From Fried Green Tomatoes · 1991 · Pairing
Front-Porch Sweet Tea
Serve when
Pour it tall and cold with the tomatoes — the standing beverage of every Whistle Stop table.
What to drink
The café's tables run on sweet iced tea, the default beverage of the Depression-era South — nobody in Alabama needed it named to know it was in the glass. Brew it strong, sweeten it while it's hot (that's the whole secret), and pour it over a mountain of ice with lemon. It's the honest companion to fried green tomatoes and pit barbecue alike.
What to drink
Sweet tea is less a drink than a fixture — the pitcher that's always already on the table. Its gentle tannin and sugar are exactly right against cornmeal crunch and smoky pork.
Ingredients
Method
- Boil 4 cups of water, steep the tea bags 10 minutes, and discard.
- Stir the sugar into the hot tea until fully dissolved — sweetening cold tea is the cardinal error.
- Add the remaining 4 cups cold water and chill.
- Serve in tall glasses packed with ice and a lemon wheel, ideally on a porch, ideally while someone tells a story.