Foodie Friday First: Fried Green Tomatoes

My first dish of…

Fried green tomatoes: firm tomatoes fried up in a crisp, golden batter

fried green tomatoes

Fried green tomatoes with hushpuppies

This is a Southern favorite, and I tried to make it at home once. Failure. I first wanted to eat it after watching Fried Green Tomatoes. By the way, that’s an excellent movie. It’s got all the elements that I adore: strong relationships between women, a feisty older character, historical references, and a missing man mystery.

I actually watched the movie first, which is a rarity. I tend to read the book and then go chase after the film. Usually, I have a hard time enjoying both a movie and a book. Often, I prefer one over the other (usually the book). In the case of Fried Green Tomatoes (movie) and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (book), I loved them equally.

If you can’t have fried green tomatoes at a cafe (author Fannie Flagg modeled the cafe in her book after her great-aunt’s Irondale Cafe in Birmingham), you can go with this recipe.

What’s your favorite Southern food? Any book and movie that you enjoyed equally?

 

 

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Comments

  1. I enjoyed both the book and movie of “Gone Girl.” I also recently read “Before You Go To Sleep” and then saw the movie shortly after. It was pretty good, too. But I’m pretty easy to please at the movies. Just give me some popcorn and I’m happy. :)

    • Jennifer J. Chow says

      Hmm, I’ve read GG but not seen the movie. (I’m one of the few, though, that didn’t like the ending because I just couldn’t empathize with the characters.) I’ll have to check out Before You Go To Sleep…

  2. Veronica Roth says

    Fried green tomatoes always sounded sharp and unappetising to me, but I’ve never tried them, or seen the movie, (I’m not one for sad movies very much). But I love, and make pulled pork. Not sure how Southern that is or what movie it might correspond to, but there you go. The only “South” place I’ve been to has been New Orleans. I love visiting there but not sure that qualifies..lol. It certainly is very French there. Loved the Cafe du Monde and their Beignets. Loved the alligator something I ate. Alligator tastes like chicken. Chicken tastes like everything. :D Oh, once I took one of those silly FB quizzes to find out how Southern I was…2% :D Could have told you that. I’m much more of a Euro-city mouse.

  3. I ate fried green tomatoes for the first time ever this summer in Savannah, Georgia. I don’t know if the lovely setting and great ambiance helped, but I absolutely loved the dish. I took it as an appetizer and my husband took something else. We shared as we almost always do and I had to be careful or he would have eaten most of my order. I think that the key element is the quality of the oil. It has to be very fresh or the tomatoes will be be heavy and dark. I wouldn’t try to do it myself. In terms of Southern food I’m very fond of pecan pies. I love nuts and a pecan pie will always win me over.

    • Jennifer J. Chow says

      I think the oil does make a difference. Plus, the texture of the tomatoes must be nice and firm. Pecan pies are yummy, although in the big debate over pecan vs. pumpkin pie during Thanksgiving, we tend to choose pumpkin.

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