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Snack maker Hunter Yerger has taken a cue from fellow Mississippian Elvis Presley in fusing two wildly disparate Southern traditions. Just as Elvis miraculously blended country pickin' with soul rhythms, Yeager is simultaneously feeding his region's collective sweet tooth and -- sacrilege alert -- cheese straw cravings.Cheese straws are revered south of the Mason-Dixon line, so we had to investigate. "We introduced the concept of the sweet straw," Yerger, owner of The Mississippi Cheese Straw Factory in Yazoo City. "We call it the 'cookie straw.'" The latest addition to the 18-year old company's line of pioneering sugary straws is the Elvis Peanut Butter Banana variety shown at right, a recipe commissioned by the official management team of the Elvis Presley Trust.
"They wanted to do a food product in a tin," Yerger explains. "And peanut butter banana just sounded like a natural for Elvis."
For a southern King who has his name on everything from beach towels to sink strainers, cheese straws make great sense. While Elvis never publicly professed his love for the traditional finger food, he undoubtedly munched straws at childhood parties, where the cut cheddar pastry, flecked with cayenne, is a staple.
Culinary folklore holds Southern cooks developed cheese straws to use up leftover dough. Millions of Americans have since become familiar with straws' signature buttery flavor through their derivative mass-market cousin, Cheez-Its (and come-lately competitor Cheese Nips.)
Of course, the cheese quotient in the peanut butter banana straws is zilch, which Yerger claims doesn't bother the countless Elvis fans who love them tender.
"Among Elvis fans, they've been doing great," says Yerger. "It's actually a very tasty product."
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