OT - White Trash Food Peculiarities
- Thread starter greenbean.sixpack
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I had poke "salat" once. Had neighbors that would forage for it in summer. I probably ran over a metric ton of it with the lawnmover.
- Lots of folks in my family put mayo in peas. I do not.
- Cornbread in buttermilk. Never heard of crackers.
- I thought Salmon Croquets was fine "seafood" dining growing up. It would take a day to get the smell out of the house.
- Country ham and redeye gravy.
- Fried corn. This was not sweet corn, but field corn. Shuck the corn and scrape it off the cob into a cast iron skillet. It freezes very well like that. My mother had brothers and sisters from Texas to Virginia, and June would always be an assumed family get together that would center around corn being ready in the Delta. Everyone would spend several days putting up corn for the next year.
None of y’all have mentioned hog’s head cheese (edit to add: @Indognito is the only one who has— missed your post in the first run through).
My family’s mom & pop store sold a lot of it.
www.atlasobscura.com
My family’s mom & pop store sold a lot of it.
Hog's Head Cheese Is a Disappearing Louisiana Specialty
The porcine aspic makes a perfect accompaniment to crackers and sandwiches.
www.atlasobscura.com
I've done the mayo on peas my whole life. Sardines, crackers and a slice of onion are a delicacy. Liver cheese sammich, yum. Potted meat on crackers exceptional. Fried bologna w/ a fried egg on top for breakfast, still order that at Starkville Cafe all the time. Mashed potatoes w/ english peas in a spooned out hole in the taters made a bird nest, my moms way of getting me to eat the peas. Vienna sausage (better known as Skeeter Peters in my house) w/ crackers and mustard and a butter and sugar sammich for dessert were a favorite when having to provide for myself while parents were working in summer.
My mom made the pear cheese mayo lettuce thing and threatened me w/ my life but I would NOT let that stuff touch my lips, even though I eat every one of those items seperately to this day. Mom also baked potatoes in old foil butter wrappers that she saved in the little refrig compartment where the butter was kept.
Dad ate cornbread crumbled up in buttermilk, yuck. He also saved leftover rice and put milk, cinnamon and sugar on it for breakfast the next morning and ate it cold. He loved pickled pig feet, myself, I couldnt imagine eating anything that had walked around in that foul smelling pig schat they rolled around in, just nope for me. He loved him some beef tripe too (lining of a cows stomach) again its a nope from me.
Referrring to mayo, my grandmothers was always homemade and she always had a big batch ready for leftover turkey sandwiches the day after Thanksgiving. I still have her special antique "mayo jar" It has the mayo recipe molded into the glass jar and a plunger that goes through the lid and mixes the egg, oil, lemon juice and salt together. Other grandmother always bought flour in the big sacks that had dish towels and wash cloths sewn on the end of the bags for free. Some of the sacks were made from a very modest flower print patterned thin cotton material but she always saved those and made blouses or aprons from them. We alternated back and forth eating Sunday lunch w/ both of them. Leftovers were simply left out on the counter for everyone to walk by and graze on during the afternoon and then supper was whatever was left at the end of the day. Food poisoning you say, never happened even though that stuff lay there from noon till we left that night.
I could go on but I'll stop now. Man this thread has me missing all of them, a lot, and its getting dusty in here now.........
My mom made the pear cheese mayo lettuce thing and threatened me w/ my life but I would NOT let that stuff touch my lips, even though I eat every one of those items seperately to this day. Mom also baked potatoes in old foil butter wrappers that she saved in the little refrig compartment where the butter was kept.
Dad ate cornbread crumbled up in buttermilk, yuck. He also saved leftover rice and put milk, cinnamon and sugar on it for breakfast the next morning and ate it cold. He loved pickled pig feet, myself, I couldnt imagine eating anything that had walked around in that foul smelling pig schat they rolled around in, just nope for me. He loved him some beef tripe too (lining of a cows stomach) again its a nope from me.
