"Boiled Peanuts" news and stories

Boiled peanuts. Photo: flickr, jasonlam

Before new students at the University of South Carolina can tackle physics and philosophy, they first have to confront boiled peanuts.

Hundreds of out-of-state Gamecocks each year enroll in the school's optional workshop, "What's the Big Deal About Sweet Tea?", intended to ease the transition into Southern-style eating. Acknowledging that discomfort in the dining room might cause some northern-born USC'ers to consider transferring somewhere where eggs are served with hash browns instead of grits, the retention-minded university recently added the immersion seminar to its orientation-week schedule.

"We want to help people feel better about their new home," explains Angela Street, coordinator of Initiatives for Special Student Populations (i.e. Yankees).

Whenever I  visit my boyfriend's parents in South Carolina, I 'm amazed by Southerners' allegiance to the Memphis-based grocery store, Piggly Wiggly. Known simply as "The Pig" by all (as in "We're out of milk and onions. Looks like I need to go to the Pig!"), Piggly Wiggly's status in the South cannot be overstated.

I mean, when you see adults wearing a tee-shirt that reads "I'm Big on the Pig," you know that it's more than just low prices and convenient parking that's bringing them in.

Leave it to the New York Times Magazine's food writers Matt and Ted Lee to bring us Piggly Wiggly -- no matter where we live -- via Boiled Peanuts, their Southern food products site.

• Magnets are 5 for $7.25.
• "I'm Big on the Pig" t-shirts are $19.50.
• "I'm Big on the Pig" bumper stickers are $2.

Free Memphis street cred with every purchase!