9 Southern foods you must try

The heat is on down South this summer, when seasonal dishes emerge on plates as fast as fat red tomatoes ripen on the vine. Southern chefs, cooks, and diners relish the fresh flavors of the fertile growing season, whether from the garden or the sea. We've gathered nine dishes that will leave you hungry for more, so pick up your fork and order a sweet tea. It's going to be a tasty summer.

Barbecue

In the Deep South, barbecue is a noun, not a verb. Pitmasters slow-cook succulent meats over wood fires and the smoky aroma lures like the Pied Piper's song, drawing the hungry to claim a plate of pulled pork, ribs, and brisket. The best way to pick a fight down South is to claim that one style of barbecue is better than another, and pitmasters vie for bragging rights as the king of 'cue at competitions across the region. Barbecue changes in different areas, from North Carolina's tangy vinegar-based sauce to South Carolina's mustardy sauce, from Alabama's thick red sauce to Memphis' finger-licking dry rub. Give Southerners a summer holiday—be it the 4th of July, Labor Day, or any other—and they'll celebrate it with barbecue.

Where to Go: How do you find a good barbecue joint? Easy. Look for two ingredients: smoke rising out of the chimney, and pickup trucks and Cadillacs side by side in the parking lot. A top spot is Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, Alabama. Here you'll see trophies from past Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contests and tables topped with bottles of the porcine palace's signature tangy white sauce. In North Carolina, tart coleslaw is piled on top of pulled pork and placed in between a soft bun at Lexington Barbecue (known as "The Honey Monk" by locals), the granddaddy eatery in a region known for its barbecue. Over in Memphis, pitmasters produce tender pork ribs either "wet" with a rich red sauce or "dry" with a spicy rub. While you could spend a week sampling all the different ribs in town, cut the chase short and start at Interstate Barbecue, one of Memphis' finest.

Peaches

Nothing tastes like a sweet peach grown down South. The crop starts tempting appetites in June and carries into July and August. While Georgia is nicknamed "The Peach State," South Carolina actually grows more peaches, and Alabama's Chilton County gets into the action, too. You know you're in peach country when you see a water tower painted like a ripened peach—and all three states have one. That's when it's time to pull off the highway and bite into a ripe peach from a roadside stand, or do as the locals do and get a cup of peach ice cream or a slice of peach pie for a sweet taste of summer.

Where to Go: South Carolina's best peaches grow along Highway 11 on the western edge of the state. Stop off near Chesnee at the Cooley family's Strawberry Hill USA farm. They've been cutting their "top of the hill" fruit into ice cream for more than 60 years. In Georgia, drop by Lane Southern Orchards, off I-75 south of Macon in Fort Valley, where you can tour the farm, shop in the store for jams and breads, and enjoy the famous peach cobbler and peach ice cream. A couple of dueling peach stands sit across from one another on I-65 in Clanton, Alabama, which means fresh fruit at both Peach Park and Durbin Farms.

Fried green tomatoes

This coated and fried veggie dish is as ubiquitous in the South as double first names and drawled accents. While some say it wasn't invented down South, the dish has been recognized as a Southern staple from Virginia to Texas ever since Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe was published in 1987. Historians say fried green tomatoes likely originated with Midwesterners looking for a way to use the hard, green fruit, and the recipe probably moved into the South in the 1920s and '30s. Nowadays, the sliced treats are dished up everywhere from meat and threes (restaurants that serve the customer's choice of an entree and three sides) to candlelit destination restaurants.

Where to Go: Look for a simple cornmeal version at the Irondale Cafe, where Fannie Flagg grew up, just outside of Birmingham. Over in Atlanta's Midtown, Mary Mac's Tea Room is known for its rendition. A great way to spice up a BLT is to use a fried green tomato, like they do at Sundae Cafe, an ice cream parlor serving an ambitious menu on Tybee Island near Savannah. In Savannah's Historic District, the dish is embellished at The Olde Pink House with applewood bacon in a sweet corn cream.

Boiled peanuts

Nicknamed "goober peas," boiled green peanuts start showing up on roadsides in July and August during the peanut harvest (though you can find them in grocery refrigerators in the South year-round). The practice of boiling vats of leftover peanuts, too small and green to roast, in their shells in salty water was likely brought by slaves from Africa. Peel them hot for a savory treat, or drop the peeled nuts into slender bottles of Coca-Cola.

Where to Go: Look for pickup trucks selling boiled peanuts on the sides of highways in South Carolina, Georgia, northern Florida, and Alabama. South Carolina has proclaimed boiled peanuts the state snack, and you can find them at the South Carolina State Farmers Market in West Columbia, Freeman Produce Stand on Johns Island near Charleston, and Geechie Boy Market & Mill on Edisto Island.

