Looking for gifts with taste? Try a taste of Catfish Country!
I never really thought about giving specialty food until I opened a package of maple-pumpkin butter from New England last Christmas. Maple anything is not a Catfish Country item, so it was nice to have something other than muscadine jelly or Dallas County honey with breakfast.
Recently, I noticed some searches on this blog with the words “catfish holiday gifts.” I entered the search box and found that there are a LOT of catfish items for sale.
Catfish lovers would be pleased!
So would food lovers who have never had anything like Taste of Gourmet’s Smoked Catfish Pate and Catfish with Capers. The paté is an appetizer that’s ready-to-serve and won an outstanding hors d’oeuvre award in New York some years ago. It’s described as a “recipe borrowed from Scotland and perfected in The Crown’s kitchen.” The Crown is a popular restaurant in Indianola, Mississippi, just one of many Catfish Country towns!
Now, surf on over to The Mississippi Gift Company and check out the Corsair Fish Fry Breading. The description says it is handmade in Mississippi by a gourmet food entrepreneur, and a crisp fish fry is guaranteed! If there’s a cook on your list, catfish recipes are available in the Classic Catfish Cookbook.
From Mississippi, head “east” to The Whistlestop Café in Irondale, Alabama, and order a batch of their famous fish batter. The Whistlestop is where Fannie Flagg got her idea for her novel-turned-movie, “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Café.”
Now, if you want to make someone’s present really easy to enjoy, try the Lemon-Peppered Catfish at Omaha Steaks. The website describes these catfish as farm-raised, but I couldn’t find a place on the website that said WHERE they were farm raised, so I just sent an email to their contact person and asked.
“Raised in the USA,” was the quick reply! I mean I sent that email at night and didn’t expect an answer until at least the next work day. But I got it in about an hour! That’s what I call web customer service!
Well, I better get going…still have gifts to order before it’s too late! Enjoy your holiday surfing, and let me know if I’ve overlooked anything truly tasty!
