>In digest V98 #27, posters referred to "sloppy joes" and "chow-chow." What
>are these foods and how are they used?
Okay, y?all. Time for a lesson in Southern eating. The Southern style
chow-chow to which I referred is a relish made with finely chopped cabbage,
green tomatoes, onions, peppers, vinegar, salt, turmeric, and a sweetener.
(Think pickled cabbage slaw or cabbage chutney.) It is ordinarily labeled
?mild? or ?hot? and stocked among or near the pickles in the grocery store.
It is different from Chinese chow-chow, which is more like fruit preserves
seasoned with ginger and mustard.
Whereas in our local restaurants a bottle of ?pepper sauce? (a regional
name for vinegar packed with hot peppers) is often put on the table along
with the salt and pepper shakers, chow-chow is a condiment more likely to
be available by request.
Like many condiments, it is usually put on top of or alongside the food it
is to enhance rather than mixed with it. Because of both its sweetness and
?heat? it is especially tasty with cooked collard or turnip greens, as well
as with blackeyed peas.
One of my favorite foods is a bowlful of collards with their
tamari-seasoned pot liquor and either a heaping tablespoon of chow-chow or
a liberal sprinkling of pepper sauce on top. Add some oven-baked,
French-cut sweet potatoes and a tiny bit of warm maple syrup in which to
dip them on the side, and I?m in ?hawg heaven.?
Bette
(who is blessed with a husband who both knows how to select the freshest
collard greens and is generous enough to clean and cut them for cooking)
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