Long Distance Love in Grand Style
Stan Hywet Hall - An Illusion of Grandeur
You can't help but notice the signs. "Boiled P-Nuts ahead"
is written in dripping paint on the roadside sign. If you aren't from
the South, you may wonder what on earth that means. But Southerners just
know
Peanuts are actually legumes, not nuts at all. But they are still a favorite
"nut" for many Southerners. Sometimes called "goober,"
or "goober-pea," (which comes from the African word "nguba"),
the peanut is used in all kinds of recipes for appetizers, main dishes,
soups, and desserts.
Boiled peanuts are made by boiling raw peanuts – still in their
shells – along with salt to taste. The peanuts will swell to fill
the pod and they can be served hot and juicy or cold after draining. I’ve
seen a variety of different flavors since moving to the South including
Cajun, garlic, and smoked flavors to name a few. But before I moved to
Georgia from Ohio, I’d never heard of such a thing as boiled peanuts.
I had tried roasted peanuts and salted peanuts and peanut butter, but
I had never even seen a raw peanut prior to my move South. This didn’t
seem to faze my new husband – a native Georgian – who has
traveled across the United States. He had experienced all sorts of cultures
first-hand and knew that the South was home to the best variety (and best-tasting)
foods.
On my first trip to the North Georgia mountains, my husband pulled the
car to a stop in front of a little roadside stand that boasted fresh peaches,
corn-on-the-cob, and the infamous boiled peanut. I watched the man behind
the simmering pot scoop the dripping peanuts into plastic bags and hand
them over to my husband. My husband settled back behind the wheel, handed
me a warm bag of the wet treat, and we were back on the road. I watched
as he sucked on the first peanut. He cracked the shell to suck out the
juice before devouring the meaty nut. All while maneuvering our stick
shift through the winding mountain roads. He was obviously experienced
at this.
I carefully opened my plastic bag, letting the steam escape
to avoid a burn. I picked up my first peanut and tentatively put it in
my mouth. I was reminded of the warm salt water that my mother used to
make me gargle – an old remedy for a sore throat. I tried unsuccessfully
to open the shell with my teeth, and in the end resorted to using my fingers
to get it open. I spilled the remaining salt water down the front of my
sweater before finally tasting the nut.
It was awful. It tasted like the kidney beans that I used to pick out
of my chili as a kid. I wanted to be open-minded. I tasted another. Then
another. Then I handed the bag over to my husband, unable to force another
one down my throat.
At the time I was disappointed. I felt entirely out of place – a
Yankee in the South. I had already politely declined the barbequed pork,
black-eyed peas and rice, and cornbread that my mother-in-law had cooked.
And now I couldn’t stomach the boiled peanuts.
I guess that Southern food is an acquired taste. I was very determined
to love this snack that is a Southern delicacy. I tried different flavors,
the canned variety, and my husband’s home-cooked batch. And without
realizing it, I lost the image of kidney beans floating in chili. I came
to associate boiled peanuts with trips to the mountains, falling leaves,
and roadside stands.
Peanuts have a long and storied history. The peanut originated in Brazil
and came to the United States from Africa, as many Southern foods have.
The peanut has become synonymous with George Washington Carver. In 1903
he began researching methods of marketing peanuts in various products.
He created over 300 uses for the peanut including shampoo, milk, cheese,
mayonnaise, instant coffee, soap, axle grease, linoleum and pickles.
In the early 1900's, a man by the name of Amedeo Obici invented a process
to automatically turn roasting peanuts – prior to his invention,
peanuts were turned by hand. He began selling roasted peanuts at his fruit
stand in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in order to have an edge over the
competition. The peanuts became so popular, that Mr. Obici quit selling
fruit altogether. In 1906, his brother-in-law, Mario Peruzzi, began selling
their peanuts in airtight bags as the Planters® Nut and Chocolate
Company. Mr. Peanut, one of America's most recognized logos, was first
drawn by a 14-year-old boy who won the Planters®-sponsored contest
to design the trademark.
Peanut butter was created in the 1890’s and prescribed by Dr. John
Kellogg (as in Kellogg’s Corn Flakes®) as a protein substitute
for people with poor teeth. Our huge appetite for peanut butter requires
us to import the majority of what we consume, even though more than half
of the American peanut crop becomes peanut butter. This may be because
720 peanuts are needed to make a one-pound jar of peanut butter.
Boiled peanuts may have originated in Asia, where the Chinese boiled peanuts
like beans. They also used them in sauces, deep fried them, and tossed
them into stir-fried dishes. The knowledge of the peanuts’ nutritional
value and unmistakable taste traveled from Asia to Africa, where many
Southern foods and cooking methods originated.
Today, boiled peanuts are found throughout South Carolina, Georgia, northern
Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and – to a lesser extent – North
Carolina and Virginia. However, thanks to the Internet, you can have boiled
peanuts delivered to your front door no matter where you live. One such
site, ThadsBoiledPeanuts.com, boasts green Valencia peanuts that are “cooked
for hours over open flames.” They are shipped in “old fashioned
canning jars, the kind grandma used for her jellies and preserves.”
ThadsBoiledPeanuts.com started out as a roadside peanut stand in Bartow,
Georgia. Mr. Thad Raines, owner, said that he has been selling his peanuts
online for about two years “and it has been successful.” So
successful, in fact, that he doesn’t sell by the road much these
days.
“I work two jobs and go to college at night, so I don’t have
a lot of time to sell them beside the road anymore,” Thad told me.
Most of Thad’s customers are Southerners that have moved up north
or are stationed overseas in the military. “A lot of my customers
are repeat customers, so apparently I am doing something right,”
he says.
When Thad was selling from his roadside stand, he would have the occasional
tourist stop to try his peanuts. In most cases, the travelers have heard
of boiled peanuts and end up buying several bags. Even online he occasionally
gets orders from Northerners who have never tried boiled peanuts. “Most
Northerners really don’t know what they are ordering except that
they are ‘boiled peanuts,’” Thad said. He has had a
few emails from customers who state that the peanuts were “wet.”
“So I suppose boiled peanuts is an acquired taste; not for everyone,”
Thad concluded.
I say, “It’s their loss.”
