Posted on 01/30/2002 10:41:25 AM PST by aomagrat
Sweet tea, as one of the characters in the movie ''Steel Magnolias'' noted, is the house wine of the South.
It is what we drank when we cooled our houses with attic fans. As a teen-age hay hauler, I'd drink a jug a day.
When I sit around telling stories, that's what I drink, winter or summer.
I am the uncaped crusader for the preservation of the tradition, which is in trouble. Young people don't know how to make tea, and bottled liquid they call tea is sprouting like kudzu in stores.
Here is my tea pedigree:
I have consumed sweet tea at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House in Savannah, Ga., and at Crooks Corner in Chapel Hill, N.C., where you sweeten your tea with a concoction of mint and sugar water. I have drunk sweet tea with George Wallace.
My sweet-tea crusade developed in a roundabout way in 1993 after I spent a day picking Silver Queen corn in south Alabama. I, sweaty and dirty, went to a catfish joint and ordered a glass of tea to go. The cashier brought a full pitcher and set me in a rocking chair on the porch. I felt obliged to drink the entire pitcher.
I wrote about that woman's kind heart and proposed that sweet tea is much more than a drink. It's the memories of our grandmothers and Sunday lunch. It's a symbol of our hospitality. I invited readers to share a sweet tea memory. Readers rhapsodized.
We learned the importance of tea. My bosses at the Mobile, Ala., newspaper allowed me to sponsor a contest in which a panel selected the best sweet tea. The New York Times published a story about my crusade, which was followed by a story in Saveur, a fancy New York magazine. Then, Southern Living published a small story in which the writer proclaimed me a ``sweet-tea evangelist.''
In 1999, I took the crusade to Oklahoma. The battle there has been lost. To put Oklahomans in perspective, one day I was in a cafe in Hobart. After determining that sweet tea wasn't on the menu, I was happy to find that pinto beans were.
''You have any rice to put under those beans?'' I asked the waitress. She looked at me like I'd ordered a scoop of topsoil.
I have learned that the sugar you use matters. (You can't beat Dixie Crystals.) I use tea from a company in Mobile, which perfected a blend that is as clear after a night in the refrigerator as it is the moment you make it.
I haven't been to Cap'n Stanley's, but you can get pretty decent sweet tea at any Bojangles, Smithfield Barbecue, or even Golden Corral restaurants. Carolina BBQ (formerly Barbecue Lodge) in Garner has great sweet tea, as does Lancaster's BBQ in Raleigh. Wilbur's in Goldsboro is great, too. I tell you what. Just about any BBQ restaurant is going to have great sweet tea, although you might have to thin it out with a little water in some restaurants.
But, again, when my in-laws talk about going "down east" to their born-in homes - they are talking about Wayne County.
You're right about the BBQ places, but aside from BBQ Lodge - this has changed names? - I didn't think there was a decent BBQ place in Raleigh. Yes, "down East", there is fantastic BBQ pork at Wilbur's and at Parker's. Smithfield BBQ is ok - satisfactory - according to my hubby, the NC "down East" BBQ connoisseur of them all. Wilbur's and Parker's have THE BEST! And, of course, the sweet tea that goes with that BBQ.
People put too much sugar in tea. It's undrinkable. The tea at Stamey's in Greensboro is horrid and wretched. I've been drinking it for decades and it hasn't gotten better.
However I have found if the tea doesnt reach a certain temp, it wont last as long, also you have to remove the spigot assembly to get it really clean.
What I do when it isnt hot enough outside is bring a large pot of water (about 3/4 the jug capacity) to a boil, remove it from the heat, drop the teabag in and let it steep with a lid on for a l o n g time. Then after time is up, stir in 4 scoops of shugah (sweet, like me), add a tray of icecubes to it and pour thru a funnel back into the jug.
It lasts 2 days. :)
But she had the BEST sweet tea in the world. She lived in south Florida from the turn of the century.
Now that I have been drinking unsweet iced tea for all these years - sweet tea does seem sooooooo sweet. And, it can be totally sickeningly toooooo sweet.
But at Captain Stanley's and some of these BBQ places - on a hot summer's day - it is JUST right! (but only as a special treat pour moi)
Pender County - yes, that would be "down East" wouldn't it?
And don't you fix sweet tea the way your mom fixes it, too?
Yes, the Barbecue Lodge on Hwy 70 in Garner is now "Carolina Barbecue", although nothing else has really changed as far as I can tell, and it's still a cash only business. No checks or credit cards accepted.
Smithfield BBQ is definitely just a fast-food chain, but it's decent, and the tea is great.
Lancaster's is out on Capital Blvd. in Raleigh. It's the one with the little miniature replica of the building in front.
My co-worker from New York has "discovered" eastern NC BBQ and he prefers McCall's to Wilbur's in Goldsboro. I've never tried McCall's, so I can't say.
You must go to Captain Stanley's if you want good Seafood - it's on 401 S. before the split of the highway that goes part to Garner and part to Fuquay-Varina. There is usually a line out the door so get there early. Again, it is NOT FANCY - just bounteous seafood - fried or broiled - with the best sweet tea in Raleigh. (IMHO)
In North Raleigh - the place with the little house in front of it used to be Don Murray's BBQ - you say it's now Lancaster's?
And the Barbecur Lodge that I visited is in N. Raleigh - further out on Capital Blvd - I don't know if that is also now Carolina Barbecue or not - will check it out. Been awhile since been there.
McCall's is another one people swear by - but my hubby the expert thinks Wilbur's and Parker's are better.
Similar to my inlaws - who said that despite the "Great Depression" they never knew they were "poor". They weren't poor in love, they weren't poor in good homegrown food, and they were NEVER poor in missing out on good sweet tea!
Ever hear of the band Cravin' Melon? They have a song called Sweet Tea. Here are (some of) the lyrics:
Don't tempt me; I'm where I wanna be
Cause on the eighth day, God made sweet tea
Certain things in life I like to savor
Watchin' clouds and waitin' on the rain
If you ever question my behavior
Just a taste will make you feel the same ...
No - didn't know that song - but that line is definitely right on! :-)
Ha! I don't think I've ever heard that phrase outside the family - except for Jerry Clower or whoever came up with the phrase to begin with!
Most places around here offer sweet or unsweet. I feel for your health problems, but for REAL sweet tea, it has to be sweetened when it's HOT. That's why, in the South anyway, "sugar for those who want it" just doesn't work.
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