Only in the South

Only in the South can you order a "vegetable" side dish that consists of such items as fried squash, beans, and ... brownies, Jell-O, banana pudding, cherry cobbler and such foods that I would never have considered as veggies even at my most desperate moments. Nor would Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet, and definitely not Atkins. But, it definitely makes things interesting.

I discovered this "veggie" anomaly about the South when I first had lunch at a Southern Family restaurant. In Charlotte, North Carolina, where I lived for over 12 years, most family restaurants were owned by local Greek families but rarely offered Greek foods. Instead they served what could fairly be called "home-cooked" meals - rich, filling, stuff your mom might have cooked if you grew up in the South.

Then there are the fish-camps. I'd always thought a "fish-camp" was a cabin on a remote lake where men would go for a few days to fish, tell fish tales, drink beer, and fish some more. If they didn't catch any for whatever reason -- too much talking and drinking? It was easy enough to pick up some fresh (and mysteriously cleaned and perhaps even filleted) fish on the way home.

Not so in the South. I'd been invited to a meal at a fish-camp, and we pulled into a parking lot well within city borders! It was a restaurant! Hmmm... this one was owned by a Greek family too. The menu, oddly enough, was all fish of this or that type, and some seafood like shrimp, clams, oysters and crab. Not a vegetable dish in sight. Instead, fried catfish - deep fried, that is, hushpuppies. And fried flounder. The first trip I didn't know I could order grilled or broiled - my preference. I did have a choice of potatoes - fries or baked. I ordered the catfish. Too much of it. I'd expected a filet or two, but a pile of catfish is what I got, a big pile of catfish. Very good, to be sure, but I'd never be able to finish it. My friend ordered fried flounder, also a lot. HE finished it all, and then finished my catfish.

Oh, iced tea comes with everything - usually sweet, unless you ask for unsweetened. Sweet iced tea is usually made by starting with a sugar syrup to which tea is added, and then some water.