Southern food shines in the summer
An ode to southern produce and all the food I plan to eat this summer
Incessant mosquitoes sucking blood from places you’ve never even scratched before they landed on your body. Thick, damp, and oppressive humidity that leaves you breathless, sticky, and wet. Hell-like heat that zaps all your energy for the day in a matter of minutes. I hate southern summers.
The only redeeming quality of southern summer is the produce (and maybe the long days). Even though I visit the farmers market year round, it comes alive in the summer. Stands teem with corn still tightly wrapped in their husk, bright tomatoes gleaming in the sun, fuzzy green okra pods tucked into little baskets, and peaches so fragrant that the sweet, juicy scent calls out to you.
When it comes to southern cuisine, more specifically soul food, people think of collard greens silkened by pork fat, crispy golden brown fried chicken, and huge pans of rich and decadent baked macaroni and cheese. But that’s only a small part of the picture. Those are foods usually eaten in the cooler months for celebrations, not something we eat on a weekly basis.
In the summer, southern food is all eating watermelon and peaches that are so juicy, you have to hinge at the hips to keep it from dripping on your shirt. If the fruit is perfect, the juices will run down the length of your forearm leaving its sticky residue behind.
It’s about eating corn in all its iterations—cheesy corn pudding casserole, colorful succotash, savory sautéed corn, and of course, corn cobs laced with butter and salt.
Salads of all kinds! Creamy potato salad with crunchy sweet pickles and onions. Tangy potato salad made with vinegar and covered in green onions. Macaroni salad with creamy mayonnaise and tuna. Watermelon salad dotted with feta cheese.
Stock pots filled to the brim with corn cobs, spicy sausages, creamy potatoes, crabs, and shrimp before they’re dumped on a table covered in newspaper.
Yellow squash and zucchini sliced and grilled until sweet and tender. Or slice and saute them in a cast iron skillet, mix with orzo and pesto, and top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
Jars stuffed with cucumbers, peaches, okra and any other produce you can get your hands on for pickling.
And tomatoes are everywhere and everything. Fried green tomatoes dipped into spicy remoulade sauces. Umami rich tomato tarts and pies with cheese and crispy crusts. Pizza who?
Slices of beautiful heirloom tomatoes laid atop bread that’s covered from edge to edge with mayo. And my summer isn’t complete without the ultimate tomato sandwich, the BLT.
Of course, we have dessert covered with cobblers, crumbles, and pies made with peaches, blueberry, blackberries, strawberries, cherries. No matter which one you choose, it better have a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. And sweet, creamy banana pudding is perfectly chilled to take away the sting of the heat.
And though this is an ode to southern summer produce, we end this conversation without mentioning the magic of grilled meats. Ribs, steaks, burgers, sausages, hot dogs, chicken, and kebabs! All the fish! All the seafood! It’s a magical time.
So each year, I tolerate the heat and humidity of the summer for the love of the bountiful produce that it gives us. And for that reason alone, I appreciate my southern summers.
I’d love to hear what you love eating in the summertime. Hit reply on this email or drop a comment if you’re reading this on Substack.
I’m excited to host TWO panel at Craft Beer Con this year.
Join me virtually on Thursday, June 20, for Craft Beer Support Group and then in person on Friday, June 21, for the State of the Craft Beer Industry.
Thank you for reading!
Until next time,
Stephanie
About me: I'm Stephanie Grant, a born-and-bred ATLien and the writer behind this newsletter. I’m also a content creator for the food and beverage industry and one of the hosts of the award-winning Good Beer Hunting podcast. In 2023, I launched The Share Community, a digital space for women and non-binary people of color who want to advance their career in the beer industry. You can also find more of my work on YouTube and Instagram.
Such vivid writing, i could taste every paragraph 😋