if it's not Duke's, you're wrong

The big debate this year is not mask or no mask. Or China or Russia. Or even Joe or DT.

"Isn't it about time," one of my friends said recently, as we are knee deep in the pandemic and riots and economic collapse and a thousand other things, "that we start arguing about whether it is Duke's or Miracle Whip?"

In case you're not a Southerner, those are fighting words. And the clear answer--the only answer--is Duke's.

Food writer and stylist Ashley Strickland Freeman has written a book that details using the preferred Southern condiment. I haven't read it. I'm waiting on the tomatoes to come in so I can bake some sourdough bread, pick some fresh lettuce and some green onions, cut into a Cherokee Purple tomato, and slather on the Duke's.

Full confession--I very rarely eat mayonnaise on anything. But the above-referenced sandwich is very much in my pantheon of must-haves.

Here at Stargrove we're planning ahead. Collecting our ingredients for the perfect tomato sandwich. We'll have to don our masks to get our paws on some Duke's, well ahead of what looks like a bountiful harvest.

We might even spring for some artisan bacon. Some gouda cheese. A few fresh jalapenos.

A glass of red wine.

Some things are worth the risk.