The best way to get to know Mississippi is by taking a road trip. From the haunting Delta flatlands near the Tennessee border to the glitzy resorts along the Gulf, you’ll find culinary treasures that offer unexpected glimpses of the Magnolia State’s rich culture beyond the batter-fried stereotypes.
Follow the tamale trail
Catfish may be the food most often associated with Mississippi. But, lately, another specialty grown from the soil that birthed King Cotton and the blues has been hogging the spotlight.
The hot tamale is a Mississippi original, rarely seen beyond the state’s borders. Made by artisans who guard their recipes, these moist cylinders of cornmeal dough encase a ribbon of chili-spiced meat, with the whole package wrapped in corn husk or parchment slicked with savory juices. Unlike their Latin counterparts, they are simmered in big pots of water, rather than steamed, and served with saltine crackers and bottled hot sauce on the side. Often, they are accompanied by little plastic cups of leftover filling or aromatic juice from the pot.
All over the state — especially in the Mississippi Delta, where they are believed to have originated — hot tamales are sold at roadside stands, soul food cafes, barbecue joints and full-service restaurants. Mississippians are loyal to their favorite vendors, who typically learned the skill by helping their parents and grandparents.
"I am not exaggerating when I say tamales were the first solid foods I ever ate and I still eat … a lot of them," said New Orleans-based writer Julia Reed, one of the chief organizers of the Delta Hot Tamale Festival, which draws about 10,000 visitors annually to her hometown of Greenville (Main Street Greenville, 503 Washington Ave., Greenville, Miss. 662-378-3121, hottamalefest.com, @DeltaHotTamale).
The festival, which takes place this year Oct. 15-17, started in 2012, the same year the city was officially designated the Hot Tamale Capital of the World. Festivities include a parade, contests for tamale cooking and eating, the crowning of Miss Hot Tamale, arts and crafts, local music, a street party and a literary-culinary mash-up with talks involving renowned chefs and writers — many with Mississippi roots.
The hot tamale is a great starting point for a lively discussion. Its origins are a bit sketchy, but the most popular theory is that Mexican migrant laborers who came to the Delta to pick cotton brought them into the fields in their lunch pails. At some point, the African-American sharecroppers got a taste, and in turn created their own versions, using the cornmeal, pork and lard they had on hand. Some began selling them from pushcarts on street corners. They sang about them in blues songs, most notably Robert Johnson’s iconic 1936 recording, ‘They’re Red Hot.’
In time, folks of all races and social classes were eating them. At Doe's Eat Place (502 Nelson St., Greenville, Miss. 662-334-3315, doeseatplace.com), tamales have been a menu staple, along with fat Porterhouse steaks, for most of the restaurant's nearly 75-year history. Prominent politicians and journalists became acquainted with Doe's and its famous tamales during the turbulent 1960s and '70s civil rights movement.
In Vicksburg, Solly's Hot Tamales (1921 Washington St., Vicksburg. 601-636-2020, sollystamales.com) abides by the same spicy formula developed by Henry Solly in 1939. In more recent years, though, they have added some variations, like the Fiesta, which they describe as "the taco salad of the tamale world."
Because they are so difficult to replicate, tamales remained obscure outside the region until about a decade ago. That's when Amy Evans, an oral historian with the University of Mississippi-based Southern Foodways Alliance, launched the Hot Tamale Trail (tamaletrail.com), an interactive map with oral histories of tamale makers. The SFA, a nonprofit research group affiliated with the university's Center for Southern Studies, counts many well-known food journalists among its membership, and it did not take long for them to embark on their own explorations and spread the word.
"The Hot Tamale Trail helped us define one of our state's major culinary assets," said Visit Mississippi director Malcolm White, whose popular Jackson restaurant and bar, Hal and Mal's (200 Commerce St., Jackson, Miss. 601-948-0888, halandmals.com, @Halandmals) has offered tamales (now with black bean filling as well as meat) by the same vendor from the Delta for 30 years. "Visitors seek out our unique cultural blend of tamales because they can't get them anywhere else but here."
Just north of Greenville, in Rosedale, you'll find a Mississippi Blues Trail Marker dedicated to the hot tamale and its lyrical references in blues music. The marker stands in front of the White Front Cafe (902 Main St., Rosedale, Miss. 662-759-3842), also known by locals as Joe's Hot Tamale Place, ranked by many connoisseurs as the best tamale joint in the region.
For some authentic sounds to go with your tamales, make sure to include Ground Zero Blues Club (0 Blues Alley, Clarksdale, Miss. 662-621-9009, groundzerobluesclub.com, @GZBClub) in your itinerary. Co-owned by actor and native son Morgan Freeman, this refurbished former cotton grading warehouse, in the heart of the town known as the cradle of the blues, has been a magnet for music lovers seeking authentic live blues for more than a decade.
It also boasts a full-service menu of local flavors, including tamales by Larry Turner, a local vendor who also serves them at his storefront, Larry's Hot Tamales (947 Sunflower Ave., Clarksdale, Miss. 662-592-4245.)
