THE VERY BEST
Great Regional Comfort Foods
Americans all around the country find solace in their own types of down-home eating. ::
BY KAREN T. BARTLETT W
hen you’re having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day (to quote children’s book
author Judith Viorst), the aroma, texture, and taste of that one unique, strictly hometown dish can instantly invoke the pleasures of simpler times. New Yorkers say it’s a toasted
bagel, crisp outside and chewy inside, slathered in cream cheese. In Alaska, a big plate of moose stroganoff nourishes body and soul. In Georgia, nothing can fix a boo-boo better than Granny’s deep-dish peach cobbler, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, of course. But what about slugburgers?
Dirty-water hot dogs? Frogmore stew? Traveling across the nation, Newsmax has sampled the quirky regional comfort foods that may not be the healthiest fare, but they sure do make us homesick.
SOUTHERN COMFORT Louisville natives yearn for the
open-faced “hot brown,” a late-night sandwich invented in 1926 at the elite Brown Hotel. Starting with a thick slab of toast, it’s piled high with roasted turkey breast, tomatoes, and crisp bacon, then drenched in a creamy, cheesy mornay sauce. Follow that up with a wedge
of gooey chocolate and walnut derby-pie, created by a chef at the
72 NEWSMAX MAXLIFE | FEBRUARY 2012
historic Melrose Inn and still served at Churchill Downs during the Kentucky Derby. Homesick locals can have it shipped directly from the original chef’s family bakery, Kern’s Kitchen. Corinth, Mississippians wax
nostalgic about their native slugburger. It would have to taste better than it sounds — and it does. It’s a spicy ground pork patty with mustard, pickles, and an onion slice. In Tupelo, they call it a doughburger, where it was an Elvis Presley favorite. In Louisiana, comfort comes
in the form of a spicy, deep-fried Natchitoches meat pie. You can get a
“lotta hotta meat pies” as they say, at the annual Natchitoches Meat Pie festival. A creamy bowl of savory peanut
soup may not solve the world’s problems, but native Virginians know it’s a fine place to start. From the southern Appalachian mountains wafts the nostalgic cinnamon and nutmeg-laced aroma of Tennessee stack cake: eight moist, heavy layers of giant spice cookies with spiced apple filling.
LOW COUNTRY Along the salt marshes of St.
Louisville HOT BROWN
Helena Island, S.C., at a bend in the road once called Frogmore, celebrations call for a big cast iron pot of Frogmore stew. No frogs are harmed in the making of this boiled dinner of shrimp, corn, red potatoes, and spicy sausage links. For the full-on authentic
experience, it should be piled on
HOT BROWN/COURTESY OF JOHN NATION
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