Special Delivery
Guess what I got in the mail??
You're never gonna guess.
Give up?
OK.
I got Livermush!
After talking it over with my Mom, who lives in North Carolina, we figured out a way to get it to me without worrying about it spoiling.
First of all, the weather across the country is pretty cold right now. That's a plus.
Second, she sent it to me via Express Mail, which meant it got to me 2 days after she mailed it.
And third, she sent the livermush to me in one of those insulated lunch boxes along with a package of frozen creamed corn to keep it even colder.
Since livermush is already cooked, the spoilage issue is less of a problem than had she sent me raw meat. Still, we did our best to figure out the most economic method of sending food other than next day delivery, which would've been too expensive, or using dry ice, which would've been overkill.
Some of the livermush distributors, which are few and almost all in North Carolina, ship across country but the minimum purchase amount as well as the shipping can be prohibitive, that is unless you really really crave livermush.
Basically, livermush is a regional delicacy and hardly known outside of North Carolina, northern South Carolina, and southern Virginia. A look at the distribution map for Neese's, a local livermush producer, provides the clearest example of livermush's regionality.
Of course, being born and raised in NC, I knew the joys of livermush early on, fried and eaten by itself or sandwiched in between two slices of white bread. Still, even in North Carolina, it is an aquired taste.
Tomorrow, I plan on having a "Southern Sunday" using some of the things Mom sent.
Those include:
2 jars of Mrs. Campbell's Chow Chow, one spicy and one not.
2 loaves of Jenkins (from Shelby, NC) livermush
A package of Southern Home creamed white corn
and a jar of Dukes "the secret of great Southern cooks" mayonnaise
So yall come back now, ya here?
k.
You're never gonna guess.
Give up?
OK.
I got Livermush!
After talking it over with my Mom, who lives in North Carolina, we figured out a way to get it to me without worrying about it spoiling.
First of all, the weather across the country is pretty cold right now. That's a plus.
Second, she sent it to me via Express Mail, which meant it got to me 2 days after she mailed it.
And third, she sent the livermush to me in one of those insulated lunch boxes along with a package of frozen creamed corn to keep it even colder.
Since livermush is already cooked, the spoilage issue is less of a problem than had she sent me raw meat. Still, we did our best to figure out the most economic method of sending food other than next day delivery, which would've been too expensive, or using dry ice, which would've been overkill.
Some of the livermush distributors, which are few and almost all in North Carolina, ship across country but the minimum purchase amount as well as the shipping can be prohibitive, that is unless you really really crave livermush.
Basically, livermush is a regional delicacy and hardly known outside of North Carolina, northern South Carolina, and southern Virginia. A look at the distribution map for Neese's, a local livermush producer, provides the clearest example of livermush's regionality.
Of course, being born and raised in NC, I knew the joys of livermush early on, fried and eaten by itself or sandwiched in between two slices of white bread. Still, even in North Carolina, it is an aquired taste.
Tomorrow, I plan on having a "Southern Sunday" using some of the things Mom sent.
Those include:
2 jars of Mrs. Campbell's Chow Chow, one spicy and one not.
2 loaves of Jenkins (from Shelby, NC) livermush
A package of Southern Home creamed white corn
and a jar of Dukes "the secret of great Southern cooks" mayonnaise
So yall come back now, ya here?
k.
posted by Dive at 11:53 AM
Hello and welcome. This food blog is based in San Francisco and I'm Kevin, the guy who writes it.
You may know me from my brief, but violent and cracked out, appearance on COPS. Actually, that wasn't me - he didn't even look like me.
I'm more than happy to entertain you, but please don't be so shy. You can comment below or contact me personally at baconprss at yahoo dot com. Oh, and I like to eat sometimes.
4 Comments:
Oh how lovely, a care package from home. My mum used to send me brown-paper wrapped parcles full of lovely things when I first left home. 18 years on she still does now and again. Aren't mums the best?
Actually, I'm just getting into this whole care package deal with my mom (after 14 years away from home).
I think she's enjoying it.
Perhaps too much.
And that worries me.
Yet, obviously you don't see me complaining.
k.
I'm very late with this comment. Sorry about that.
I had to tell you about the best pecan pie in the world. The recipe is in "The Pie and Pastry Bible," by Rose Levy Beranbaum and is actually a pecan tart. It is truly lovely with just the right blend of spices and being a tart has a better ratio of pecan/crust/sugar and egg mixture. If you need the recipe, just shoot me an email and I'll have it to you tomorrow.
As far as my mother's care packages: if she gives you anything frozen that's not vacuum packed just throw it in the trash, don't bother storing it in your freezer because it is undoubtedly several years old and freezer burned.
Bless your heart - I've been searching for Livermush for about 35 years and was beginning to think I'd imagined it, after all, from a college roommate in SW Virginia who introduced me to it. Last summer, while travelling in NC, I found Liver Pudding and bought it with great hopes that I'd found Livermush, albeit with a different name. Nope! Liver Pudding was tasty but couldn't be fried in a slab, like Livermush. I'm calling Jenkins first thing Monday morning to figure out how to get a bunch shipped up here to the Adirondack Mountains.
Thank you so much for all your links and clues - my search has ended!
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