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| Sweet Auburn Curb Market/Photo by Atlanta Culinary Tours |
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| by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
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| Collards at Sweet Auburn Curb Market/Photo by Atlanta Culinary Tours |
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| Produce like these turnips is fresh from the farm at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
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| Ciao Boca meatball sandwich by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
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| One of my favorite signs at the market. by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
In
these days of nose to tail cooking, the market is the place to get
every porcine part, possibly even the oink. Other critter parts are
available at the market, signs that I just don't see at my neighborhood
Kroger. Not to be missed: a product new to me, rank meat, which
is aged salted pork fatback, used for seasoning with Southern
vegetables. That's right, a meat product marketed as "rank."
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| Signs at Sweet Auburn Curb Market by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
The Curb Market is a great place for ingredients and a meal. The market is set up food court style, with restaurants including Tilapia Express Seafood, home of outstanding fried fish. Metro Deli & Soul Food
is home to exactly that - soul food specialties such as spicy, tender
greens, the mac and cheese my kids wish I knew how to make; and crispy,
juicy fried chicken. If you're near downtown Atlanta, pull into the
parking lot adjacent to the market and be sure to get your parking
ticket validated by a vendor. The first 90 minutes are free - probably
the best parking deal in downtown.
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| Tilapia Express Seafood at Sweet Auburn Curb Market by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
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| Get a plate of Southern goodness at Metro Deli and Soul Food. By Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Barbecue fans take note: Sweet Auburn Barbecue just opened in the market.
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| Sweet Auburn Barbecue by Lucy MercerA A Cook and Her Books |
After
your soul food cravings are satisfied, check out some of the quirkier
items at the market, folk remedies such as this Georgia specialty: white dirt.
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| White dirt, a.k.a. kaolin, available at Sweet Auburn Curb Market. By Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
White
dirt is kaolin, a clay mined in South Georgia that has commercial
applications in the paper, paint and rubber industries. It's also
consumed as kind of an earthy antacid. If you've ever heard the
expression "clay-eater," this is where it comes from. And if you're
wearing your smarty pants, you already know that clay-eating is a form
of geophagy ("earth eating") and pica (eating of non-food items).
Which
brings us to another popular folk remedy, the golden elixir known as
Wild Bill's Yellow Root Tea, a tonic used to lower blood pressure and
treat diabetes.
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| Wild Bill's Yellow Root Tea by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Wild
Bill's is a convenience product, you may prefer to make your own, using
freshly harvested yellow root, also available at the market. I love the
homemade signs!
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| Yellow root at Sweet Auburn Curb Market by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
There's plenty more at the market, including the best pralines I ever ate, made by Louisianan Dionne Gant at Miss D's New Orleans Pralines.
I didn't realize how grainy my homemade pralines were until I tasted
hers - smooth, creamy, sweet-but-not-too, featuring Georgia grown
pecans. (I'll return there during Christmastime for sweet stocking
stuffers.)
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| Miss D's New Orleans Pralines/Sweet Auburn Curb Market |
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| Cafe Campesino/Sweet Auburn Curb Market |
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| Sweet Auburn Bakery by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
It's time to disclose that Atlanta Culinary Tours allowed me (and my mom!) to take the tour gratis. If you're looking for a weekend activity, check out their list of tours. For $32 a person, you fill your brain and belly with Sweet Auburn lore and love. An excellent date, with a special someone, or your mom (we had a blast!).
Sweet Auburn Curb Market is located at 209 Edgewood Ave. SE near downtown Atlanta and is easily reached from the connector. Pull into the parking lot and get your parking ticket validated - the first 90 minutes are free.
* * * * * * * * * *
Before the tomatoes fade for another summer, do yourself a favor and
make tomato gravy and biscuits for yourself and your family. This isn't
the kind of "gravy" or "sauce" that you serve with pasta, just a creamy
white gravy with chopped tomatoes, cooked up in a cast iron skillet and
served over split buttermilk biscuits.
2 tbsp. butter
1. In a heavy skillet, melt butter and saute onion until softened. Add garlic, salt and pepper and cook for another minute.
2. Sprinkle the flour over and cook, stirring well for another couple minutes.
3. Stir in the chopped tomato and cook for five more minutes. Slowly add the milk and bring to a simmer. Taste for seasoning, adjust. Serve warm with split buttermilk biscuits and a side of bacon.
My mother was a fine cook, but
I did not grow up with this dish. I discovered it through other cooks
and writers. Scott Peacock and Edna Lewis write about it in "Gift of
Southern Cooking," and if I remember correctly, serve the gravy with
fried chicken.
Cooks can spend a
lifetime perfecting their biscuit recipes, and I've tried quite a few,
but I always go back to the recipe on the back of the bag of White Lily
self-rising flour, using whole fat buttermilk, when I can find it, and
brushing the tops of the biscuits with melted butter.
This recipe can be made with bacon fat instead of butter. I usually serve bacon alongside and keep the butter in the gravy.
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| Farmers' market heirloom tomatoes by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books |
Tomato Gravy
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup milk
2. Sprinkle the flour over and cook, stirring well for another couple minutes.
3. Stir in the chopped tomato and cook for five more minutes. Slowly add the milk and bring to a simmer. Taste for seasoning, adjust. Serve warm with split buttermilk biscuits and a side of bacon.
