On the subject of tea.

I have a confession to make.  I was not born in Arkansas.  However, that’s a matter of my parent’s location at the time I chose to arrive in the world, not a matter of preferred geography.

Both sides of my family are from a little town in southwest Arkansas by the name of Gurdon.  Paternally of the Bear family and maternally a Waldon, my pedigree runs back some distance here in this state.

However, I have lived here in Arkansas since before I was cognizant of the places and people around me.  I grew up in Little Rock but spent weekends in far more rural locales, mostly along US Highway 67 south of the metropolis.  My college years were spent in Russellville, a town I fell in love with.  My first years in television, I lived in Jonesboro at the north end of the Arkansas Delta.

My earliest restaurant recollections are a mishmash – of special occasions at Brown’s Country Store and Restaurant in Benton, of vacation time trips to McClard’s Barbecue in Hot Springs, of smoked meats from Coursey’s in St. Joe and the birthdays of friends celebrated at Casa Bonita at University and Asher in Little Rock.  I recall when getting a “coke” (a name for any soda) was more expensive than having a glass of tea or coffee, and I remember when refills weren’t free.

And I clearly recall, even from my earliest days, that tea did not come sweetened!

At my Nana and Papaw’s house south of Gurdon, I always drank the tea because the well water had a hint of sulfur.  I can recall an adult I dined with in Little Rock having to ask for a sweetener for tea.   I can still remember the white bottle with the girl on it that my cousins played with one afternoon, seeing if it really made the tea sweet.  It did.  It was nasty.

Yes, when I was a child, I could add a packet (or two, what a scandal!) to my drink and mix it up.  I remember being told only kids did that, and that you didn’t drink your tea sweet when you grew up.  I can even remember being small and getting in trouble for dumping a sugar shaker into my beverage.

But sweet tea was not a part of growing up in Arkansas in the 1970s, or even the 1980s.  You wanted something sweet to drink, you got Kool-Aid.  Or a coke.  And those were special things.  They weren’t what was put on the table.

I don’t think it would even have occurred to anyone in my family to make tea sweet before my generation – not a whole pitcher!   My parents were Boomers, but their parents were Traditionalists, and they remember how expensive sugar was, especially during the second World War. Save sugar for cakes and pies. 

Which is why I’m bothered by the hard statement given again and again when referring to Arkansas cuisine as a fragment of Southern cookery.  I’m kinda put off by the statement that all Southerners drink sweet iced tea.  I don’t.  I might add honey to my hot tea when my throat is sore, but overall tea is meant to be tea – the specific infusion of leaves into water, served over ice.

Which brings me to my pet peeve – and that’s on ordering in a restaurant.  If I order tea, I should get tea – just the tea, no sugar.  However, this culture shift of the past couple of decades has convinced restauranteurs that sweet tea is the default.  Usually when I ask for tea and I get “sweet or un?”  I don’t get irritated.  But sometimes it gets me.  No, I don’t want UN-TEA.  I want tea, freshly brewed, forget that lemon (but I’ll take a fresh bit of mint if you have it and I’m in the mood).  I don’t want to give a lengthy explanation as to why I want my tea without additives and I sure as heck don’t need that little box of sweetener dropped off with the long spoon and straw.  I figure the restaurant probably washes its glasses, too – which means I don’t need that straw either – but thanks for the offer.

(deep breath)

I used to think this was just something I needed to be quiet about.  After all, sweet tea’s a popular thing.  McDonald’s offers it for a buck for a large sweet tea – oh, and by the way, there’s no guarantee they have any unsweetened tea available.  Have you tried that stuff?  It’s like upturning a sugarbowl into your mouth!  I know, I wrote a book about pies, I shouldn’t have a problem with sweet.  But you try it.  Egads.

Still, I’ve noticed lately sitting down with friends my age (I turn 40 in October, imagine that), most of them turn to just plain old tea for dinner.  And that makes sense.  Without that film of sugar on your tongue, flavors come through naturally.  There’s just enough caffeine to exist, no buzz really, and enough of a diuretic property to the beverage to make you drink more… tea.  It’s a perfect cycle of tea and the other word that’s a letter of the alphabet.

The other day, my daughter ordered tea with her meal.  And I could tell the moment she tried it, she’d been given the sweet stuff.  She made a face.   Yes, this four and a half year old who usually goes for milk or Sprite didn’t care for pre-sweetened tea.  I don’t know if that means anything or not, but I thought I’d throw it in there.

So readers, especially those of you from without the borders of this excellent state, pay heed.  The South may claim sweet tea as its table wine, but here in Arkansas the tea pours freely… as it should… without the taint of sugar.

Food Around The World: Tasty Travels with Fellow Blogsherpas.

I have been on a journey for three years now… not just a trip on the road but a sojourn into a new part of my life. In three years I have crisscrossed the United States, been all over the American South and found almost every little burg and village in my home state. Strangely enough, it’s all been financed through food.

