Southern Breeze 2007 Summer Issue - (Page 46) t boiled peanut phenomenon Highway 98 and Highway 85 off the I-10 corridor in northwest Florida are bustling with stands selling everything from peanuts (boiled and roasted) to fresh produce. Some are nothing more than a chair and a boiling pot, whereas some are more elaborately structured tents. All offer a flavorful treat of one kind or another, along with a chance to meet as interesting a cast of characters as can be found. (Top, left) A handful of boiled peanuts just waiting to be slurped. (Below) Speedy offers a cup full of his cajun boiled peanuts—along with lots of other fare—at his stand in Panama City Beach. 46 s o u t h e r n b re e z e . c o m IMAGES (LEFT TO RIGHT): THIS PAGE, STUART HOLT, KARIM SHAMSI-BASHA. IMAGES NEXT PAGE, STUART HOLT, KARIM SHAMSI-BASHA, STUART HOLT. he first stand I came to was run by Dave and Dean. Dave hung dry wall for a living and his buddy, Dean, was a mechanic. Their approach to the boiled peanut business was relaxed and laid back. Their peanut stand off of Highway 98 near Crawfordville consisted of one large beach umbrella and two lawn chairs. They boiled their peanuts in old beer kegs. (They still had the Anheuser Busch engraving on them). Each keg sat on a small propane-fueled burner—apparently a must-have tool of the trade. Dave said kegs made the best cooking pot not only because they could hold a lot of peanuts but also because they were sturdy, would last a long time, and withstand the high temperatures. Dave and Dean were using green peanuts pulled fresh from the ground that hadn’t been dried out yet. They said that green peanuts are available only during harvest time—May through November. Dave and Dean strongly advised against the long-term storage of green boiled peanuts. Spoils the flavor, they said, and the already-soft peanut will become “mushy” which is not desirable. Then there are the raw peanuts. That’s the kind Bill, a Louisiana native, uses in his business. Now Bill’s stand near Panacea, Florida was a bit more formal. Where Dave and Dean had set up some pots, a few umbrellas and lawn chairs near the New Light Church Road intersection, Bill had himself a large trailer with a tent built on to it. He had four or five pots cooking at the same time while keeping alive his fishing tackle and pocket knife business on the side. Bill’s cooking pots were much smaller than the kegs and came http://southernbreeze.com
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