What Backs Ate

Part I - THE SOUTHERN FOOD ODYSSEY BEGINS
He was on a mission. A mission inspired by a love of Cajun, deep fried anything, and a slow-cooked, secondary-cut meat.
We were in America in October 2014, we were Deep South-bound and nothing was going to stand in the way of the Great Love (GL) and his determination to devour the South.
Our trip was a total two weeks in America, with half of this time a whirlwind Southern tour, during which we would blow through Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans.
The food odyssey began on a balmy and very pleasant Atlanta evening at a rather dark restaurant named Roux, on Canton Street.
The menu provided the GL with the perfect opportunity to dive in mouth first and he didn't hesitate, selecting Shrimp ‘n Grits, cajun flat bread and side of deep-fried pickles.
The next day we had a three-and-a-half-hour drive down Highway 401 to Nashville.
First, we filled our tanks with a diner-cooked series of delights and poor quality coffee. The GL elected deep-fried chicken, waffle and scrambled eggs.
Arriving in Nashville, worn from the road and peckish from a few hours sans food, we settled into a live-music bar in Downtown Nashville where we listened to some average-to-good cover musicians and selected a high-salt offering of food to share: Buffalo wings, corn chips with guacamole and salsa dips and deep-fried pickles.
The eating of our afternoon snack was delicious, if thirsty-work, and while it had me filled to the brim, it wasn’t so for the GL, who some hours later had us traipsing up a small hill in that city’s still, hot heat, bound for Puckett’s Grocery and Restaurant.
While I supped on Apple Martinis, the GL munched his way through a dinner of Fried Green Beans served with Chipotle bacon ranch, Piggy Mac (cherry-wood smoked pulled pork in an iron skillet) topped with smoked Gouda Mac ‘n Cheese and a side of ranch salad. We then rolled him home.
Our group awoke ready to explore Music City and we set off in the same direction as every visiting octogenarian, the Nashville Music Hall of Fame.
That was, not before a breakfast of sausage, scrambled eggs and fried potato to put a pep in the GL’s step.
We wandered the Hall of Fame, before spending the remainder of the day soaking up the town as we drove north to south, east to west, broken by lunch at the Nashville Farmers Market.
To continue Part I, and for Parts II, THE MEMPHIS (DEEP FRIED) LEG and III, THE FRIED CHICKEN WHICH BROKE HIS BACKS, visit www.acrowdedhour.com.