Tuesday, May 15, 2012

A Southern Treat


If you like boiled peanuts this is the man to see at the Saturday market on Marion Square.  Matt sold me several packages to take back to Minnesota as gifts for the uninitiated.


History

Boiling peanuts has been a folk cultural practice in the lower Southern United States since at least the 19th century, where they were originally called goober peas. The practice of eating boiled peanuts was likely brought by slaves from Africa.  In July and August, when the peanut crops would come in, unsold and surplus peanuts would be prepared in a boiling, and extended families and neighbors would gather to share conversation and food. Like a fish fry, peanut boils have been organizing principles for social gatherings. Like okrablack-eyed peascollard greens and pork barbecue, boiled peanuts are symbols of Southern culture and cuisine. (Credit:Wiki)



17 comments:

  1. tres beau portrait

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great portrait and the goober peas story is very interesting, I wonder how they taste like!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Two nice portraits. You seem to enjoy Charleston a lot, don't you?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have enjoyed roasted peanuts, salted in the shell peanuts, but had never heard of boiled peanuts.

    When I worked on Congressional staffs in the 1970's, the limo driver for Gerald Ford used to pick up a load of peanuts and sell gabs of peanuts door to door in the Congressional office buildings.

    When Ford became Vice President, the visits from the Peanut Man became less frequent, and of course they ended when Ford became President.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I grew up on those foods! Great shot...he has a kind face!

    ReplyDelete
  6. can't say i've ever had any. great smile on that gentleman!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We have people we work with from Mississippi. The had a peanut boil at work or whatever it's called. I can say its an acquired taste, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have never had boiled peanuts but I would be interested to try them.
    Great picture!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Until a few years ago, had never heard of boiling them. LOVE peanuts.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great portrait!

    Can't say that I've had most of the foods you mentioned, including boiled peanuts. I discovered them fried - delicious! - and I've tried to forget that since.

    ReplyDelete
  11. My grandmother used to boil the peanuts that my grandpa grew on the farm that I now live on. He also had a syrup mill and made sorghum syrup during the fall, raised cotton and corn, acted as a community doctor (he had absolutely no medical training but I understand he had a black bag full of medicines and remedies that many folks used to seek him out for), was a competent carpenter having built two different homes for his family as it grew and plowed his fields holding a plow with wooden handles pulled by a team of mules. They just don't make them like that anymore, do they!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well done, Kate. I like this portrait.

    ReplyDelete
  13. They sound tasty.

    ReplyDelete
  14. It's a wonderful portrait of a friendly and handsome face. Boiled peanuts are also in Chinese cuisine, both as a snack or in soups. I like them either way.

    [Yes, South Africa is very high on my travel destination list, Kate! :-) ]

    ReplyDelete
  15. Boiled peanuts? There sure is a lot about Southern cuisine that I've never tasted.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Boiled peanuts? Would love to try it. Great portrait, great smile.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great models/people you find, and I could have added interesting too.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting my blog; I appreciate it! Come back often!!