[Sca-cooks] On "Swet Te" (was Po' Folks)

[Margaret N]

Michael Gunter wrote:

>> OH that's PRICELESS!  I am going to forward it to a friend in Iron  
>> Mountain . . .
>
>
> It is good and very clever. I have uncovered a manuscript from
> the region once known as "Okieland" or in the language of
> New English "Okalahama" where there is a variation on the
> sweetening process:
>
> an tak i cuppe fayre clene watr an equal mesure wyttte sugar an
> boyle hem togedre untill a syripe of spoon qualitie is made to this
> adde squezed mynt et steppe hem til fragrent

I've tried this simple syrup version. There's something about it that 
isn't quite right for me. I could never put my finger on it....

> This was then added to the steeped tea and stirred. It was claimed
> that this avoided the "residue" on the bottom of the vessel.

We never kept a gallon of tea around long enough for much of that to 
develop and give the tea any off-flavor. Without a scrubbed-clean jug 
used, that dark residue left behind will sour a new gallon of tea, or so 
I was taught.

All the restaurants I worked in kept (or bought once I came on, and then 
kept) a stiff-bristled brush to scrub out the tea urn, daily and in 
between batches, and Momma and Granny both made sure that the tea jug 
was spotless when washed after each batch at home. If a tea jug 
developed scratches in the bottom, it was replaced, or used for Kool-Aid 
for the kids. The nasty flavor that some restaurant/fast-food sweet tea 
can have is frequently due to that residue staying in because of the 
folk in the kitchen thinking that running the urn through the Hobart was 
a good enough wash - or so avowed one of my managers, whose accent was 
middle Eastern and who's name was Mohammud - and who preferred to be 
called "Mo." He was right. A cycle in the Hobart isn't enough. I can 
always tell the difference, and if I have time, try to point it out to 
the folk at the counter. No one should suffer bad sweet tea like that.

> But the "Hokahomans" or "Hokeys" as they were called at the
> time were known to be a rather provincial people so this was
> probably more of a commoner's driink where the more sophisticated
> "Atalanans" and "Gorgons" were considered to be the civilized
> tribes of the southern provinces. 

Heh - I'm just a dirt farmer's great-granddaughter from Tennessee. Takes 
all kinds, Gunther.

Margaret Northwode