Confederate Dixie Gift Shop (or something like that)

2 peas: Edible in emergency

Rating: 2.5 peas on a 5-pea-pod scale
Verdict:I’m not sure which was saltier,* the boiled peanuts or the overwhelming display of Confederate pride.
Noting a BOILED PEANUTS banner flying amidst the Confederate battle flags -- and I do not mean Stars & Bars -- we stopped at this storefront on the main street in downtown McCaysville. My hope was that they were selling the flag of the Red, White & Leguminous. Alas, the friendly fellow explained to me that they were adverts, not inventory. A man from Florida comes through once a year selling the full-sized BOILED PEANUTS flags at $25 a pop. Talk about a freak flag.
That settled, it was either buy a bikini-type swimsuit styled in the manner of the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia (one of the smaller units, no doubt) or try some boilers.
The gentleman was certainly a rebel in that he uses green peanuts. On the other hand, he boils them for an eternity. I’m not sure how the logistics work out, but he boils them all night and sells them during the day. They’ve got a hot pot set up behind the counter.
For green peanuts, these were nearly acceptable in texture. I’m partial to raw, however. But it didn’t matter because these peanuts were saltier than General Pierre Gustave Toutant de Beauregard’s flag committee’s post-Bull-Run cussin’ contest.
Nearly inedible without a beverage with which to rescue the lips, these were over the top. I surrendered. Never finished the bag. That doesn’t happen.
The seller did make an interesting, if unrelated, point. He thought it odd that people eat hot boiled peanuts in the summer when it’s hot -- and rarely in the winter, when peoples’ cockles need warming the most. It just drove home to me that chilled, straight-from-the-fridge boilers are a legitimate enjoyment for sweltering summers. Not that I have to justify any of that. It’s my heritage, dammit.
* Double-pun score! While the various flags of the Confederacy are certainly “salty” as in provocative, that diagonal cross with the stars was known as a “heraldic saltier” or “saltire” back in the day. But I digress.
Season: n/a
Hours: n/a
Price: $3.75 (I think)
Serving: Probably about a quart by volume
Notes: Some great license plates, weapons, figurines, bumper stickers, and flags are also for sale here. Oh, and a few reproductions of the Second Confederate Navy Jack.
Proprietor: Didn’t catch his (or her) name.
Last taste: 2007 08.
Nut type: Green peanuts, medium-large but not jumbo.
Soak time: I think none.
Boil time: Overnight; not sure how he does that.
Other: This is a cute little town on the Tennessee-Georgia border. We recommend the slow, sublime, two-hour tube float down the Toccoa River. It’s just $6 and right around the corner (turn right at the Hometown IGA by the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway tracks).
Taster: Thomas

GA

McCaysville

Downtown

I Brake for Boiled Peanuts

The Roadside Guide to Boiled Peanuts
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