South Carolina Ping
Posted on 02/13/2005 1:43:27 PM PST by foolscap
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) -- When Becky Cleaveland is out with her girlfriends, they all pick at salads except for the petite Atlanta woman. She tackles "The Hamdog."
The dish, a specialty of Mulligan's, a suburban bar, is a hot dog wrapped by a beef patty that's deep fried, covered with chili, cheese and onions and served on a hoagie bun. Oh yeah, it's also topped with a fried egg and two fistfuls of fries.
"The owner says I'm the only girl who can eat a whole one without flinching," Cleaveland said proudly.
Amid a national obesity epidemic and the South's infamous distinction as the "Stroke Belt," health officials have been trying to get diners to flinch, at least a little, at the region's trademark fried and fatty foods.
But nutritionists have found it's hard to teach an old region new tricks. How can Southerners give up delicious staples fried chicken, fried seafood, fried green tomatoes and cornbread slathered in butter?
Even at the Atlanta headquarters of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the leader of the nation's anti-obesity campaign, the cafeteria serves up such artery-clogging regional favorites as biscuits and gravy.
CDC nutritionist Annie Carr said the agency is working to get its house in order by pushing the cafeteria to serve popular foods in healthy ways. The broader goals of the anti-obesity campaign are to educate people to cook with less fat and sugar and to promote the idea of eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
And for the South, that doesn't mean vegetables and greens flavored with bacon and meat drippings
"I don't think anything is wrong with the kind of vegetables we eat in the South - it's the way they are prepared," said former Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, the interim president of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, who grew up eating traditional Southern staples on a farm in Alabama. "We need more fruits and vegetables in our diet."
Health officials' concerns with healthy eating in the South date back to 1962, when the CDC noted a large concentration of counties with high stroke death rates in the coastal states of North and South Carolina and Georgia. More than three decades later, the high stroke rates in that region seem to have shifted west to counties along the Mississippi River Delta.
Health officials have spent thousands of dollars on grants to promote healthy eating, including sending nutritionists into community centers and churches. The food experts introduce healthier cooking practices, such as alternatives to frying and methods that reduce the fat in gravy and sauces. But those efforts have found resistance from some cooks who say the healthier recipes alter the taste of their dishes.
"Flavor is a big issue - when you modify Southern cooking, then you lose a lot of the flavor," said Laurita Burley, a clinical nutrition instructor at the Morehouse School of Medicine. "The reputation of the Southern cook is at risk when you begin to modify it."
Much of the South's traditional foods date back to the days of slavery. Frying was preferable in the region's hot climate, since it didn't take as long as baking and didn't heat up a house as much. Plus, Burley said, workers didn't have all day to prepare meals; they had to get back into the fields to work. Lard was also plentiful. Today, frying still is popular, especially in poor areas of the South, because it is also inexpensive.
While it's quick, easy and adds flavor, frying loads ordinarily healthy foods with calories and fat.
"One of the common things in the South is that you fry everything," said Dr. Nicholas Lang, chief of staff of the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System in Little Rock. "It's a major grease-transport mechanism - there's no idea how much calories you get when you get that."
Other research has found that frying, grilling and smoking certain foods can cause chemical reactions within the food that can increase the risk of cancer.
"The best advice is to fry less and to eat their meat medium rather than well-done - and do like their momma said and add vegetables," said Lang, also a professor of surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Back at Mulligan's in Decatur, owner Chandler Goff is quick to point out that the bar also offers healthy alternatives, such as salads and sandwiches that aren't deep-fried.
But he acknowledged that the "Hamdog" and the "Luther Burger," a bacon-cheeseburger served on a Krispy Kreme doughnut bun, are what draw attention.
As for Cleaveland, she says she doesn't think about cholesterol. "I probably should, but I do not. I'm only 25, maybe later." For now, she's able to maintain her 5-foot-7, 115-pound physique without regular exercise.
Regardless of age, Lang doesn't recommend the Hamdog, even as a one-time snack.
"If you choke that down, you might as well find a heart surgeon because you are going to need one."
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I don't see what's so bad about dying doing the things you love. If I'm eating spinach when I'm 99, I'll wish I was dead.
I don't see what's so bad about dying doing the things you love. If I'm eating spinach when I'm 99, I'll wish I was dead.
Maybe you get it from here because the divers discover they can't see their hands in front of their masks in the Gulf. (Great shrimp, mucky water)
I'm not sure if you have ver traveled up North but it is a whole different ball game up here.
'Bout as far north as Colorado, that was it. I really wouldn't mind a visit up North for the scenery and the history, but like you, I love my state and have no intention of permanently living anywhere else ever again.
I am like a minority in Mass.
You have my sympathy. Nothing more frustrating to a rational person than trying to have a rational conversation with an IRrational person!
As for the Yankee bashing, I like it. It's funny,
If you want to see bashing, go to Colorado and tell them your a Texan....Yeehaw, the stuff hits the fan! (Although I have to admit I heard the BEST Texan jokes there.)
As for the food thing, it is out of control.
I agree. Like you, I smoke, and told all the Nico Nazis that they would not be laughing when they came after fats, sugars, etc. Now they just nod & tell me I was right.
WHY do they always 'listen' after the fact?
Seriously, one of my dive partners and I light up all the time at the beaches just to see the hatred in their eyes, LOL!
Good for you. Conservatives are just too quiet when libs use our rights for doormats, bout time we practice a little 'civil disobedience' of our own!
but it is therapeutic for me to talk to Texans.
We do tend to have that affect on people, maybe because we're just not in any big hurry to rush through life!
Just ping me if you should want another Southern Therapy Session! :)
Right on. All foods are good and mean a lot when they are specialties of our familes and where we grew up. I say eat sensibly and exercise and enjoy your backgrounds.
Enough of these big brothers looking down our throats. It's none of their darned business. And...I HOPE I don't hear a lot about being responsible and all that nonsense. AFter all, what about the drinkers, smokers, drug users, etc...who abuse things?
For years, the elected coroner in a small South Georgia county was a vet.
"Yeah, this man definitely died of heartworm!"
Thanks! I'll give it a try the next time I drag out the fryer.
~Breaded and fried catfish, freedom fries, a thick slice of raw vidalia onion, lemon (fresh), tartar sauce, and hushpuppies washed down with sweet tea and lemon icebox pie for dessert. It just doesn't get any better than that! HE he he!!~
Forgot the white beans...yum, yum! (I'd probably sub peach cobbler for the icebox pie).
I used to get a HUGE plate at Fran's Diner in Columbia, MO after the bars closed for $1.25 and they were AWESOME.
Someone please help, I'm in STL and Fran's is gone anyway.
I could make a MEAL outta fried okra - but I want it fried crispy with corn meal, no egg! LOL!
Mama's Revenge!! LOL!!
Works great on dorm roomates who steal your food too! LOL!!
Hey Sarge & WUAV - does your mama cook this??
CDC nutritionist Annie Carr SHOULD MIND HER OWN BUSINESS!
The one non-southern thing about my food tastes are that I don't do greens (collard, turnip, mustard, etc) or lima beans.
Yep, you can get an AMAZING amount of ex-lax in even a small batch of Texas Brownies!
Mmmmm!!! What time's dinner??
My mom did pear halves with shredded cheddar cheese on top!
I had several fried "cheddarwurst" sausages on Hot dog buns with mustard.Washed it down with a Widmere brothers Hefe Wiezen, that's an unfiltered wheat beer for the un initiated.BTW the "ham dog" looked good to me until they added the egg.
That's fine, except I'd prefer my Vidalia onion rings FRIED! ;o)
You betcha!!
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