Famous Death Row Last Meals
Food Fights: The Biggest Culinary Scandals Of 2011
Photo: Caitlinator, Flickr
A Minnesota native is challenging the accepted orthodoxy surrounding Mardi Gras moon pie throws in Mobile, Ala.
While the city's Chamber of Commerce insists the tradition is rooted in a group of Mobile mothers' concerns for the safety of their children, who were getting beaned by sharp-edged Cracker Jack boxes, researcher Emily Blejwas counters there's no evidence suggesting a bunch of well-meaning women introduced the soft, round cookies.
"I've heard several different stories," says Blejwas, a recent Auburn grad who's writing a book about Alabama food history. But most of the stories have the same punch line, she adds: "Everyone I talked to said, 'After I threw a moon pie, the next year, everybody threw them.' "
Younger Mobilians tell the story with a slightly different twist, says Blejwas: "They say, 'For sure, my dad threw the first pie. That's a fact.' "
