05/29/2026
💡FUN FACT FRIDAY💡
(Controversial Southern Foods Edition)
•Cornbread once divided the South: In different Southern regions, traditional cornbread was made with or without sugar—and many families still fiercely defend their version today. Recipes reveal regional identities that go back generations.
•Chitterlings (Chitlins): No food in the South is as polarizing as chitterlings—the small intestines of pigs, usually boiled and fried to eat with hot sauce or vinegar.
•Boiled Peanuts: If you pull up to a roadside stand in the deep South, you will likely find a massive metal pot full of peanuts boiling in heavily salted, seasoned water. To some, they are a warm, salty, addictive snack with a texture similar to a cooked bean. To others, the concept of a "soggy" peanut can be incredibly off-putting.
•Kool-Aid Pickles ("Koolickles"): A relatively recent but widespread culinary phenomenon, particularly in the Mississippi Delta, involves taking standard dill pickle spears, cutting them and soaking them in a strong mixture of sugary Kool-Aid (usually cherry or tropical punch). A jarring clash of flavor profiles, the result is a bright red pickle that tastes intensely sweet, sour and salty all at once.
Be sure to check out our current exhibit: Recipes Remembered: Preserving History One Dish at a Time, Tuesday - Saturday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, free admission.
AND, DON'T WASH YOUR CAST IRON SKILLET!!! 🍳
