Local Flavors: Mississippi Blues Trail
Image Caption: Photo Credit: Visit Mississippi
Music fans from around the world gravitate to the Mississippi Delta to travel the Blues Trail and visit the places where America’s homegrown music got its start. That includes the blues, of course, but also jazz, country, and rock ’n’ roll, all inspired by the music of the cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta.
To navigate the back roads of the Blues Trail, start in Memphis, Tennessee, and mosey south down US Highway 61 all the way to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Along the way, take time to explore historic towns such as Clarksdale, which is the hometown of musicians Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Sam Cooke, and others.
Photo Credit: Terri Peterson Smith
In Clarksdale, you’ll find the Delta Blues Museum, numerous music festivals, and venues such as Red’s Lounge and Ground Zero Blues Club that offer live music seven nights a week. Don’t miss another landmark, the GRAMMY Museum Mississippi in Cleveland.
During your travels, you can sample every sort of regional food, including catfish, hot tamales, fried green tomatoes, and soul food at its best. For ideas to chart your course, see visitthedelta.com.
Photo Credit: Getty
On the Menu
Fried Catfish
Most catfish available these days is farm-raised. If you’re cooking wild catfish, soak it for about an hour in buttermilk before cooking.
You’ll Need
- 6 catfish fillets, 6 ounces each
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 – 1 cup vegetable oil, for frying
Make It
- Place fillets in a wide, shallow bowl or pie plate. Pour the buttermilk over the fish. Combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, paprika, cayenne, and garlic powder on a plate or shallow bowl.
- Heat oil in a heavy skillet over high heat, about 350° F. Drop a pinch of the flour mixture into the oil—if it sizzles and floats, the oil is ready. Be sure to maintain that temperature while cooking the fish.
- Cook fish for about 3 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy. Transfer to a plate covered with a paper towel and keep the catfish warm. Repeat until all of the fillets are cooked.
Photo Credit: ATC
ATC PLĀ
You won’t be singing the blues with ATC’s (Aluminum Trailer Company) new-for-2023 all-aluminum, welded-construction PLĀ toy hauler with an included 200-watt solar panel, 1,000-watt inverter, and 30-amp MPPT charge controller. The PLĀ is offered as a travel trailer (no slideouts) and a fifth-wheel in 10 floorplans.
The fifth-wheels sport an optional slide-out window seat in the bedroom. Standard is a cableless rear ramp door with nonslip tread and loading lights, a Firefly touchscreen control panel, an MB Quart stereo with interior and exterior speakers, blackout roller shades, a 12-volt fridge, and a convection microwave. In the loo is a porcelain toilet and a one-piece fiberglass shower with an Extend-A-Shower and curtain for that extra elbow room. An all-weather package is standard.
Photo Credit: Domaine de la Chézatte and Luc Pirlet
Fine Pairings
True southerners might enjoy a glass of sweet tea with this meal, but wine lovers should look for crisp wines with a bit of acidity to go with fried foods such as catfish. Luc Pirlet Classique Chardonnay Unoaked 2021 is a slightly fruity wine from Languedoc, France, with hints of almond and peach ($13). Domaine de la Chézatte Cuvée Gabriel Sancerre 2020 is made from sauvignon blanc grapes, with a faint taste of citrus and mineral notes that come from the flinty soil of the Loire Valley of France, where the grapes are grown. It’s also good with Asian food ($30).
