John T Edge News Today

>> anthony: some time ago something crawled, or slithered, or grew like a fungus. something that started small, got bigger, lurched like a swamp thing out of the mud and moist earth and humid nights of the delta. then, it took over the world. so next time some smart ass foreigner, horrified by our latest ham-fisted foreign policy blunder wonders out loud, "what good is america?" well, you can always pipe up that the blues, rock n roll, r&b, and soul all came out of this place -- one st...

Is greenwood. a town with a lot of history. most of it of the not good variety. known unfortunately as much for byron de la beckwith, and tom bradys infamous speech after brown v. the board of education as anything else, fairly or not, its hard to get past that. during all the years of cruelty and struggle from 1933 on, through it all and until today, this place, luscos, was a beloved institution. once a grocery store, it turned restaurant to the moneyed class, serving them in discreet quarters ...

That is just hard to beat. >> geno: isnt it good? >> anthony: mm-hmm. >> geno: its a good sandwich. >> anthony: and, of course, some hot tamales. which, at this point in history, are about as mississippi as they are mexican. like the blues, they came out of mississippi in the early 20th century, as mexican migrant workers came in to replace african-americans who were headed to work in the great factories and stock yards of chicago and detroit. >> john t. edge: you know, sitting down here, um, ea...

The red bean, oh man, that looks kinda good too. yeah, a little bit of that. neck bones floating around somewhere? >> woman: they are, theyre right here. >> anthony: okay, yeah ill have some of those. little rice and gravy on there, yeah thanks. and uh, oh i dunno, a piece of fried chicken there, if you got a thigh that would be great. >> john t. edge: okras perfect. >> anthony: yeah it is. oh man, thats good. >> willie simmons: now here in the south if you want to, you can throw your fork away ...

Catfish for mr. edge, the famous pompano for me. >> john t. edge: its the kind of mark of being a great restaurant in the delta, if you have pompano. >> anthony: its a big damn fish. no way im finishing this. sitting here, the booths, the curtains, the whole "ring bell for service" thing, it seems lost in time. >> john t. edge: we got a real long and ugly history. but one of the things i love about this place is you cant deny the burden of the past, like its on your shoulder, its right there. li...

Anthony explores Mississippi including the home of the Pig Ear Sandwich, downtown Jacksons Big Apple Inn, also known as a Civil Rights Era gathering place;...

All were doing is doing what we do. >> anthony: there is a discomfort level about exploring southern foodways, or particularly mississippi foodways. when youre talking about high-end, traditional southern cooking, youre talking plantation, slavery cooking, cause thats where these recipes came from. so to revel in that you dont wanna tumble into nostalgia you -- the potential for awkwardness, uh, and offense, is enormous. >> john t. edge: right. i wanna be careful. im not saying thats what i want...

>> john t. edge: you know, i moved here from georgia, and the thing that struck me when i moved here driving through the delta the first time was just how empty it was. like, you know, its like everybody left. >> anthony: the great migration. three factors. automation -- the invention of mechanical means to pick cotton. the call of better-paying jobs in the industries of the north. and, of course, freedom. >> john t. edge: you know, people think about the blues as a lament. a lot of blues songs ...

>> john t. edge: im well, sir. >> anthony: who makes a point, a mission, out of knowing and teaching as much as he can about the real culinary traditions of the south. and doing what he can to keep them alive and unmolested. >> server: all right. >> man: thank you. >> anthony: oh, man. >> john t. edge: thanks, sir. >> server: and thats yours, tony. >> anthony: look at that. awesome. its just like a dream sandwich. what you go for here are smokes. smoked sausage sandwiches. and these magnificent ...