T he Cu l i nary North On the Table
DINING IN
VINE DINING by STACEY BRUGEMAN
This recipe for fried green tomatoes might just make you look forward to fall’s first frost.
I
was a college student in virginia the first time I tried a fried green tomato. That crunchy cornmeal coating gave way to a steaming, acidic underbelly and I swooned as I dragged each forkful through a creamy, creole-style rémoulade. The appeal of this Southern classic was undeniable, but I’ve never been sold on its staunch association with spring. Here on the 45th parallel, where home gardeners can’t leave tomato plants outside until June, I can’t fathom plucking those very first fruits before they reach maturity. Come fall, however, when frost warnings threaten a crop that is finally finding its rhythm, that’s when my family and I delight in fried green tomatoes. On that fateful night when there is little we can do to protect our bounty from the evening weather report, the kids and I bring every tomato inside to the safety of our kitchen window sill. Some of them finish ripening but, in what has become an annual last supper of sorts, those that remain green always get dredged in cornmeal and sizzled over high heat. For this recipe, I cement the fried green tomato’s place in autumn’s recipe box by introducing celeriac, the bulb of a celery plant and a vegetable firmly associated with fall cookery. In the mid-1900s, celery farming in Northern Michigan was so prolific that Trapp & Sons Celery Farm
was apparently the largest employer in Benzie County, and the aroma of celery served as a welcome mat for summer resorters. “[When we reached] Beulah-Benzonia, and the celery crops which smelled so delicious ... we knew we were almost there,” penned Barbara Abbott Trublood, a summer resident of East Leland, in a historical essay about her annual journey north. For this dish, we julienne celeriac to make céleri rémoulade, a cousin of the French classic that is more commonly served with fried green tomatoes. Saying goodbye to the summer growing season is one of the most painful gardening chores I know—but hold tight to this recipe that bridges summer and fall, and it might just soften the blow. Stacey Brugeman is a 20-year food and beverage journalist. Her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Saveur, Travel + Leisure, Eater and on Instagram @staceybrugeman. Dave Weidner is an editorial photographer and videographer based in Northern Michigan. Follow him on Instagram and Facebook @dzwphoto. Sarah Peschel, @22speschel, is a stylist and photographer with an appreciation for all things local agriculture, food and drink.
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