What Does LA Think TN is Having for Supper? Anything Fried

Ever wonder what the average Los Angeles resident thinks that you are eating here in Tennessee while they are eating their bean sprouts and tofu salad? You might be interested to know that one of their suggestions is "anything fried."

A culinary version of the Newlywed Game

The LA Weekly has begun publishing Venn food diagrams focusing on what LA folks think that others are eating. The first one in the series portrays the concept that people in Los Angeles have about Southern eating habits. They did admit that they were operating under a broad definition of "Southern."

They basically asked people in Los Angeles what they thought Southerners eat, then they asked the Southerners what eat; they see how many that they answered correctly. By the way, Southerners did not list "anything fried."

Misses

The tan, thin, and beautiful people in Los Angeles seem to think that Southerners are sipping sweet tea or mint julep, but oddly, neither of these were on the actual list of Southern foods provided by the Southerners. Los Angeles diners also guessed McDonald's and Macaroni and Cheese, which were incorrect, as well. Peaches, red velvet cake, Shoney's, and Waffle House were also on the list of perceptions that did not make the actual Southern menu.

They got a few things right

Of course, barbecue, biscuits, gravy, and grits were on the list of things that they did guess correctly. Fried chicken, they got, but they didn't guess country ham and chicken and dumplings. They correctly assumed we liked seafood and hushpuppies, but they missed it totally on the dessert course. Pecan pie and cobblers slipped their mind, as did okra, chitlins, and fried green tomatoes. What were they thinking?

Would you repeat the question?

It is true that across the South, there are very different tastes in food and local dishes. If the same question had been posed about Tennessee instead of the South, the answers would surely have been different. Most people across the country think that people in Tennessee actually eat roadkill, particularly possum found on the road. We can probably thank the Beverly Hillbillies for this commonly-held idea.

However, you notice that the word misconception was not used because there are people in the hills of Tennessee who do eat unusual food like this. In the Tri-Cities, many people have long enjoyed foods like squirrel or rabbit. Squirrel gravy is still considered a luxury by some older folks around Bristol.

Come on, give up

You surely must understand that we in Tennessee or any other part of the South have no credible defense on the "anything fried" accusation. Some of our Southern neighbors were not being dishonest in these surveys, but maybe they just assumed it was understood! We fry Twinkies, bologna, dill pickles, and almost every vegetable that we pull from our gardens. The King even fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches in the castle at Memphis.

Sometimes, you just have to own it!