A Mississippi road trip: Cruising the Hot Tamale Trail
The Mississippi Delta isn’t just the cradle of the blues, said Alexandra Marvar in the
Chicago Tribune. “It’s also the spiritual home of a beloved snack,” and thanks to the Southern Foodways Alliance, you don’t have to miss a single restaurant or roadside shack that serves it. A hot tamale is spiced cornmeal and meat (usually pork) that’s been wrapped in a corn husk, and lore has it that the hot tamale took hold in the Delta early last century, when laborers from Latin
America who were brought in to pick cotton carried tamales in coffee cans into the fields. Below, four destinations on the Hot Tamale Trail that you shouldn’t miss.
Hicks’ World Famous Just down the road from the spot where bluesman Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil lies “arguably the best tamale joint in the Mississippi Delta.” Eugene Hicks serves his hot tamales by the plate, along with chili and cheese, coleslaw, and baked beans. 305 S. State St., Clarksdale, (662) 624-9887 Delta Meat Market If you visit Mississippi’s own Grammy museum, which opened in 2016, you’ll want to eat at the market where James Beard Award semifinalist Cole Ellis does the cooking. He sells his hot tamales vacuum-packed and ready to go, or doused in a tomato broth and served on site. 215 Cotton Row, Cleveland, (662) 444-6328
Doe’s Eat Place Located in the town that calls itself the Hot Tamale Capital of the World, this humble roadside institution is often hailed as one of America’s best steak houses. A quintessential meal here consists of a salad, a steak, and a plate of thin all-beef hot tamales, made from the original 1941 recipe. 502 Nelson St., Greenville, (662) 334-3315