Fried Fish & Family Affairs
May 02, 2025 at 04:02AMSarah Golibart Gorman wasn’t born on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, but she grew up there—a “come here” rather than a “from here.” Not that any of that mattered years later, when she slid into a booth with her family and ordered drum ribs for the first time. A fascinating look at the underappreciated delicacy of an underappreciated part of the country.
In A South You Never Ate, southern folklorist Bernard Herman writes about a conversation he had with Violet Trower, a Shore native who grew up eating drum head stew. Trower said, “That’s where the sweetness is, next to the bone of a fish.” And Trower was right. Underneath a fried, golden crust lay sweet, juicy fish. Needing no dressing, the tartar sauce stayed lidded. Perfectly salty, reflective of the bay and the ocean from which it came, the drum was a taste of home I tried to memorize, allowing its briny flakiness to anchor me.
More picks from The Bitter Southerner
Mothering at the End of the World
“We went to North Carolina to see how mothers carry on when their world comes crashing down. Sometimes they hold each other.”
Here Be Serpents
“A lifelong and morbid fear of snakes held me captive—until something much scarier raised its ugly head.”
Black Earth
“In North Carolina, a Black farmer purchased the plantation where his ancestors were enslaved— and is reclaiming his family’s story, his community’s health, and the soil beneath his feet.”
Woman in the Woods
“To me, the woods are an intricate tapestry in which I always try to see the bigger picture.”
The Only Home He Ever Knew
“Today, photo geeks the world over consider Paul Kwilecki a master of the documentary form.”
My Favorite Restaurant Served Gas
“They’d sit in the front cab of a raggedy Ford listening to a Tina Turner tape. I’d sit in the back, next to burnt orange pine needles, a few broken lawnmowers, and all forms of rust.”
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2025/05/01/fried-fish-family-affairs/
via IFTTT
Watch