Unraveling Brunswick, GA's Italian Ingredient Dilemma: A Quest for Authentic Flavors

Unraveling Brunswick, GA's Italian Ingredient Dilemma:

A Quest for Authentic Flavors

One warm southern morning, I woke up, excited to start my day. After brewing some coffee, I went to make breakfast. As I peered into the empty fridge, I thought it would be a good time to venture out into my new surroundings and go food shopping. I drove over to the only supermarket in town. On the way, I thought about all the groceries I was going to need. I figured it wasn’t going to be a terribly long trip. I needed you know, “a few things.” Then it dawned on me, I was also going to need to make dinner. I was stumped. “I guess I can make Pastina.” With my grocery list in hand, I took a deep breath, threw up some crossed fingers, and headed inside. Well, needless to say, I grossly underestimated how long this trip was going to take me. Not because I bought too much food, it was because I found myself going up and down every aisle looking for “common” ingredients. Take for instance, Pastina. This is a pretty common ingredient for Italian Americans. It can be found at any supermarket up North. You don’t even have to go to one of the many specialty Italian marketplaces to find it. I didn’t see it in my “go-to” brand so I was willing to settle for a different one. No big deal..only I couldn’t. They didn’t have pastina at all. Disappointedly, I moved on. I went to the freezer section to find frozen ravioli—the same thing. I went up and down the freezer section thinking I had missed it. Nope. It simply was not there. I thought to myself, “This can’t be. I must have overlooked it.” I then went back over each fridge like I was a detective looking for evidence. As I inspected my last freezer, without a trace of any frozen pasta in sight it hit me. This place is going to be a “dead zone” for Italian food. At that point, I had no choice but to figure something else out. I perused every isle and department collecting the other items on my list. Frustrated, I found my way over to the deli section where there were ready-made meals available. “Maybe I’ll get some inspiration,” I thought. I looked through the containers. Nothing was jumping out at me. I then came across the fresh ready-made meals. This is where I first discovered a major staple of the South: fried chicken. It was a pretty good deal. You get a bucket of chicken and two sides for around $12. (This is going back 6 years.) With a sigh, I added the fried chicken dinner to my cart and headed to the checkout. Needless to say, this happy accident facilitated a newfound love for fried chicken. That made living in the South, a little easier.