Referrring to mayo, my grandmothers was always homemade and she always had a big batch ready for leftover turkey sandwiches the day after Thanksgiving. I still have her special antique "mayo jar" It has the mayo recipe molded into the glass jar and a plunger that goes through the lid and mixes the egg, oil, lemon juice and salt together. Other grandmother always bought flour in the big sacks that had dish towels and wash cloths sewn on the end of the bags for free. Some of the sacks were made from a very modest flower print patterned thin cotton material but she always saved those and made blouses or aprons from them. We alternated back and forth eating Sunday lunch w/ both of them. Leftovers were simply left out on the counter for everyone to walk by and graze on during the afternoon and then supper was whatever was left at the end of the day. Food poisoning you say, never happened even though that stuff lay there from noon till we left that night.
I could go on but I'll stop now. Man this thread has me missing all of them, a lot, and its getting dusty in here now.........
I believe you meant "from the rooter to the pooter", at least thats how my dad said it.
Our paths are similar. My dad was from Rolling Fork and mom was from Valley Park. My Daddy was the first person to graduate college from our family. Mr. Buddy Newman got him a scholarship and he told me later in his life my dads brain was too valuable to waste. My wife came from a poor family. My kids don’t have a clue how lucky they are and that’s disappointing to me.
Peas and cornbread, basically. Peas didn't have mayonnaise (that is just gross), but they had plenty of bacon fat.
We had cornbread every other meal. Rice was in the other one. And I had forgotten all about those salmon croquettes, interesting about the government subsidizing them.
We had cornbread every other meal. Rice was in the other one. And I had forgotten all about those salmon croquettes, interesting about the government subsidizing them.
I was just wondering the other day why no one seems to do this anymore.
Wth? I can accept the rest of the list as trashy, but not Tabasco usage.
I'll add, over easy/sunny side eggs mixed with peanut butter as "gravy".
Pickled eggs, pigs feet, etc with beer - mainly budweiser.
I didn't think Salmon Croquettes were "white trash", but I definitely ate them. Found out as I got older than no one ate Grilled Spam and Cheese sandwiches. Everyone else just had grilled cheese.
We always called them salmon patties, guess we weren't fancy enough for croquettes. Man my granny made em great, fried with a lot of onions in 'em.
Lots of other good stuff on this thread, I'll add beanie-weenie. Yep, a can or two of pork & beans with hot dogs cut up in them. I liked to doctor mine up with mustard & ketchup.
Lots of other good stuff on this thread, I'll add beanie-weenie. Yep, a can or two of pork & beans with hot dogs cut up in them. I liked to doctor mine up with mustard & ketchup.
Man, y'all are allowing me to relive my childhood with my grandparents and parents! Thanks for starting this thread. I have most of everything that has been listed, and miss much of it...the pear salad was never my favorite, but the nostalgia is amazing. My addition to this thread will be one word:
Nabs.
Rarely hear them referred to as nabs anymore now that I live in NE FL.
Nabs.
Rarely hear them referred to as nabs anymore now that I live in NE FL.
Yeah "rooter to the tooter" was how my folks said it. Spell check tried to change it again.
Tuna fish on white bread with extra mayo and a twinkie for dessert. Wash it down with a cold glass of milk.
White Trash? Yes but No!
What I ate was great as a kid (born '63). The majority was not store bought as it was either grown in our garden or hunted/fished. We had a few staples from the store like milk, bread, bananas, sandwich meats, sugar, flour, meal, sausage, bacon, eggs, hamburger meat as we didn't live on a farm. We were middle class, nice house, multiple vehicles, nicer toys, motorcycles etc... and never wanted for any necessities but:
We had two deep freezers - one full of veggies - the other meats and canned tomatoes, green beans and jellies in the cabinets.
