If you want to watch a bunch of food geeks bicker about something of no consequence, do some quick research on fried green tomatoes. Apparently some, like food writer and historian Robert Moss, believe the dish originated in the North and only exploded in the South after the movie of the same name was produced in 1991.
Others say, “Stick your research in a flour sack, Mr. Moss; my Southern family’s been eating fried green tomatoes for generations.”
To all of which, at the end of the day, the only reasonable response is, “Who the hell cares?” Or as Bizou cook Brett Venditti puts it, “The same way the blues started in America but the Brits took it over and made it something completely different, all that matters is what comes to mind when people hear it.”
Indeed, what comes to mind when most people hear “fried green tomatoes” is Southern diners and meemaws tossing them into the fry oil alongside hush puppies and okra. Whether the delicacy originated in the North or South, it’s certainly been appropriated by the culinary culture below the Mason-Dixon Line. And Charlottesville is no exception. The dish, typically green tomatoes sliced to the thickness of a doubled up bookstrap, battered with a mixture of all purpose flour and cornmeal and fried to golden, is on menus all over town during the summer months.
Maya’s Christian Kelly, who’s perfected the art of frying just about anything he puts his mind to, has had FGTs on his Southern-focused menu since the Main Street restaurant opened eight years ago. He switches up the preparation every year to keep things fresh, he said, and this year the fried fruits are being served with house cured bacon and a spicy smoked tomato aioli.
“We experimented and decided we like a little heat with the sour of the tomato,” Kelly says. “And we had some house cured bacon that we needed to put on something, and the smoke goes well with the green tomato.”
Kelly’s even changed his preparation this year, going from a traditional cornmeal crust to breadcrumbs. He said the technique yields a less heavy, less oily tomato, but the standard remains the cornmeal crust.
Miller’s, for example, uses a cornmeal-based batter directly from the restaurant that inspired the movie. Its Whistlestop Battered Fried Green Tomatoes are available as a burger add-on or served over field greens with goat cheese, cucumber pico de gallo and house made buttermilk ranch.
If that burger add-on thing sounds like a good idea, you’re not alone. At least two other local joints—Rapture and Ace Biscuit and Barbecue—make FGTs a star on sandwiches. Rapture, headed up by the underrated Chris Humphrey, is currently making a traditional cornmeal crusted green ’mater the focus of a take on a BLT. The cornmeal crusted disc of sweet and sour is sandwiched between flaky biscuit halves, complemented by crisp bacon and a spicy aioli and set off by fresh lettuce.
Ace makes FGTs available as an add-on to all its sandwiches, and you’re well advised to try them in any application where you’d typically find coleslaw. On second thought, you’re well advised to try them in just about any application period. The acidity of the tomato and unctuous batter allow them to slip into concert with Ace’s tender smoked meats or even standalone.
Outside of town another barbecue joint, The BBQ Exchange, also offers up FGTs. Chef Craig Hartman pulls no punches with his take on the classic, lumping his fried greenies into a section of the menu known simply as “fried items.” And of course they are delicious, giving the acclaimed Hartman a chance to step outside the barbeque box with an untraditional, thick batter and his own sweet and zesty take on the ubiquitous FGT sauce.
Hartman isn’t the only revered local chef who’s into FGTs. Bizou, headed up by culinary masterminds Vincent Derquenne and Tim Burgess, makes them a part of their brunch spread on the smoked salmon plate, as an extra for salads and such and in a take on a caprese salad. According to Venditti, Bizou puts its own stamp on the dish by using an herb-panko mixture in lieu of cornmeal.
“I love panko because of the crispiness it gives things, and for deep frying it works really well. It doesn’t let them get soggy,” he said.
If you’re ready to dig in, other spots to get your green on around town are Fry’s Spring Station and Rhett’s River Grill & Raw Bar. If you’re still hung up on where fried green tomatoes originated, consider The BBQ Exchange’s philosophy.
“One of the things that Craig has always said is Virginia isn’t known for having a Southern food identity,” says restaurant manager Jaclyn Conlogue. “One of the things he has kept in the forefront of his mind since we opened the place together is making our food Virginia food.”
Southern culinary history or not, the fried green tomatoes at Maya are a welcome local tradition with balanced preparations that showcase the reluctant-to-ripen fruit. Photo: Rammelkamp Foto