Bad, Southerner

There are many stereotypes associated with the South. Many, many stereotypes. As a Southerner, I can confidently say that most of them are not true. Or, if they are true, they only apply to a small subset of the population and shouldn't be used to judge an entire region.

There will always be exceptions, of course. But to think that all Southerners are racist Republicans clinging to their Bibles and guns is about as fair as saying that all Northerners are pretentious yuppies swathed in tweed as they pahk the cah in the yahd.


However, there is one stereotype that is a little true. And it's something that Southerners enjoy and do very well: frying things. It's not like we invented it or are the only ones who do it but, let's face it, we have perfected it. Twinkies. Turkey. Doughnuts. Chicken. Green tomatoes. Hush puppies. Okra.

I just so happened to have purchased some of the latter at Eastern Market a few weeks ago. Came home, cleaned it, dipped it in some Ranch, and then prepared for the delectable result. Instead: blech. Not what I was expecting. It turns out I only like okra when pickled or fried. Good, Southerner.


Pickling takes too long so I moved on to my next option: deep frying! But first, a confession: I'm afraid of hot grease. Frying things scares me so I bake french fries, chicken, shrimp, etc. Bad, Southerner.

If I do have to use grease, it requires wearing long sleeves and oven mitts with a very long spoon to prevent the grease from piercing my skin. But I had these lovely okra pods and a deep craving so I set forth on a Google search. Because, sadly, I don't know how the whole frying thing works. And, judging by the results, I still don't know it works. Bad, Southerner.

They look rough, but they weren't bad. The taste was what I was imagining when I bit into the raw pod, so that was nice. Aside from a little charring, they were actually quite good. Part of the problem may have originated with the recipe. It said to "dredge the okra in the cornmeal mixture."

Thus I present, the Thought Process of Bonnie: "Dredge. That's a good word. Dredge. Isn't that what you do to a lake? Dredge. Sort of like drudge. Drudge Report. Ugh, I don't like that. Dredge. The cornmeal is sticking to my eggy hands. Dredge. Oh crap the okra is black and there is no grease left in the pan and it's so smokey in here. But dredge is a good word."

I just don't think I can be a lover of words AND a good cook. Good, Southerner?