Meats were - deer, quail, dove, squirrel, crappie, brim, bass, rabbit and catfish... quantified in that order. We always had months of food at all times. Dad trained dogs for quail and that was his favorite but a deer would fill up the freezers quick. Dad hated cleaning catfish but would not throw it back once caught. They made one or two trips a year to Grenada for Crappie and would come back with 100's of them for us to clean and split with his brother who went with him. They stayed day and night and slept in john boat running lines until they had to go back to work. This was work, not relaxed fishing.
Veggies/fruits we grew - Speckled Purple hull peas, Butter beans, Corn, Okra, Onions, Potatoes at times but bought them too, Peanuts, radishes, butter peas, snap beans, tomato, various greens, watermelons, cantaloupe, apples (yes we had apples), pears, plums, peaches and I am probably missing some things.
We raised our food. We weren't poor, it was just the way of Life that my Mom & Dad lived as he was born in 1924 and her in 1929. They passed at 96 and 93 recently. It was a blessing of a life to have had with them around.
What I ate was great as a kid (born '63). The majority was not store bought as it was either grown in our garden or hunted/fished. We had a few staples from the store like milk, bread, bananas, sandwich meats, sugar, flour, meal, sausage, bacon, eggs, hamburger meat as we didn't live on a farm. We were middle class, nice house, multiple vehicles, nicer toys, motorcycles etc... and never wanted for any necessities but:
We had two deep freezers - one full of veggies - the other meats and canned tomatoes, green beans and jellies in the cabinets.
Meats were - deer, quail, dove, squirrel, crappie, brim, bass, rabbit and catfish... quantified in that order. We always had months of food at all times. Dad trained dogs for quail and that was his favorite but a deer would fill up the freezers quick. Dad hated cleaning catfish but would not throw it back once caught. They made one or two trips a year to Grenada for Crappie and would come back with 100's of them for us to clean and split with his brother who went with him. They stayed day and night and slept in john boat running lines until they had to go back to work. This was work, not relaxed fishing.
Veggies/fruits we grew - Speckled Purple hull peas, Butter beans, Corn, Okra, Onions, Potatoes at times but bought them too, Peanuts, radishes, butter peas, snap beans, tomato, various greens, watermelons, cantaloupe, apples (yes we had apples), pears, plums, peaches and I am probably missing some things.
We raised our food. We weren't poor, it was just the way of Life that my Mom & Dad lived as he was born in 1924 and her in 1929. They passed at 96 and 93 recently. It was a blessing of a life to have had with them around.
Peas and cornbread were a staple growing up, and I've taught my kids how good they are mixed together.
My grandfather was our only family member who regularly drank buttermilk, and he loved crumbling up some cornbread in it. He also referred to regular milk as "sweet milk," and it wasn't til I got older that I realized that he was doing it to differentiate it from buttermilk, since he always kept both in his house.
To add to the vienna-sausages-on-saltines talk, you know what makes it even better? A lil Thousand Island dressing on top (chef's kiss).
Growing up, there was an old store in my hometown that made the best hot dogs ever served on earth ... they were cooked in oil. There was this ancient dude in the back of the store who cooked them in a giant cast iron skillet, about an inch of oil in it, turning and moving them around with an ice pick that looked like it dated back to the actual ice age. My friends and I would eat them every day for lunch in the summer. How we didn't drop dead from heart attacks before age 12 is a mystery.
Go read Cotton Tenants by James Agree. You’ll understand where it came from for some of us. I’m not the only one on here from sharecropper grandparents…they ate a hog from the rooter to to the tooter. My folks ate better and fed us better but it was from the garden most nights…leaf lettuce with chopped green onions and bacon with hot bacon grease poured over with cornbread a fall staple. And Salmon croquettes..haven’t had one since 85 and don’t plan to Cornbread and milk sweet or buttermilk for a snack..I could go on. Two generations removed from the outhouse I live in the penthouse. Thankful everyday for growing up working and eating the way I did. Now off to lunch got some deviled ham and loaf bread old habits die hard!
