From Azaleas to Zydeco: My 4,600-Mile Journey through the South

Jerusalem Artichokes and Robert Kennedy

Jerusalem Artichokes and Robert Kennedy The ambient temperature changes dramatically where the Carolina Piedmont gives way to the Appalachian Mountains. It is estimated that temperature changes three degrees for every thousand feet of elevation change. So Greenville, which sits at about a thousand feet above sea level, is much hotter and more humid than the mountain towns as close as forty miles away because the nearby mountain towns sit over 3,000 feet above sea level. In early spring, when it’s pleasantly warm in Greenville, the mountains are chilly. In July and August, when Greenville reaches 100 degrees with plenty of humidity, the dry, cooler mountain air is a welcome respite. The Blythe Shoals Produce store stands in the shadows of the mountains , a few miles from Caesar’s Head State Park. A former gas station, it has signage that advertises “Produce, Homemade Can Goods and Boiled Peanuts”—what a place. The sign outside doesn’t even begin to describe the food inside. Walking up to the store, even the untrained eye can tell that Blythe Shoals Produce isn’t a tourist establishment. The owner was out front talking with a friend and just waved as I walked from my car and into the store. To say he was casually dressed would be an understatement. He was wearing an old plaid shirt and cuffed blue jeans that needed to 104 be washed. His face hadn’t seen a razor blade for a few days. I followed him inside the store and started looking around. Boiled peanuts, known as “Piedmont caviar,” are sold here. Besides boiled (pronounced “bawled”), there were also roasted or fried peanuts. I’d never heard of fried peanuts. Lucky for me the owner’s friend left and he wandered in to see how I was doing. The owner introduced himself. He spoke with a classic southern drawl and gave me his name, a classic “cracker” name, Lester Galloway. Since I was the only customer around, I peppered Lester with questions. Frying peanuts in their shell lends credence to the notion that southerners will fry anything. However, as Lester explained, the nut itself doesn’t get fried in the process, just the shell. He offered me a handful and said they’re a real treat: “Jes pop ’em in yo mouth, shell and all. If’n you don’t eat the shell, fyin ’em ain’t worth it.” Lester continued to explain that fried peanuts are a low country delicacy brought to the Hill Country by tourists. “The first time I saw dem people from Chaarlston popping them things in—shell and all—I thought they dun come from goats.” Besides peanuts, Blythe Shoals Produce carries all types of canned goods: pear butter, sweet potato butter, very berry butter, peach jelly, muscadine jelly, banana strawberry jelly—and that’s just listing items from a small portion of two of the five shelves of canned goods that Lester carries. One jar simply said, “Pumpkin.” I asked if it was a type of jelly and Lester patiently replied, “No it’s just pumpkin; the parts you want if you were to make pumpkin pie.” He also carries a full line of pork rinds—plain, sour cream-n-onion, and vinegar-n-salt. He has ciders to drink—apple, blueberry, and the ever favorite muscadine. The brittles were my favorite—peanut, cashew, and bee. “Bee brittle?” I asked. “Yeah, dey’s got honey in ’em. Real good, too. You ought to try ’em.” So I did. The rest of the afternoon, I munched on a bag of fried peanuts and bee brittle. Munched to excess, I should mention. Fried peanuts are addictive. But I’m getting ahead of myself. After I bought my provisions, Lester gave me a tour of his establishment—out front he has empty wooden shelving for the vegetables—“too early for ’em now.” Over to one side, he showed me a wooden box on the ground with a wire bottom where he had been 105 working as I arrived. I asked what those little brown root-like things were. He said, “Thay’s Jerusalem artichokes. Ain’t you ever seen Jerusalem artichokes afore?” I replied that I had not ever heard of them, let alone seen them before, and that I had no idea what they were. He explained that they weren’t real artichokes but tubers, like Irish potatoes. “It’s a health...