I’ve lived in Mississippi for almost 4 years now and there are still some things that I just can’t comprehend. Mostly I love the laid back way of life and southern hospitality. I love the charming small town feel of a lot of places in this great state. Other things, I don’t get. At all.
Here in the South people eat a lot of chicken. And by a lot of chicken, I mean A LOT of chicken. There are all you can eat chicken buffets and fried chicken is on virtually every menu in every restaurant across the state. I like fried chicken, but it’s like a staple down here. We have Church’s, Popeye’s, Chic Fil-A, and Kentucky Fried Chicken just to name a few. And fried chicken can be purchased in most gas stations in the state. Some might even say the gas station chicken is the best fried chicken. I wouldn’t know, but I’ve heard rumors.
People here have never heard of quinoa, kale or kumbachu but they eat things called chitlins, cracklins and pork rinds, which are pig intestines, pig skin and pig fat. Chicken livers and gizzards are also big here. Fried of course. Can you say um, um good? Yeah, neither can I.
But, here’s a major bonus, here in the South they have this delicious thing called King Cake. I’d only heard of King Cakes, I’d never had one. They are ah-ma-zing!!!
And here’s something interesting, the entire town of Vicksburg closes down after Christmas for hunting season. Yup, that’s right. If your heating unit breaks down in January, you’re screwed until February. Businesses just shut their doors for an entire month. It’s weird.
And, holidays will be moved if MSU is playing UM or Alabama (oh, I’m sorry ‘Bama) or Louisiana or Texas or – well – anybody. You heard me correctly, holidays will be moved to accommodate the football schedule. The first year we lived here we carved our pumpkins, lit the candles and sat on the front porch with a big bowl of candy only to have nobody show up. We later found out that Halloween had been moved to Friday night instead of Saturday because of “the game.” Say what? You can’t move Halloween.
And, here’s the real kicker for me, people here only read “real literature,” like Faulkner and Welty yet they say things like y’all and fixin’ to, which are the epitome of well-read vocabularies right? It makes no sense.
It just goes to show, we’re not in Kansas any more.
How about you? Anything weird that’s associated with your “hood” that others might find strange? Have you experienced culture shock? Would you eat chitlins or cracklins? Come on, I want to know for real.
Word of the day: Botryoidal
Fun fact about me: I have yet to eat at a Popeye’s even though everyone says it’s “to die for.”
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, January 2019. Images by Pexels, Google Images and Giphly.
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jansenschmidt 
Interesting post. We moved from Pennsylvania to North Carolina many years ago and found much the same things you mention. The next chitlin’ I eat will be my first.
The hardest thing for us was realizing that in the south, everyone wants to be friendly, but very few want to be friends. So many families in the south have kinfold around that most all of their social time is spent with kin. The people you make friends with are usually other displaced out of staters.
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Al, you hit the nail directly on the head with this: “. . . everyone wants to be friendly, but very few want to be friends.” I’ve been here almost 4 years and I don’t feel like I have any real friends. I’m “not from around here,” so it’s hard to break in to the coveted inner sanctum of southern friendship.
Thanks for sharing. I hope you have a whole bunch of friends where you’re at now. I know I sure miss my friends from California.
Patricia
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Mississippi sounds a LOT like Nebraska! When my grandparents were alive, we used to spend some time there every summer, and let me tell you, those Cornhuskers are devoted fans. And everything’s fried. I was tricked into eating friend rocky mountain oysters. I’ll pass on the chitlins and cracklin’s, thanks. 🙂 I think Nebraska folk might be more well-rounded in their reading though…I remember my cousins had tons of comic books. I missed the selection of my normal food, but it was always great to visit another land. *snicker*
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I’ve traveled through Nebraska but never spent any time there. I do remember though, from a long time ago, that after we first moved to California (from Minnesota) we used to go back and visit almost every year. One time when we were there we offered to fix tacos for dinner. NOBODY knew how to make tacos. They were so impressed that we could MAKE tacos. In order to get tacos in Minnesota (at that time) you had to go to a Mexican restaurant because those were the only folks who “knew” how to make tacos. People are strange in their own little corners of the world huh?
