At this time of year, we have several ingredients in abundance, but none so voluptuous as the star-studded tomato and the fresh-dug potato.
Of course, like tobacco, no one born in Madison County would be caught using the first syllables of these ingredients or ending them in the habitual “o” that other regions know them by. It’s “taters,” “maters” and “baccer,” just like the evening meal is called “supper,” and the noon meal, the largest of the day, is called “dinner.” And while we’re at it, anyone who says “y’all” is bound to be from out of town. In our hills and hollers it’s “you’uns,” and the possessive is “your’un.” But I diverge from the subject.
There are many things you can do with taters ’n’ maters, both alone and in combination. You can fry up a mess of taters and serve them on a plate with fresh-sliced maters. You can layer them in a casserole dish and slather with cheese and bake in an oven until bubbly and fork-tender. You can whip up a tater salad and serve it on top of fresh mater slivers. You can cube up your taters and mix them with a mater pasta sauce and stick them in the oven until savory and crispy. You can throw them both, whole, in an oven dish surrounding a roasting hen and layer on herbs and garlic, and set the timer for a few hours away, trying not to let your mouth water too heavily until it’s time to serve the goodness forth. Or you can go with that simple favorite of children and old folks alike, as well as everyone in between…