I Heart Big Mama!
I am still in Omaha and it seems I am quest to follow the food steps of Guy Fieri (spikey, platinum haired, overfed Jesus… can you see the resemblance???) Well, this time I am more than thankful that he paved the way to Big Mama’s Kitchen (www.bigmamaskitchen.com). An old skool (funny cause its in a school) southern food wonder that was recently voted one of the top 100 restaurants in the country by the Travel Channel. I ordered: fried green tomatoes, pig ear sandwich and oven fried chicken with mac n’ cheese and collard greens.
Fried green tomatoes were good with a light corn meal crust reminiscent of a good southern fish fry, accompanied by a plum sauce that was unexpected but tasty. The pig ear sarnie despite its floppy, brown, boiled appearance was super tender and tasted of mellow bacon, dressed simply with diced onion and mustard. A touch of mayo would have been my only addition. The wing of the oven fried chicken was tiny and as a result dried out (dousing it in hot sauce helped bring the little meat back to life). The thigh was juicy and everything I expected from a recipe passed on from Big Mama’s grandmother (Biggest Mama? Maybe…). The best thing here are the collard greens! Smoky, salty, tender, ”Everything I dreamed of and more…” (A.G.K).
The highlight of the meal was when Big Mama herself joined me at my table and rapped about her thoughts on the horrors of what fast food has done to the US family and the lack of family time at the dinner table on a nightly basis. The fact that all her recipes are in her head is a marvel. Hearing stories of growing up in her grandmothers kitchen and her stance that you should waste nothing when you cook (hence the pig ear), was a special treat. It was also cool that Big Mama gave me samples of just about everything on the menu. I am always a big fan of that! Thank you Big Mama! I will be back and I will bring friends. Omaha doesn’t seem so bad anymore… wait a minute!
Timb.