Soft-shell crabs

Southerners love fresh seafood pulled from the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. In summer, warm waters signal blue crabs to molt their shells and grow new, larger ones. "You only have 45 minutes or so to harvest the crabs before the shells begin to harden again," says Micha Daniels, whose family operates the Wanchese Fish Company on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Because it lacks a shell, you can eat the entire crab, even the claws. Soft-shell season is dependent on weather, so look for the crustaceans on eatery menus along the coasts this month.

Where to Go: Fisherman's Wharf Restaurant, perched above Wanchese Fish Company, dishes up the Daniels family's catch with a view of the docks. Over in Lafayette, Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico soft-shell crabs take on a Cajun slant at Jolie's Louisiana Bistro. Try the pan-fried soft-shell with Tabasco-herb butter along with a fresh seafood cassoulet that points to the region's Acadian heritage.

Fried chicken

Whether picnicking with an elegant wicker basket, china, and silver under a leafy oak tree or on paper plates on a park bench, the Southerner's summer entree of choice is fried chicken. Down South, fried chicken has moved beyond grab-and-go fast-food joints: You can now find golden, crispy chicken atop waffles and spicy-hot renditions that will burn your lips in high-brow white-tablecloth establishments. Just be sure to accompany yours with a tall glass of sweet tea and plenty of napkins.

Where to Go: Nashville is ground zero for the hot-chicken craze. Prince's Hot Chicken created the dish that's been picked up by spots such as Pepperfire and 400 Degrees. Not all fried chicken requires a glass of milk to cool you off: In Raleigh, North Carolina, Ashley Christensen, chef at Beasley's Chicken + Honey, drizzles honey over exquisitely fried breasts, legs, and thighs atop waffles and pairs it all with glasses of bubbly.

Tamales

The Mississippi Delta is known for its tamales, soft pillows of savory cornmeal or masa embracing spicy meat concoctions. Tamales were likely brought to the Delta by soldiers marching home from the Spanish-American War, and again by migrant workers in the early 20th century. Mississippians have put their own Southern touches on the dish: Some use traditional corn husks, others use parchment for wrapping. Some serve fat tamales drenched in sauce and cheese like an enchilada, others hand-roll little tamale fingers that can be eaten in three bites. Pork is the typical filling, but beef, chicken, and turkey also show up.

Where to Go: In Clarksdale, head to The Ranchero, and in Cleveland, to Stewart's Quick Mart. Teeny-tiny town Sledge dishes up tamales at Ervin's Hot Tamales, as does Scott's Hot Tamales in Greenville. Most fans agree that the best tamales in the Delta sit across the Mississippi River in Lake Village, Arkansas, at Rhoda's Famous Hot Tamales. Set next to the railroad tracks in a little white shack, Rhoda's has been serving pork tamales for more than 50 years alongside greens, peas, corn, and some of the best pecan pie anywhere.

Key lime pie

Tiny key limes are actually yellow when ripe, as is the pie that carries their name. The creamy dessert crowns many menus in Florida with its sweet and tangy flavor. Biting into a cool slice at the end of a summer's day is as natural as watching the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico. Created in Key West in the late 19th century, the pie isn't baked. Sweetened condensed milk, key lime juice, and egg yolks set together into a crust that can be anything from chocolate to graham cracker to pastry.

Where to Go: The most authentic key lime pie is still served in the Florida Keys. Kermit's Key West Key Lime Shoppe, Blue Heaven Restaurant, and the Key Largo Conch House all make delicious versions.

Shrimp and grits

It all started at breakfast, when a bowl of grits was topped with quickly sauteed fresh shrimp in the Low Country around Charleston. Shrimp and grits has since spread all over the Southern coasts—wherever shrimp is easy to harvest and corn is grown—and as far west as New Orleans and Houston. The Low Country version is creamy and mild, while to the west, the dish gets a spicy kick. No longer just a staple of breakfast menus, it's also popular for lunch and even dinner.

Where to Go: Charleston's Hominy Grill dishes up a traditional version—sauteed shrimp with scallions, mushrooms, and bacon over cheese grits—in a clapboard house in the Historic District. Shrimp and grits puts on French airs at the famed Highlands Bar and Grill, Birmingham's landmark restaurant, where chef Frank Stitt adds tasso ham to his creamy sauce. Along the square in Oxford, Mississippi, City Grocery pumps up the flavor with spicy cheese grits. By the time the recipe lands outside of New Orleans, it comes with plump smoked andouille sausage at John Besh's La Provence on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Lacombe.

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