotion, preservation and documentation of southern culture. Food is his specialty. This book will lead you from one great place to eat then another, nonstop. We were also lucky enough to find a few things on our own, such as the Alluvian Hotel, in beautiful downtown Greenwood Mississippi, what a cool town to spend the night in.

First of all we headed to Mississippi from Tuscaloosa Al. We had just left my sisters home in Hoover, Alabama. We were going to find us some tamales. That’s right tamales in Mississippi. We are headed to Clarksdale, straight across the state, looking for Oscar Orsby. Oscar set up shop on the corner of 4th and Yazoo St. He’s there every Friday and Saturday from noon til ten. The tamales are good and so are the hotdogs. The tamales are not what we are used to, they are smaller and drenched in a not to hot red sauce.

Now tamales may not be the first thing you think of when you think Mississippi, but they are everywhere in the delta region. Story goes, the Hispanic labours came from Texas during harvest season and of course they would make tamales, with corn being so plentiful. So when they left after harvest season the local African Americans who had starting eating and preparing them with their coworkers continued to make and started to sell them on the streets to make extra income.

Next we head for Greenwood. When we get to town it’s getting kind of late in the afteernoon so we start looking for a spot to spend the night and I tell Stacey, I got the feeling there’s a great place for us to stay in this town.

We drive towards the downtown district. By checking out the old buildings and the size of the downtown area, I know we are gonna find something good.

Well, we turn the corner and there sits the Viking Range showroom. I had read recently the story behind the Viking Company. I remember one article, in the New Yorker magazine, about their first customer. She lives in N.Y.C. She had lots of trouble with the frist stove, but spent years working with Viking getting things right.

Right across the street sits the Alluvian Hotel. A cosmopolitan luxury boutique hotel right in the middle of small town Mississippi. Stacey went straight in and got us a room and then walked across the street to check out the Viking showroom. It’s all a big deal and worth a weekend trip to the hotel and cooking classes at Viking. Viking has lead the way in the revitalization of Greenwood and it’s something to see.

Stacey and decided to order room service and enjoy some wine we had with us. So we sat in bed, ate gourmet food and drank wine, not bad. The next morning we had breakfast in the hotel. They laid out a southern breakfast fit for king and I ate like one.

We checked out and hit the road. Headed for Marvell, Arkansas.

The Poboy

For as long as I can remember a poboy sandwich has been one of my favorite things in the world.

My first memories are getting poboys at a little shop right off the highway, just before you reach New Orleans. The name of this joint was Ruby Lamas. It was in the ninth ward, but Katrina wiped them out. I would stop there with my parents and whoever else was going to New Orleans with us that day. Usually it was one or more of my siblings. But this place had the best. I still remember them to this day and that was at least 30 years ago.

It had been years since I have had even a decent poboy. And it wasn’t because I wasn’t trying. Stacey and I like the beach and whenever we are at one we are looking for fresh seafood. I can’t tell you how many time we have been disappointed with a seafood meal at the beach.

Well that’s all changed. I can get the best shrimp poboy right here in little old East Point, Ga.

About 3 years ago I was standing in line to vote, talking to a neighbor. She introduced me to a another young lady in line with us as one of our “new” neighbors. The young lady informed me she had just move here from Baton Rouge, La. My first question was, “I bet you love good food” A few minutes later she was telling me about a new seafood shop right around the corner.

I had seen them fixing up the old gas station and noticed it was a “seafood market”. But for some reason I had yet to stop by. Well, my new friend said they had really good poboys. I knew, being from Baton Rouge, she new what she was talking about.

So I voted and went straight to this shop. It is run by a Vietnamese couple from my home town of Mobile, Al. Since it was my first visit, I didn’t chat these guys up right away. No, first things first, I went home to eat. I have never been the same.

This was by far the best poboy I had ever eaten. It is made on a bun about 6″ long. The bread is good, not to hard and not to soft. Ketchup, tartar, pickles, lettuce and tomato are layered with 8 to 10 large fresh fried shrimp. The sandwich is not huge, but for a 6″ bun that’s a lot of shrimp. And at $4 each it is cheap.

Needless to say Lee, Kim, Laura and Jaybird have become my good friends and we are on more then a first name basis. I am in there 3 or 4 times a week. I have sent everyone I can think of up there for a poboy and tell them to let ‘em know Tracy sent you.

I have gotten to know everyone up there and take them a cold six pack every now and then. I can’t believe Kim and Lee, the owners are from my hometown. It really is a small world.

