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Epicurean Kentuckian: Last supper fish dinner 2017-11-12 - Columbia, KY - Photo by Ed Waggener, ColumbiaMagazine.com. In my Arkansas traveller days, I was convinced that no other place had a better catfish dinner than the Natural State, especially as it was served in, as I remember Batesville, AR. There, generous chunks of thick fillets, farm-raised in the same state, were lightly dusted in corn meal, dropped in hot oil and briefly until golden brown, and were served with choices of blackeyed peas, rice, coleslaw, and, I want to remember, cornbread instead of hushpuppies, which generally incite me to want to throw them at somebody. Never met one I really prefer. I don't remember if it had to be ordered, or if like grits, they were always served with catfish but sweet onion was part of the plates I ordered, and always - I'm thinking gratuitously, the served a few jalapenos and sweet green tomato pickles. They were generous with water - can't understand to this day having to practically beg for it - and endless cups of coffee. The attempt to recreate that meal, above, was just satisfactory. Rye bread never fails; I'd take as quickly as cornbread where fish are involved. And the squash and onion pickles, created by Mitzi Bault and which would take a premium at the fair, actually surpasses the Arkansas green tomato pickles. The fish, though, were too thinly sliced, have more of a fish-flavored cornbread than fish, and the onion not as sweet as a Vidalia served in Arkansas, and the jalapenos, so soft as to be mushy, no match for the firmer ones I remember in Batesville. Though rated progressing, still failing it's a bucket list item to create the ideal last meal on earth or first in heaven, before that time comes. - EW Permalink | Comments?

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