Posted by Melissa Hall, October 12, 2007 at 2:30 PM
It's cold enough to kill hogs. OK, it's not. But, it should be. And, hopefully, it will be soon. For most of us, hog-killing isn't the family, social, community event it used to be. But then, most of us don't spend our spring worrying about the health and survival of our suckling pigs while eyeing the cold day in late fall (the cold day that heralds the coming of many more cold days) when those same pigs will provide sustenance for a long winter.
Ever wondered how it is Southerners took to the hog so devotedly? The answer lies in our relatively recent pioneer past. In his great book Eating, Drinking, and Visiting in the South, Joe Gray Taylor explains, "A pig born in the spring was ready for slaughter in early winter, obviating the necessity for carrying anything other than breeding stock over the winter." Further, Taylor notes, "Compared to other animals, hogs were efficient in converting grain to meat. One estimate is that 24 percent of the energy of grain eaten by hogs is made available for human consumption as compared to 18 percent for milk products and only 3 1/2 percent for beef and mutton." [Squeamish readers beware: Graphic hog-butchering photos after the jump.]
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Posted by Ed Levine, August 13, 2007 at 8:40 AM
On the way back from Greenwood, Mississippi, we stayed in Memphis. We arrived in downtown Memphis at 10 p.m. to find ourselves in a sea of Elvis impersonators. They were having a huge Elvis impersonator concert and contest. I'm not kidding. There were two Elvis impersonators checking in ahead of us at the Peabody Hotel. We were not there to see faux kings, we were there to eat barbecue.
In the name of research, because Bon Appétit had named Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous one of its three finalists in its search for the best baby back ribs in the country, and also because it was a two-minute walk from our hotel and it was too late to eat at someplace like Cozy Corner (the best all-around barbecue joint in Memphis), we had a couple of racks of Rendezvous Room ribs. Now I have eaten these ribs many times, and maybe at one point they were really good.
But last Saturday night the Rendezvous Room ribs were not even worthy of a top three designation in downtown Memphis, much less the nation.
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Posted by Ed Levine, August 9, 2007 at 9:13 AM
When you love fried chicken as much as I do you get really bugged when Bon Appétit announces its three finalists in its search for the best fried chicken in the U.S. and Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken is not on the list.
Not that the other three contenders, Blackberry Farm (Walland, Tennessee), Price's Chicken Coop (Charlotte, North Carolina), and Willa Mae's Scotch House (New Orleans) are not worthy of serious consideration.
I have written lovingly of Willa Mae Seaton's wondrous fried chicken in GQ and Business Week. (Those stories don't appear to be online or else I'd link to them.) My friend John T. Edge, whom I trust implicitly in these matters (he did write the book on fried chicken), speaks very highly of the other two chickens, though I'm sure he would agree that including an extremely fancy-pants place like Blackberry Farm on a list of fried chicken joints is a questionable decision. But pondering a cosmically important question like who makes and sells the best fried chicken in America and not including Gus's is like arguing about who the best heavyweight champion of all time is and not including Muhammed Ali in the discussions.
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Posted by From Roadfood.com, January 22, 2007 at 6:02 AM
For this week's roundup, we asked our friends Jane and Michael Stern over at Roadfood.com to name some of their fried-chicken picks. And the chicken at these joints comes with a heaping side order of charm.
AL'S CHICKENETTE | 700 Vine Street, Hays KS 67601 [map]. 785-625-7414
Al's Chickenette has been in business a very considerable period of time and there is a good reason for this. And the name of this place says it quite well.
As you can see from the photo the outside doesn't look like much. I believe the building started as officer's quarters at a defunct World War II army air base about 20 miles away before it was moved to Hays and converted to its true calling. But the restaurant tells its own story quite well and it's reproduced here, with permission from the management, along with the rest of its promotional leaflet including the menu. (This is free publicity, after all.)
And it is deserved Roadfood publicity. Now reasonable Road Fooders may disagree on whether one restaurant's fried chicken is "better" than anothers. They will nearly all agree, I think, that the chicken prepared here is distinctive, and it is good. Also the thin cut french fries.
The food is cooked to order and comes to the table hot. Before you dig into it, though, notice that squeeze bottle of honey on the table. It's there for a reason. Take it and squeeze a generous bead over the fries and each piece of chicken. (Leave the ketchup off the fries, at least until you've sampled it this way.) Now, bite into that first piece of chicken, along with a forkfull of fries. You'll savor the thin, crispy, crunchy, slightly salty, mildly spicy crust of the chicken overlaid with the contrasting sweetness of the honey as steam curls up from where it came from. The honey also nicely contrasts with the crust of the fries surrounding the soft, potato-ey interior. You may also notice that the crustyness holds up even as you swallow, continuing its textural treat even on the way down.
If you have the tossed salad with your meal you might try it with the Dorothy Lynch dressing, a regional commercial product which is quite tasty.
As noted in the menu, tea and coffee are complimentary. Other drinks are extra. I always have the ice tea, and lots of it.
I was introduced to Al's as a child when I lived in the area. Even though I've moved away my family tries to have at least a meal here every time we return for a visit.
So if you're passing by Hays, Kansas, on Interstate 70 during the hours Al's is open, take the U.S. 183/Vine St. exit south, going nearly all the way through town almost to the south edge. It will be worth the small detour from your trip. Originally reviewed by Wendler on Roadfood.com
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