Growing up and living all my life in the South,
I know what fresh
vegetables taste like. Our family ate what we grew. We also ate
what was in season.
In the early spring we anticipated fresh lettuce
and other greens. It was
a real tragedy when wilted lettuce salads went out of style
because of fears about fat.
You don’t know what good eating is until you sit down to the
table and pour the hot
vinegar and bacon grease mixture, with fresh green onions, over
your salad greens.
I remember the green peas and new potatoes
grubbed out from under the
growing potato vines. Sometimes we served them in a cream sauce
with plenty of freshly
ground pepper.
Later on came the king of the garden: fresh
tomatoes.
My family was big on the Creole tomato. I’ve
eaten many kinds, colors
and shapes over the years, but the Creole is still my favorite.
We ate it fresh off the
vine while it was still warm. We ate it on BLTs, in salads,
stewed, stuffed with crab meat
and just about any other way possible. But it’s best still warm
in the field.
We canned many jars of tomatoes and used them in
the winter for stewed
tomatoes over biscuits for supper. That always brought back the
essence of summer, even in
the dead of winter.
We loved another favorite, too: peppers, both
sweet and hot. We served hot
cayennes with all meals.
Eggplants were the first "hamburger
helper," used to extend the
meat course for six hungry kids. When you cubed and added
eggplant to oyster stew, you
could save on the oysters.
During August, when other vegetables had played
out in the dead of summer,
it was time for brown crowder or Mississippi Silver peas and
okra, cooked together in my
favorite black iron pot. Mama stewed it long and slow with
potlikker and served it with
stone-ground cornbread and sweet iced tea.
Now we go out to "country
restaurants," which try to duplicate
these dishes with frozen or canned products. Once you’ve had the
original, it just
isn’t the same.
The real key to Southern vegetables is picking
them at the right time. But
you don’t have to grow up Southern to figure out perfect timing.
Just stop by your county
Extension Service office and pick up any of the gardening
publications.
Harvesting too early or too late can change the
flavor of vegetables. The
way you handle them after harvest can also affect the flavor.
If the part eaten is a leaf or root, the
harvesting is not as critical as
it is with fruits. Leaves and roots can grow a little larger
without greatly changing
flavor. The main factor in leaves is that the midrib may be more
fibrous, and you can
remove it.
On the other hand, some fruits can go over-the-
hill quickly. Others can be
left on the vine to grow a little larger.
Tomatoes, everyone’s favorite, must be picked at
the proper time. They
reach maturity (full size) and then start ripening.
The ripening process depends on cultivar and
environment. Usually the
hotter the weather, the quicker the ripening. If there is excess
water during ripening, it
will dilute the sugars and acids which give the tomato its
characteristic flavor.
After you pick them, NEVER put tomatoes in the
refrigerator. Serve them at
room temperature. If they’re very ripe, you can refrigerate
them, although they will lose a
little flavor. Just be sure to take them out several hours
before serving them so they can
warm up to room temperature.
You can enjoy Southern vegetables as they should
be. Just grow them
properly, harvest at the proper time and handle with care.
You’ll have a summer feast like
Mama used to make.
