Boiled Peanuts, the Caviar of the South

During Yahoo Y’All week, we’re celebrating the food culture of the American South. Expect profiles of cooks, makers, and bartenders, plus recipes showcasing the classics (and twists on those classics) you love.

Today marks the last day of the season that you can order your green peanuts from Hardy, a family-owned Hawkinsville, Georgia-based farm. So go—git!

Dug up early and boiled for eating no more than a few days later in order to preserve their moisture content, green peanuts are sweet and soft. In the video above, proprietor Alex Hardy says Northerners tend not to like boiled peanuts, a classic Southern snack, but that his have “converted a lot of the Yankees.”

For their dedication, the Hardy boys—Alex, Kenneth, Ken, Brad and Randy—were recipients of the Southern Foodways Alliance’s 2011 Keeper of the Flame Award, given to heroes and heroines of traditional Southern foodways. “We do one thing, and we do it good,” says Brad. And it doesn’t get much more traditional than boiled peanuts. “It’s part of the culture,” says Ken. “It’s just something that’s been handed down and eaten forever. I’d hate for my kids or their kids not to have good boiled peanuts.”

“This is the caviar of the south,” one woman exclaimed at a Hardy’s roadside peanut stand.

The Hardy recipe is straightforward: green peanuts, water, and salt. This year, despite being unableto pronounce it, they tested a sriracha version of boiled peanuts—and won the statewide Flavor of Georgia competition.

Watch the Southern Foodways Alliance video above for the full story of Hardy Farms peanuts.

More Southern food stories:
5 Southern Desserts You Need to Try
What Is Jewish Southern Food?
Hopelessly Hooked on Pimento Cheese

Are you going to order your green peanuts today?