And we have everything fried don’t here too. Everything.
Thanks for sharing your food story. Rocky Mountain oysters are definitely on my “I don’t need to try those” list.
Patricia
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Popeyes IS good. I love the food customs. Up here in North Central Wisconsin they have Friday fish lunch and supper. It is fixed in many different ways and always good. The South does have so many different foods that I had to try every year we went to Fan Fair for Kevin Sharp’s booth. We ate at several different places and tried a recipe that was new to us. I have family in Louisiana and find some of their recipes different from we eat, but that is what makes us all different.
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I love the diversity as well but eating fried pig fat is not something I need to try. I’ll try gumbo and etouffee and other cuisine but fried stuff, especially guts, is not high on my list of yummy stuff.
Thanks for sharing. It’s always so nice to see you. I hope you’re staying warm up there.
Patricia
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I had to look up “King cake” so obviously, it’s not a thing in southwest OH. One thing weird (as in, different) about where we’re moving, is that they don’t have townships in Tennessee. In OH, unincorporated areas of counties are divided into townships, which offer Fire/EMS, and sometimes have their own police dept. In TN, Fire/EMS is either provided on a paid subscription, or in some unincorporated areas, a volunteer service. There is the latter where we’re building, so we’ll definitely be making a donation on our next trip there! Game days are like you describe – Knoxville practically shuts down when the Vols are playing!
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Well that is very interesting about the emergency services being on a paid subscription. I’ve never even heard of that. So, if you don’t pay, you won’t get help? Or how does that work for the very poor? I understand about the volunteer positions but the subscription option seems odd.
King cake is quite good. Especially the filled ones. I like the apple and the Bavarian cream ones. Try it if you ever get the chance. They are very popular around Mardi Gras.
Thanks for stopping by. It’s interesting to hear about how other people do things in their worlds.
Patricia
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What’s not to like about fried chicken? Especially gizzards. Have you tried them? They’re wonderful. We don’t do chitlins and some of those other things in Texas, though – at least I haven come across them in my 70 years or so of living here.
Never heard of a king cake until I read this. I googled it and discovered that one of our oldest and best known bakeries indeed makes them. I doubt that I’ll run over there to buy one, though.
Not sure whether or not I’ve ever seen a botryoidal. Not that I’ve ever looked for any of them.
Hope you’re feeling good these days, Patricia.
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Oh, don’t get me wrong David, I LIKE fried chicken. And fried catfish, and fried prawns and other fried food. What I find interesting is that you rarely get a non-fried option. For instance if you want a chicken breast sandwich, you’re getting it fried not grilled. Even sushi a lot of times will have fried shrimp inside instead of raw shrimp. It’s weird.
Yes, I’ve eaten a chicken gizzard, and liver, and cow tongue. My mother used to cook all those organ meats when I was a kid. As an adult, I refuse to eat them. I just think it’s gross to eat guts. To each his own.
I hope some day you’ll try King Cake if you ever get the chance. It’s quite good.
Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you enjoy the rest of your week.
Patricia
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1. I love fried chicken, but I do not like Popeye’s chicken.
2. I have not, nor will I ever, eat chitlins or cracklins, but I have eaten pork rinds. They’re okay, but they certainly aren’t my go-to snack.
3. I love king cakes but never had one until about five or six years ago—and I’ve lived in Mississippi all my life. Mardi Gras was never mentioned in my circles while I was growing up. I know, go figure.
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Well it just goes to show, being from the South apparently doesn’t make you an expert on Southern cuisine. Thanks for your input.
I also really like fried chicken, and there are some really good fried chicken places here in the South. I also have had pork rinds, but I don’t care for them (nor does my cholesterol). I’m surprised you’d never heard of King Cakes. Although, from what I’m learning, they are actually a creation of France so . . . perhaps that French influence down in Louisiana started the whole King Cake craze.
Anyway, thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts. It’s always nice to hear the opinions of others. All comments are welcome.
Have a great rest of the week.
Patricia
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