Whatchoo Know About Pimento Cheese?

@macaroni OH MY GOD, there is a place here in Bloomington, Indiana that puts pimento cheese on a bacon burger and, as a Texan, I am SHAMED that this did not occur to me.

It's GOOD pimento cheese, too. All shredded sharp cheddar and none of that weird stuff you see in containers made with Velveeta or similar.

@ angermonkey

WHERE??! I happen have occasion to visit Bloomington on the reg, and yet I do not know of this place. Please inform.

(PS jealous you are thereeeeeeeeeeeeee)

@lolita Sweet Grass, at the corner of Patterson and Rogers. This town is stupid full of great places to stuff your face with food. I'm also a fan of Farm over on Kirkwood.

@angermonkey Yes! Just like my granny made! There's a place in Atlanta that has the best pimento burger ever. (ATLiens! If you haven't had Parish's burger, you are missing out!! It's AMAZEBALLS.)

@parallel-lines Please excuse this interruption of your regularly scheduled broadcasting so I can warn everyone about the most horrific lunchmeat of all time: Billy Roll.

I hope to God it's not available in the US, for all your souls. It is foul. It is of indeterminate origin. And it has a face.

@Decca At first I was like "billy roll? billy roll?" and then you were like "it has a face." And then I knew. The horror, the horror.

@annepersand C'mon now, don't be lunchmeat antisemitic http://s303.photobucket.com/albums/nn126/qu1nnc/?action=view&current=Jewishbillyroll.jpg&newest=1

@parallel-lines Isn't billy roll made out of reconstituted ham? What sadistic game is this deli playing.

@parallel-lines

Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before, and hope never to see again. Oh, I wasn't touched. I was fascinated. It was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression of somber pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror—of an intense and hopeless despair, of billy roll. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision, at some reconstituted lunch meat—he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath—

"The horror! The horror!"

@janedonuts I was so confused- at first I thought you meant the OTHER L.A. (Lower Alabama). I know for a fact there's good pimento to be had in that LA.

@sa3 if there's ever a Meetup in the carolinas or tennessee, we can have some REAL good food!

@sa3 Palmetto cheese sounds a little bit like it would have bugs in it… but i'd still eat it.

@sa3
"i forget that other people don't have the same great food that we have down here in the South! "
I wish this were more true! I'm planning next week's travel from Carolina to New England, and there are almost no "good" restaurants in DC or NYC that aren't serving Southern food now – shrimp and grits, pimiento cheese, deviled eggs, barbecue. I love Southern food, but when I'm out of the South I want something different. The only other travel/special occasion worthy restaurants I've been finding are Italian, which is what we get at my in-laws.

@sa3 Pawleys Island! Since I was little, whenever I hear that Disneyland tagline about happiest place on earth I think of Pawleys.

First time back after Hugo I cried like a baby.

@sa3 Sometimes Southern food privilege blinds us to the fact that some people have to grow up deprived of the foods we took for granted. It's truly eye-opening.

@noReally it really is the happiest place on earth! I'm 26 and the only summer we've missed since i've been alive was the year after hugo…but you better believe after that we were back at pawleys! now i'm living in SC upstate and it's so amazing to think i could just go over to the coast for a weekend, cause in my mind i still live SO FAR from the beach, like when i was a kid. oh, pawleys. now i'm full of happiness, talking about it.

@tiptoemammal Hey, I made the movie and if you'd like to know, the African Americans I talked to did not grow up eating pimento cheese. As a New Yorker, I wanted to talk to people who grew up eating it and making it, as I clearly did not. As a member of the Southern Foodways Alliance and a huge fan of Southern food, I assure you I am not only well aware of the deep heritage, and influence on Southern food from African Americans but Caribbean, African, French and Asian folks as well.

@Nicole Lang@twitter: Thanks for replying to my comment! I think this is an important conversation to have.
Though Southern food has been influenced by the other cultures you mentioned, the people from those cultures are not as strongly represented in Southern populations as African-Americans are. While it’s not especially notable that someone might discuss the South without mentioning Asia, it's truly strange to watch a movie about a Southern cultural artifact and not even see a single person of color. I'm not suggesting that this omission was intentional, but I do think that it's worth noting and thinking about.
In the interest of countering the oppression that has withheld access to power and opportunity from African Americans *specifically in that region* since this country's inception, I think it's really important that they be adequately and appropriately represented in the media that we produce about said region. I would prefer (and I recognize that this is just my opinion and I’m not making any movies so my scope may be limited) that you make a very strong effort to seek out people of color who did grow up eating pimento cheese, just to ensure fair representation. If those interviewees all say that food is not a part of their culture, then mention that. That pimento cheese might be a “white people food” is surely as relevant as the fact that it’s a food for people who are tied to the land, etc. Why the elephant in the room?
Having said all that, I loved this movie, and it made me seriously homesick (and hungry!). I’m only putting forth my observation because I think it’s constructive to do so. I hope it’s helpful to think about.