At my inlaws monthly shindig in West Point, the green congealed salad stuff is always present. I think it's lime jello with whipped cream, coconut, and pineapple in a bundt cake mold. Looks like trash.
I see that stuff every holiday. Looks nasty so I've never touched the stuff
I was born in ‘62. This sounds just like my childhood. It was great time to be a kid in America. I loved my childhood. Great memories
French fries with mayo - yes.
Pear halves with mayo/cottage cheese and shredded cheese - yes
Crackers, spam/sardines and slices of onion - yes
Biscuits and molasses -yes
Wife serves plate - you are saying some don't?
Pear halves with mayo/cottage cheese and shredded cheese - yes
Crackers, spam/sardines and slices of onion - yes
Biscuits and molasses -yes
Wife serves plate - you are saying some don't?
Ya'll need to quit with this mayonnaise stuff. Dayum. Beyond your typical country folks, you're in podunk hillbilly country. Mayonnaise is meant to be had in small doses.....as a side player.
Mixing butter and Blackburn syrup to the perfect consistency and eating on a biscuit. Jerry Clower had a story about this...
Molasses and Biscuits - Jerry Clower.wmv - YouTube
Molasses and Biscuits - Jerry Clower.wmv - YouTube
My pawpaw always did this. Back when they did commodities (for you younger folks, they used to give out boxes of food to folks on hard times), he helped out with it and I guess some of that government butter always fell off the truck, because that's what they always had. The 1lb block, haven't seen any of it in a long time.
I made a fried spam, egg and cheese sammich today. I have some old timey black beans growing right now too. Oh, and I’m one of those that got chickens during Covid so that was a fresh egg. I wonder now why it took so long for me to get chickens.
My Dad used to eat sardines in grits and loved buttermilk and cornbread. Could be because my stepmom was a damn yankee and struggled at times cooking southern food. She did excel in baking though.
My grandparents on my Mom's side did this for the same reason. They also called sandwich bread "light" bread.
My grandma used to get me to go out and pick “poke salit” for her-she cooked it with some green onions and some slices of boiled eggs in it. Pretty good, actually. She also cooked salmon croquettes (salmon patties) with onions and eggs-my uncle affectionately referred to them as “pu$$y patties” lol. She cooked those patties and always put Blackburn ribbon cane syrup on them. We had an annual “hog killing’” at my grandparents’ house every year-they would pick the coldest day of the year and every one of our neighbors, black or white would show up with at least one hog to be killed. There would be 40-50 people show up. My Grandpa would kill the hogs with an axe-they would build 8-10 fires under these huge black cast-iron pots scattered around the back yard. They would build a fire under a big 50-60 gallon barrel so they could “scrape” the hog, which basically meant that they would take a straight razor and remove the hair off the hog so they could process him. They “processed” everything they could from the “snoot to the toot”, as they said. They heated lard in a couple of wash pots and fried the chitlins’, they cut the pork chops, hams, tenderloins, bellies (bacon), they made hog-head cheese, and they ground everything left over into sausage using the intestines as casings for the sausage. The hams, bacon and the sausage were then placed in the smokehouse for several weeks where they received hickory smoke consistently until they were cured. They really did use everything other than the “squeal”. They did this every year up until around 1972-1973. My grandparents and parents operated a dairy farm and beef cattle operation for over 50 years. We never bought beef, pork or chicken over all those years from any outside source, other than sandwich meat. Every piece of beef or pork I ever ate over the years came from the freezers and were all wrapped in white butcher paper that came from the local slaughterhouse. We never bought syrup, either-we grew sugar cane and made our own “ribbon cane” syrup every year-same as the hog-killing. Everyone brought their sugar cane to our place and we put the cane in a cane press which was “powered” by a mule or a horse. We took the cane juice and poured it into vats with fires underneath and cooked all the water out and ended up with a fine syrup that is finer than anything you can buy these days. It was hard work, but we always ended up with a fine quality product. It’s a lost art, for sure.