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TIME LINE: the people and events that shaped Southern Cuisine

1888

Henry Ramos, a New Orleans bartender, creates a new cocktail, the Gin Fizz. It later becomes a favorite of Louisiana senator Huey Long, who introduces it to Washington, D.C., society as the Ramos Gin Fizz.

Atlanta businessman Asa G. Candler buys the Coca-Cola syrup recipe, which, he claims, has cured him of migraines. He also begins to buy the company.

Dr. Charles Shepard founds Pinehurst Tea Plantation in Summerville, South Carolina. Located near the original Michaux tea farm, its principal crop is Oolong and it remains so until Shepard’s death in 1915.

1889

Twenty-five-year-old Willoughby McCormick begins making flavoring extracts and fruit syrups in the basement of his Baltimore house and sells them door to door. (See McCormick’s Spices, Chapter 4.)

1890

Thanks to the flour mills and factories of Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, and Memphis, manufacturing adds more to Tennessee’s economy than agriculture. This is a first.

1891

After buying the Coca-Cola Company bit by bit, Asa G. Candler finally owns it.

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PRESSED CHICKEN

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

Early on, I had the good fortune to work with Ruth Current, the charismatic state leader of the North Carolina Federation of Home Demonstration Clubs. “Miz Ruth,” as I called her, grew up on a farm in Rowan County, and even though she traveled the world, she was at heart a southern country cook. Miz Ruth and I often traveled together, she to speak at conventions, I to cover them for the local media. On those long road trips, Miz Ruth talked about the colorful characters she’d met in her early years as an extension worker. That was back in the 1930s when the Agricultural Extension Service, still in its infancy, aimed to help the family at the end of the road climb out of poverty. Sometimes, Miz Ruth told me, she’d drive to the end of the road only to be met by a farmer with a mule. She’d climb aboard for a last-lap canter to a log cabin “so far back in them hills you had to keep wipin’ at the shadows.” Two of my favorite southern recipes are Miz Ruth’s—this Pressed Chicken and the Chicken Mayonnaise that follows. I once asked Miz Ruth why the recipe was called Pressed Chicken. She thought that it dated back to the days when women made their own gelatin. These were not altogether reliable, so gelatin mixtures were often weighted or pressed into molds so that they were less apt to disintegrate when unmolded. Note: Miz Ruth’s Pressed Chicken calls for two packets of gelatin but preferring a softer gel, I use half that amount. For slightly stiffer Pressed Chicken, use one envelope plus one teaspoon. Tip: I heat the chicken broth in a 2-quart ovenproof glass measuring cup by microwaving 5 to 8 minutes on HIGH. I then scoop in the gelatin, and when it dissolves, I mix in the seasonings and chill until syrupy. Still using the same measuring cup, I fold in the chicken, eggs, and celery. Saves on dishwashing.

1 envelope unflavored gelatin (see Note at left)

¼ cup cold water

2 cups boiling chicken broth or rich stock (see Tip above)

2 tablespoons finely grated yellow onion

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

¼ teaspoon ground hot red pepper (cayenne), or to taste

¼ teaspoon dry mustard

3 cups finely chopped cooked chicken 4 large hard-cooked eggs, shelled and finely chopped

2 medium celery ribs, trimmed and finely diced

6 large lettuce leaves

Mayonnaise

1. Lightly coat an 8 × 8 × 2-inch baking dish or nonreactive pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. Soften the gelatin in the cold water for 5 minutes. Pour the boiling chicken broth into a large heatproof bowl (see Tip above), and add the gelatin. When it dissolves, mix in the onion, lemon juice, salt, cayenne, and mustard. Taste for salt and cayenne and adjust.

3. Set uncovered in the refrigerator for about an hour or until syrupy. Fold in the chicken, eggs, and celery, then pour into the baking dish, spreading to the corners.

4. Set uncovered in the refrigerator