I grew up as a transplant in the south, central Florida to be specific. And to those of you who claim that Florida is not the real south, well it is when one travels twenty miles inland from any coast. In fact, twenty miles west of West Palm Beach it is actually 1927 real south.

Back during the mid seventies in my posh town of Lakeland, pizza was considered sort of an ethnic delicacy, while tacos and burritos were all but unknown at the time. However, in trade, we did have several Sambo’s Restaurants. What’s a Sambo’s? Well, it was like a Denny’s if you have seen those, but on the big sign above the building there was the face of Little Black Sambo. Unfortunately Sambo looked a little more like Al Jolson than the odd literary namesake. I haven’t seen a Sambo’s in a long time, go figure.

Forgive me all who claim love for southern cuisine, but after thirty odd years in the south, all I’ve come to understand about Down Home Country cooking is that it means fried. If it is edible, fry it. There are even plenty of fried vegetables if you need something healthy on the side. Now don’t get me wrong, a lot of the fried foods are very tasty, and a fried turkey on thanksgiving is a nice change of pace. But for the love of Kate, not everything that comes out of the water needs to be batter fried.

On the tea issue, I like sweetened tea, but not sweet tea so much. I have to cut the sweet tea with plain tea to actually taste the tea portion of the beverage. I find that iced coffee helps with headaches much more efficiently. But one has to remember to double brew the ice coffee because you don’t want that watered down taste after you add milk\creamer then melt half of the ice away. Ka-boom, that is the caffeine bomb.

Just found your work this past week and love it.

Like some here I am from the North (Minnesota). I do, however, prefer sweet tea. Up here if you want tea sweetened you will need to ask for raspberry ice tea. If a place only offers unsweetened tea. I have my glass filled with 1/4 lemonade (I can feel my teeth rotting drinking that stuff straight) and the rest unsweetened tea.

On Grits – I has them once an likened them to Cream of Wheat made from corn. I neither liked nor disliked them as I do not know what the common condiments for them are. I suppose butter could be the answer.

It is nice having a good author in the area. Thanks for writing.

Here is something to try. Not as good as the real thing but close. If the restaurant has a bar, get some simple syrup from them. It is basically 70% sugar. Use it to sweeten your unsweet tea. It is already in solution so it works just fine in iced tea. You can even make (or buy) your own simple syrup to take with you when you have to visit that place up north.

Thanks for what you do.

I was always proud to live and work, even part-time in high school, near RTP as it was often touted as “the most highly-educated region in the US.” I too am a proud Southerner, and I too am not of the kind you described and it does my heart good to know of another (man, this blog really has brought out the Southern vernacular in me).

Oh, and it took me years before going to a barbecue restaurant while I was in university out west in the mountains. That western style can’t hold a candle to the vinegar base.

Mur rocks. Unquestionably, undeniably and hands-down.

The sweet tea line in virginia.

For me – i have only two types (iced with sugar)
and tea (with little sandwiches at grandma’s with the knitted cozy.

I did a business trip to Schumburg, Illinois and ordered iced tea – when it came to the table it must have been “unsweetened”. I drank the rest of it down- but switched to Root beer. Guess I am too CDN.

As far as soda verses pop? Just cheat and do what we do, call it “soda pop”. Or just pop, or just soda, we’re pretty mellow.

I did work at a fishing lodge way up north in Ontario that catered primarily to Americans, and one day at breakfast one of the college girls up with her friends asked, in a (Southern? Northern? I dunno, American?) accent, if we had any “paaps”. I blinked, sure at first she was asking if we had Pabst beer, then figured it out.

Sweet tea? Unsweet tea? I never knew this invisible war was being waged.

http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/308-the-pop-vs-soda-map/

if we’re looking for an official soft drink term to represent us effete Yankees, my vote is for “soda”. That covers Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, … you know, *those* guys.

That was one heck of a party. Thanks for bringing back a great memory.

Also, I say “soda.” Now we have a two-for-two in the carbonated drink wars.

I prefer pop to iced tea, sweet or not. And hot tea over iced tea. Hot tea with milk, like the Limeys. Mmm, hot tea!

What about those who are to the west or northwest? Ohio? Iowa? Colorado? Are Southern Californians “Northerners”?

(Great exchange from Days of Thunder:

“Where’s your driver from?”

“Eagle Rock.”

“Is that up around Wilkesboro?”

“No. Glendale, California.”

“He’s a Yankee?”)

Heck, I’ve met Southerns for whom “Northern” = “Non-Southerner”, but they were from deeper south than NC (heck, they might think of you as not a real southern way up north in NC).

But on to tea. Come to Canada (the TRUE NORTH strong and free, by the way). Honestly, the sweetest tea you will ever taste before lapsing into a hyperglycemic coma.

Although, Canada (then British North America) did side with the Confederacy in the Civil War. Maybe it was because of tea…

Y’see, Mc’D's started putting “Sweet Tea” on their menus. I walked into a 7-11 a couple months ago… and lo, Arizona had something they called “Sweet Tea” in one of their huge cans. A few of the smaller, yet trendier eateries are starting to offer it now, too…

Personally, it hurts my teeth drinking the stuff. Too saturated with the sugary goodness… that, and I guess I got used to drinking my tea on the crunchy side (the sugar still has to go in… but just enough to off-set the nastiness of whatever lemon flavoring they’re using nowadays… and if I can help it, I prefer Splenda)

So yes, “we” may have won, perhaps… but your insurgents are still doing all kinds of nasty work up here to retaliate