While tamales are typically tied with twine in bundles of three and served on paper plates, they also turn up on white tablecloths. At Giardina's, the flagship restaurant of the plush Alluvian Hotel (314 Howard St., Greenwood, Miss. 662-454-4227, thealluvian.com, @thealluvian), tamales appear — unshucked — as an appetizer to pricey steak and seafood entrees. A parade of well-heeled patrons from all over have gotten their first taste of the Mississippi Delta here, including cast members of "The Help," who spent months in Greenwood when the movie was filmed in 2010. The Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau (greenwoodms.com) offers "The Help" tour maps, along with tamale guidance.
Learning about a legend in Indianola
Riley B. King was a teenager when he hitchhiked from the Mississippi Delta cotton fields to Memphis and became known as the “Beale Street Blues Boy” — B.B. for short. Yet, even after winning 14 Grammys, King never forgot his roots. For more than three decades, he returned to this timeworn town to perform a benefit concert for the locals.
In 2008, that homecoming celebration drew national attention with the unveiling of the $14 million B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center (400 2nd St., Indianola, Miss. 662-887-9539, bbkingmuseum.org, @BBKingMuseum), with state-of-the-art multimedia exhibits chronicling his life and career within the context of the region's turbulent civil rights history. King, who died last May, is buried on the museum grounds.
Don't leave Indianola without a fix of authentic Southern hospitality at the Crown (112 Front St., Indianola, Miss. 662-887-4522, thecrownrestaurant.com), a charming family-run cafe and gift shop a few blocks from the museum in the business district that celebrates the Delta's most famous homegrown food product: catfish.
Rather than deep-fried with hush puppies, the Crown specializes in catfish dishes with a twist, such as Creole catfish and a rich, cheese-topped casserole called Catfish Allison. Nonfishy sandwiches and salads are prepared with just as much care. Be sure to save room for dessert. Each day, bite-size samples of six traditional Southern pies are offered on an antique table in the middle of the restaurant, along with pavlova and English trifle.
Tracing Elvis to Tupelo
The king of rock 'n' roll died in a mansion in Memphis, but his life began in a two-room clapboard house in Tupelo. The Elvis Presley Birthplace (306 Elvis Presley Drive, Tupelo, Miss. 662-841-1245, elvispresleybirthplace.com) is the centerpiece of the 15-acre Elvis Presley Park, which includes other exhibits, such as Elvis' childhood church, where a multimedia presentation re-creates a 1940s Assembly of God Pentecostal Church service, complete with music of a gospel choir.
If you're hungry for a farm-fresh taste of north Mississippi hill country, head over to the Neon Pig (1203 N. Glouster St., Tupelo, Miss. 662-269-2533, neonpig.net), a small cafe and bar with a butcher shop where chefs Mitchell McCamey and Seth Copeland break down local cows, pigs, lambs and chickens, and cure many of their own meats. Produce is homegrown, too. Thrillist.com recently deemed its Smashburger the best burger in the nation. Aged filet, sirloin, rib-eye and Benton's bacon is rough-ground, griddled and served on a ciabatta bun with creative condiments. Asian-style buns and healthy salads are also on the menu.
The chefs serve an expanded menu at their newer sister restaurant, Kermit's Outlaw Kitchen (124 W. Main St., Tupelo, Miss. 662-620-6622, kermitsoutlawkitchen.com). A second Neon Pig location is scheduled to open in nearby Oxford, home of the University of Mississippi, later this fall.
Art lovers drawn to Ocean Springs
Casinos may be the backbone of the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s tourist economy these days, but a magnet for art lovers can be found near Biloxi’s gambling mecca.
This vibrant cottage community filled with galleries, local shops and eclectic restaurants is home to Walter Anderson, one of Mississippi's most renowned artists, whose distinctive coastal-inspired watercolors, block prints, sculptures and writings are housed in the Walter Anderson Museum of Art (510 Washington Ave., Ocean Springs, Miss. 228-872-3164. walterandersonmuseum.org, @WAMA_tweets), which anchors the tree-shaded downtown.
A short walk away is the Shearwater Pottery workshop and showroom (102 Shearwater Drive, Ocean Springs, Miss. 228-875-7320, shearwaterpottery.com), founded in 1928 by Peter Anderson. His brothers Walter and James joined the business, and later their children and grandchildren, who carry on the pottery tradition today. The Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival (peterandersonfestival.com) attracts more than 150,000 attendees each November.
Naturally, seafood dishes of every ilk abound in Ocean Springs, but one of the most beloved local culinary traditions is the Tato-Nut Donut Shop (1114 Government St., Ocean Springs, Miss. 228-872-2076, tatonut.com) a quirky little storefront famous for its ethereal doughnuts (made of potato flour) and gourmet espresso coffees, hot and iced. Lines out the door are ever present, and they often sell out — sometimes by lunchtime.
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