Book Board Chat

diane (furtima) Speaking of Fried Green Tomatoes, my mother-in-law ate her first ones ever today! Two giant and heavy green tomatoes had broken from the plant. She thought they were still attached and wanted my DH to prop them up, but as it turned out they were just resting on the vines below. He told her how much I liked them and suggested she give them a try and told her to make them just like she would fried zuchinni. She called after her lunch of fresh corn and fried green tomatoes and said she like them and would be making more.

I was shocked when the book and movie came out and all of a sudden Fried Green Tomatoes were being hailed as a "Southern Dish!" I grew up eating them in the 1950s! My mother and I loved them. Not sure if her mother made them or not. In any case, we did not make ours with cornmeal which I know that is the way they are made in the South. I have ordered the batter on-line and while it is good, cheaper to just keep making them with flour, egg, and breadcrumbs. I'm not sure but my mother may have just floured them and fried. I remember coyotegal once said she never liked them until she made some without the cornmeal and then thought they were great.

This is a very interesting article for those interested in the myth behind the "Southern" Fried Green Tomatoes. . . I tend more to belive what the author of article found in his research then those who try to debunk him with their opinions in the comment section-Southerns who don't like this being taken away from them! LOL

Everyone may have an opinion but I give more weight to those who have done their homework and researched the subject vs those who are talking out of their hat. Not every opinion should be given equal weight is my opinion! LOL

The Fried Green Tomato Swindle
by Robert F. Moss, who is a food writer and culinary historian from Charleston, South Carolina. He reviews restaurants for the Charleston City Paper and is the author of Barbecue: The History of an American Institution and Going Lardcore: Adventures in New Southern Dining.

http://www.robertfmoss.com/2007/08/fried-green-tomato-swindle.html