BATCH, A Bitter Southerner Podcast The Bitter Southerner

Blackwater rivers are the haven of innumerable species, the keepers of our earliest recorded history, and the key to the health of our marshes, islands, and coastlines, but they’re under threat from mining, residential development, and pollution. We speak to Georgia author Taylor Brown about his piece “Ode to Blackwater Rivers” - it’s a love letter to the rivers he grew up on, and a call to keep them thriving for generations to come.

Show Notes

You can read the full story at the Bitter Southerner’s website. Here’s a link: Ode to Blackwater Rivers

Credits

Host Kyle Tibbs Jones

Producer Ryan Engelberger

Engineered by Thomas Sully Allen at Tweed Recording in Athens, GA; and by Jalen Reyes at Lilypad Studios in Savannah, GA.

The theme music for Batch was made by Curt Castle.

This episode of Batch (in fact this whole batch of food stories) was made possible by the support of SELC. Learn more at https://www.southernenvironment.org/

To shore-living Marylanders, the humble, blue-collar Natural Light is more than just cheap beer. Five years ago, nearly to the day, we published "My Old Friend Natty Light." In her story, Mickie Meinhardt firmly staked the claim that a certain part of Maryland is "the South" while also paying tribute to Ocean City locals and their dogged devotion to "shore champagne," aka Natural Light beer. What does a food or beverage (or in this case a beer) say about a place and the people who live there? Mickie explains in this conversation and reading. Cheers to Episode 15 of BATCH!

Show Notes

You can read the full story at the Bitter Southerner’s website. Here’s a link: https://bittersoutherner.com/natural-light-is-your-friend-beer-ocean-city-maryland

It can also be found in our new book Food Stories: writing that stirs the pot, available here: https://bsgeneralstore.com/products/food-stories

Credits

Hosted by Kyle Tibbs Jones

Produced by Ryan Engelberger

Engineered by

The theme music for Batch was made by Curt Castle.

This episode of Batch (in fact this whole batch of food stories) was made possible by the support of E Pluribus Unum. Learn more at https://www.unumfund.org/

Show Notes

You can read the full story at the Bitter Southerner’s website. Here’s a link: https://bittersoutherner.com/cooking-country-women-food-nashville

It can also be found in our new book Food Stories: writing that stirs the pot, available here: https://bsgeneralstore.com/products/food-stories

Credits

Hosted by Kyle Tibbs Jones

Produced by Ryan Engelberger

Engineered by

The theme music for Batch was made by Curt Castle.

This episode of Batch (in fact this whole batch of food stories) was made possible by the support of E Pluribus Unum. Learn more at https://www.unumfund.org/

Show Notes

You can read the full story at the Bitter Southerner’s website. Here’s a link: https://bittersoutherner.com/feature/2023/immigrant-spaghetti

It can also be found in our new book Food Stories: writing that stirs the pot, available here: https://bsgeneralstore.com/products/food-stories

Credits

Hosted by Kyle Tibbs Jones

Produced by Ryan Engelberger

Engineered by

The theme music for Batch was made by Curt Castle.

This episode of Batch (in fact this whole batch of food stories) was made possible by the support of E Pluribus Unum. Learn more at https://www.unumfund.org/

Plus, as promised:

Farhan’s Immigrant Spaghetti

The following amounts and ingredients are suggestions, not real rules. Like speed limits on a Southern highway.


1.5 lbs grass-fed ground beef, ground chicken or ground turkey
2 Tbsp oil
1 bay leaf
1/4 stick cinnamon
1/2 C diced onion
1/2 C diced celery
3/4 C diced carrots
1 C diced red or green bell pepper (or both)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 Tbsp coriander powder
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp fennel powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
1.5 C marinara sauce
1 C canned, crushed tomatoes
1 tsp dried mint
2-ish C water
1 box spaghetti (If you’re cooking the sauce and pasta separately, then feel free to splurge on the fancy pastas that create a very starchy pasta water. That fancy pasta starch can work against you if you cook it all together though. Cheaper pasta is better for cooking in sauce)
Chopped fresh cilantro, parsley, maybe a little mint for garnish


A few notes:


Chop the onions, peppers and tomatoes to achieve your desired level of chunking in your sauce. Just remember if you didn’t like chunky Prego sauce growing up, you probably won’t like it now
I cook the sauce like we would a curry in India - which means you’re frying, not sweating, the onions + carrots + celery + bell peppers. If it burns a little, just add a splash of water to cool down the temp. It’s all about cooking over medium-high heat until the oil oozes out the sides.



