A movie made them seem like a Southern tradition – and now they are. This version provides a sweet tartness from buttermilk, a crunch from Panko, and a lot of spice.
“You’re just a bee charmer, Idgie Threadgoode. That’s what you are, a bee charmer.”
― Fannie Flagg, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
As Robert Moss writes for Serious Eats, when a platform like Southern Living proclaims that “There’s nothing as Southern as a plate of Fried Green Tomatoes,” few people would disagree – today. But no one would have known how to make sense of that claim before 1991, when the film adaptation of Fannie Flagg’s book debuted. As it turns out, their origins may be more Middle American than Southern, and more Jewish than Scotch-Irish. Florence Kreisler Greenbaum’s (1919) International Jewish Cookbook (published in New York) shared the recipe, while one of the few Southern examples Moss could find before the 1990’s was from a 1944 Alabama newspaper, and even then, it was more disparaging than positive.
In the Food Historian’s book, The Fried Green Tomato Swindle and Other Southern Culinary Adventures, Moss documents that while the dish may have been eaten in the South, it just wasn’t particularly Southern. The first published recipe that Moss was able to find for them was published in a Chicago newspaper in 1877. Throughout the late 1800’s and into the 20th century, they appear in a lot of newspapers and magazines as a thrifty solution to a seasonal problem, that frost may become an issue before some tomatoes ripen. If that’s their origin story, the blisteringly hot Southeastern United States doesn’t seem like the most obvious place for them to start out. They appeared in publications in Biloxi and Augusta, but they also appeared in Kalamazoo, Denver, Iowa City, Pittsburgh, and New York City. By the 1970’s they were an obscure dish, and if they were popular in any one particular region it was – the Midwest.
According to Sam Dean, writing for Bon Appétit, the Whistle Stop Café in Flagg’s book was based on a real place – her Aunt’s Irondale Café in Irondale, Alabama, where she grew up eating their fried green tomatoes as a kid. But the staff there would tell you that the item wasn’t a central part of their menu, perhaps just a favorite of Flagg’s. That is, until the movie premiered. After, they experienced a “fried green tomato boom” and Flagg published another book by 1993, The Original Whistle Stop Café Cookbook. The movie filmed the restaurant scenes in Juliette, Georgia, using an old general store as The Whistle Stop Café. After the movie, the owners developed the vacant building into a restaurant, “The Original Whistle Stop Café” [emphasis mine]. Life imitates art.
Actually, the story here seems to represent that theme more broadly. In what Moss called “The Hollywood Effect,” a not particularly regional food became representative of a traditional foodway. Then, southerners (and non-southerners seeking a taste of the south) sought it out as a kind of performance of Southern traditions and authenticity. I decided to make these because my wife brought home some gorgeous green tomatoes from her grandmommy’s garden. When I shared this story with her after my initial research, she absolutely refused to have it. She erupted, “No way! I grew up eating fried green tomatoes!” I said, “well, the movie came out in 91 and you were born in 85. Are you sure you were eating them before you were 6?” Yes, definitively she claims she did. Maybe she did. “They were a thing in the South,” I said, “just not only in the South.” I think I saw a slight non-aggressive eye-roll that ended our conversation. One that sort of said, “I’m just not sure I buy that story.” I get it. Maybe it’s like how I felt when I heard there was a suggestion that Key Lime Pie was developed in New York City. I get it as a Georgia transplant too. Part of what I enjoy about fried green tomatoes is that it feels like I’m doing something timelessly Southern.
Speaking of my wife, like many women of a certain persuasion who grew up in the 1990’s, we both loved the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. As Naomi Rockler writes in The Journal of Lesbian Studies, the film optimized “polysemy,” or intentional ambiguity to transform a lesbian relationship into a close friendship between women. The hallmark of LGBTQ representation in that time period was “coded” nods to in-groups. Films of the 1980’s and 1990’s gracefully created context that allowed queer audiences to see themselves while simultaneously allowing more mainstream audiences to look the other way. While the film drew some criticism for eliding overt lesbian relationships, it was subversive in its own way too. As Kristen Proehel writes, also in The Journal of Lesbian Studies, this movie as well as The Color Purple, portrayed “queer friendships,” a kind of love bond that is more complex than friendship or romance, one that “subvert[s] the socially constructed hierarchy of romantic and platonic love.”
Today, fried green tomatoes have evolved from their humble beginnings of being tossed in flour and fried in butter. At swanky restaurants throughout the South, you can eat them for brunch on top of Eggs Benedict, or for lunch added to a Southern BLT, or for dinner alongside white cheddar grits with ham and tomato chutney. You can have them with sweet pepper relish, spicy aioli, or arugula salads. As Moss adds, all it takes to make a “Southern style” burger anywhere in the U.S. is the addition of a fried green tomato and pimento cheese. This recipe makes perfect use of buttermilk, Panko crunch, and spice – the remoulade recipe is really worth it too. Don’t be afraid to be fancy and add some goat cheese crumbles on top.
Fried Green Tomatoes
Course: Appetizers, SidesDifficulty: Easy8
servings20
minutes15
minutesIngredients
3-4 green tomatoes, sliced
canola or peanut oil for frying (you will need the oil
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
6-8 dashes hot sauce
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tsp seasoning salt
1 tsp cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Adobo seasoning
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- For Remoulade Dipping Sauce [see Note 1 for credit]
1/3 cup mayo
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon horseradish
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 teaspoons cajun seasoning
1 tsp pickle juice
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp salt
Directions
- Make remoulade sauce first: mix all ingredients. Refrigerate until needed.
- Slice your tomatoes into ¼ inch thick slices and lay them on a plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle them with salt to help them release their liquid. Allow to drain for at least 10 minutes, flipping once.
- Set up your dredging station using 3 shallow bowls:
Bowl 1: Just flour
Bowl 2: Whisk buttermilk, egg, and hot sauce
Bowl 3: Mix breadcrumbs, Panko, cornmeal, and spices - Dredge in flour, shaking off excess. Then dip in buttermilk, letting excess drip off before the next step. Dredge in the breadcrumb mixture. You can help the coating by gently pressing crumbs onto tomatoes. I recommend going through the dredging process and putting tomatoes aside on a cookie tray before you begin frying - they fry quickly and you don't want one batch to burn while your back is turned!
- Heat oil at a medium high heat. If you are measuring temperature, you want it to be about 350F.
- Carefully place 4 dredged tomato slices into the hot oil and allow them to fry for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Make sure to not overcrowd your skillet so the oil stays hot enough.
- Allow to cool on a wire cookie rack. This will allow the grease to drip off without making the crust soggy. Under no circumstances should you tent or cover the tomatoes while hot - this will make the breading fall off and they will be soggy. Serve with remoulade sauce. They come together quickly and are best at almost room temperature.
Notes
- Note 1: This (amazing!) remoulade sauce is from Allie @ sipandspice.com