There is lots more to the shop than just the poboy. They have a buffet of southern foods and it’s also delicious. Sometimes I have something other than the poboy, but not often. Lee drives to Mobile once a week to get fresh seafood. But I am sure some of it comes form local distributors. Like the Snow and King crabs they offer.

I am sure there is a really interesting story behind Kim and Lee’s life and maybe one day I can sit with them and learn more about them. Til then I’m just gonna keep eating.

Washington Seafood Market 1765 Washington Road 404 768 2914

Tell them Tracy sent ya.

monday report

Going north on I -85 towards Atlanta, exit 114 Georgiana, Kenkades Bar b que, right next to the B.P. station. “howlin good” so says the sign.

The sound of the trains, at night, in mobile on Roper st. One day I will figure out how far it is from the tracks to the bed I spent years sleeping in, listening to the trains. The squeak of the steel on steel, along with the whistles and horns, and then Atlanta and all the tracks.

Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy O’Toole. Great read on New Orleans.

So another week, another weekend. Stacey and I went to see the Kingsized Orchestra. Big Mike and his always wild shows. This was a tribute to the King. Elvis that is. He died about 30 years ago on august 16. Mikes been doing this show for years.

He has 11 musicians, 4 or 5 dancers, 3 backup singers and a midget dressed like Elvis. The band is really good. Lots of horns and a great guitar player. Big Mike doesn’t dress like Elvis. He is not an impersonator

Corn and Pea Salad

It’s really hot. When we cook of course it gets even hotter. So we do anything we can, for these few weeks each year when we get the 100 degree days, to keep it cooler inside.

One thing we try do do is cook less, cook less inside that is. We can cook all over the place around here. The front porch has a one eye gas burner ready to go at all times. Also on the front porch is a small grill that gets really hot and is just the right size for meals for two people. The backyard has both a grill/smoker and a large open pit fireplace for outdoor cooking. We use all of these to cook with. We also try to eat stuff that is prepared, and not cooked, not in our house anyway. So here is a salad we’ve done for years. I think it is Staceys’ grandmothers recipe.

We are down with the fresh and local scene, but ask most any chef and he’s gonna tell you there’s a few things that he uses right outta the can. This is one of those recipes.

Corn and Pea Salad

1 can (15 1/4 oz) Del Monte White Whole Kernel Sweet Corn

1 can (15 oz) Le Sueur Very Young Small Early Peas

1 medium sized white onion chopped

1/4 cup of Mayonnaise (or to taste)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix - Cover and Chill for at least 2 hours

That’s it. Great with burgers, ribs and dogs.

Enjoy !

The South, the Beautiful South

I am happy to see the South and Southern Culture so so celebrated these days. I say these days, but I think it’s been in the works for awhile now. Groups like the Southern Foodways Alliance, Slow Food, Society for the Revival, Preservation of Southern Food and Chefs like Linton Hopkins and Tony Seichrist are all about promoting and preserving the ways of the new south.

Along time ago, I drove a limo for a hotel in Mobile, Alabama. I was driving a minor T.V. star from England, around the Garden District, per her request. I remember her telling me how the British considered writers from the south the deepest, darkest and their favorite. That has always stuck with me, as it was the first time I ever thought to be proud of who I was and where I was from.

Now this was not something profound. No, it was just a little something I keep with me and think of from time to time. It’s something I think about whenever I might be looking for something to read. I will go to my bookshelf today and be drawn to the large tomes on southern literature. I know if I grab one of those I have a broad choice. There is a great difference between a Eudora Welty story and a James Baldwin story. But, both give me buckets full of southernness. And each with really different views on life.

Now days it is so great to see how it’s all so cool again. Eugene Walters ? Who would have thought my Moms old friend would leave such a mark. A mark that can be traced all over the world and end up in Mobile, Alabama. Hell, Frank Stitt is one of the best Chefs in America and he is from the city of Cullman, Alabama. He has three restaurants in Birmingham.

Ya know we are gonna have to talk about this again at a later date. I mean there is just so much to say and it is also the theme of this blog, the South.

These thoughts got in my head today when I read an email from a friend, who is a gentleman farmer here in our beautiful south. He ask if I had read a book by Sonny Brewer. One thought led to another and by the end of the day, I had borrowed, from my local library ”the Moviegoer” by Walker Percy and ordered “The Poet of Tolstoy-Park” by Brewer from amazon.com.