Brown the meat but don’t cook it all the way through. If you’re using beef, drain most of the fat except for a teaspoon or two (i do that for flavor). Remove to a plate/bowl.
Heat the oil over medium-high heat until the oil is hot. Add the bay leaf and cinnamon stick to the oil until you hear it sizzle for about 30 seconds.
Dump in the onions, carrots, celery and bell peppers. Cook until the onion starts browning on the edges - about 10 minutes.. Ideally, it’ll even burn a little. Stir frequently to avoid sticking and add splashes of water if it sticks.
Add the garlic, stir and cook until you smell it.
Then add all the spices at once and stir it up. Keep the heat at medium-high and cook for about 3-4 minutes until you see the oil gather at the edges of your very brown-ish colored vegetable mess.
Add the tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes. Keep that heat up - you’re basically “frying” the sauce. Stir often. Cook for a few minutes until you see the oil gather at the edges.
Add in the mint and browned meat, turn the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer for at least 15 minutes (The longer it simmers, the better).
Break up the pasta to fit into the pot, push the pasta down and mix it into the sauce as much as you can. Add 2-ish cups of water so it covers the noodles by a quarter inch. Bring it a boil, then cover and turn down to a hard simmer. Stir every few minutes to make sure the pasta doesn’t stick together.Add water as needed. It should be done after 10-12 minutes, depending on the pasta you use. When it’s al dente, take it off the heat and let it rest, and stir it around.
Dump chopped herbs on top and serve!

This week, in Episode 12, we're laughing, chatting, and reading with Alana Dao, author of "Southern Hustle: Houston Hip-Hop & Chinese Chicken." As we've seen in FX's "The Bear," (big love for that show here at The BS!) the energy and buzz of working in kitchens can show up in someone's DNA. Alana echoes that sentiment as she shares the tale of her great grandparents' journey to the U.S. and how her family's Houston restaurant, Timmy Chan's (and the egg rolls, fried chicken, and rice served there)  have become iconic in the chopped and screwed rap music. We're rapping and mapping, y'all.

Episode 12 is a must-listen.

Show Notes

It can also be found in our new book Food Stories: writing that stirs the pot, available here: https://bsgeneralstore.com/products/food-stories

You can read the full story at the Bitter Southerner’s website. Click here to read the story.

Our playlist featuring all of the artists mentioned in the episode and more can be found on our Spotify playlist. Click here to listen on Spotify!

Credits

Hosted by Kyle Tibbs Jones

Produced by Ryan Engelberger

Engineered by Thomas Sully Allen at Tweed Recording in Athens, Georgia

The theme music for Batch was made by Curt Castle.

This episode of Batch (in fact this whole batch of food stories) was made possible by the support of E Pluribus Unum. Learn more at https://www.unumfund.org/

In Episode 11 of BATCH, we spend time with the talented and charming Caroline Hatchett, author of the James Beard nominated Bitter Southerner story, “The Elusive Roots of Rosin Potatoes.” Back in 2019, Caroline, a seasoned food writer, began a quest to solve a serious mystery. Bound and determined to uncover the true origin of people cooking potatoes in vats of boiling pine rosin, she asked the living and the dead, across 10 states and two countries, “What do you know about Rosin Potatoes?” Oh, there have been legends and myths and twists and turns and rabbit holes and dead ends. And as it turns out, in Caroline’s search for the truth, we do learn a few things — mostly about the stories we tell ourselves.

Show Notes

You can read the full story at the Bitter Southerner’s website. Here’s a link: https://bittersoutherner.com/feature/2022/the-elusive-roots-of-rosin-potatoes

It can also be found in our new book Food Stories: writing that stirs the pot, available here: https://bsgeneralstore.com/products/food-stories

And for adventurous chefs looking to make their own rosin potatoes, here’s where you can find Diamond G’s rosin, salves and turpentine : http://www.diamondgforestproducts.com/index.html

Credits

Hosted by Kyle Tibbs Jones

Produced by Ryan Engelberger

Engineered by Thomas Sully Allen at Tweed Recording in Athens, GA. Caroline Hatchett recorded her own audio.

Buster Cole’s audio comes from a video made by Davis Skinner, at the Georgia Agricultural History Museum in Tifton, GA. Special thanks to Dr. Alan Hodges and the University of Florida digital media collections.

The theme music for Batch was made by Curt Castle.

This episode of Batch (in fact this whole batch of food stories) was made possible by the support of E Pluribus Unum. Learn more at https://www.unumfund.org/