Not that I’m a restauranteur or chef, mind you. I discovered early on that there was a lack of food reporting in rural areas of my state and throughout my section of the South; because of this, I turned in and focused more on the cuisine of this place. This garnered notice from several outlets, and today my bread-and-butter comes from writing about food.

I’m blessed to be part of the Lonely Planet Blogsherpa program, and as a featured blogger on the Lonely Planet website. But I am far from alone. There are nearly 100 of us now, all over the globe, broadcasting from our little slices of Earth and sharing them with the world around us. So when it came to hosting my own Blogsherpa Carnival, it was a no-brainer. I wanted to share the experience of food around the world.

Food, in the end, is the universal language. You don’t have to know another language to appreciate it, you don’t have to steep yourself in another country to experience it. It’s also a doorway into the opportunity of discovering other worlds.

So here are some windows on the experience of food around the world in this 11th Blogsherpa Carnival.

Abigail over at Inside the Travel Lab has a tale of Valencia in two bowls -- one of a salad of flowers and another a sculpture of a storm at sea in the form of rosemary ice cream.


Jason at Alpaca Suitcase explores the Anticucho, a Peruvian beef kebab sometimes made from beef heart, his experience with it and a recipe for making it yourself (not necessarily from beef heart).


Denise at Travel with Den Den covers the foods you want to injest in Seoul this winter, including my favorite Korean dish, Bibimbab, along with Korean barbecue, Kimchi and Banchan.





Dave and Deb over at The Planet D couldn’t just settle on one destination. They share all their favorite dishes from around the world, including ceviche, ox tail, fondue and the delicious Ethiopian stew called a wat. And then there was the Bedoin who brought dinner to the desert…


Back here in the States, John with The Dotted Route covers a vacation spot, Club 33 at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.


Eric over at Trans-Americas Journey took on a story I could really eat up -- a tour of tacos in a city best known for the tortillas of love, Mexico City. This taco cook really cracks me up.


Over at Todd’s Wanderings, Todd’s wife Kay introduces us to a food that the kids will love, along with a recipe for Chinese Fried Chicken.

Kerry over at Music Road takes a different approach, covering Potato Music -- which is, strangely enough, a collection of songs and song lyrics about potatoes.

Tamara from the States writes at Quillcards about her experiences drinking tea in a variety of cultural settings - from invitations to drink ginseng tea in Korea, to drinking spicy chai in India, to the mysteries of 'afternoon tea' in England. Along the way she tells the story of how tea came to be introduced into England and how ladies were able to enter the newly-fashionable 'tea rooms'.

Georgia at Ginger Beirut gives us a glossary of several different sorts of Lebanese foods, like aubergine, miniature cucumbers and labneh. I keep rose water for the bath, too.

Claire at First Time Travel gives a first time traveler's guide to hole-in-the-wall dining in Manila, at restaurants that serve up Thai fare, pizza and other missing-home foods.

Vibeke at Photito's Blog delves into a decadent favorite of mine, churros -- not just on the dish itself but how to order them in Spanish and how to make them, too. Churros -- they're what's for breakfast.


A weekend in food is the focus of Julie's food post on A Lady in London -- a veritable food tour of fancy and tasty items shared on a cherished trip. Lots of food photos -- click through for the full size versions.

Jennifer at Orange Polka Dot covers a native dish of Spain, jamon (a pig's leg cured in sea salt), how it's made and its varietals. Move over, Christmas ham.


Erin over at La Tortuga Viajera (The Traveling Turtle)covers a truly Spanish experience and shares a paella recipe in Pine Cones, Paella and A Perfect Spanish Afternoon.


Kirin celebrates Street Food in Mauritas, including sugar-cane juice, cut fruit, dhol-puri and such at Indian Bazaars.


Vera over at A Traveler's Library covers something I hope to utilize some day -- a top ten list of cheap(er) places to eat in Paris. Sign me up.


Barbara with Hole in the Donut Cultural Travel covers Malaysian food and culture on her blog... and talks about eating things like steamed sweet custard filled sesame buns and fried fish cakes at a hawker court at the end of her street.


LeX over at LeX Paradise shares thoughts and photos of Korean fare he's sampled during his sojourn in the Eastern country.


And Benny with Sunset Mood reveals the traditional Angkriyan, roadside dining served up in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.


Interesting perspectives on the universal language of food. My fellow Blogsherpas cover much more than cuisine, though. Want another taste? Check out the listing of Lonely Planet Blogsherpas on the bottom of the right hand column, or browse through the last Blogsherpa Carnival (#10) over at Sophie's World, a neat collection entitled "Your Favorite Place On Earth." The next new Carnival will be hosted by Joe over at Hello Pineapple, on "Spooky Stories." Ooh.