Chef John Currence on the Best Football Tailgating Food
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.
Photograph by Angie Moser
John Currence is the chef of City Grocery and several other restaurants in Oxford, Mississippi, and is widely regarded as that town’s unofficial mayor. The self-proclaimed “huge” football fan fries up “a couple thousand chicken tenders” for obsessive Ole Miss fans hanging around the Grove on weekends. Here’s how Currence thinks tailgating food has changed over the years, what the scene is like nowadays, and what he reckons you should pack on game day (including a recipe for his “Mississippi caviar”).
How many football fans do you feed on fall weekends?
We have a massive tailgating delivery business. Any given morning by noon, latest, we feed between 2,000 and 2,500 people.
What do you sell?
A lot of folks tend to drift towards the same things at a lot of the tailgate setups you see here. It’s sort of a loop as far as dishes go: Chicken chicken tenders chicken tenders pimiento cheese chicken tenders…seven-layer dip! So we try to offer things on our menu that aren’t typical: muffulettas and shelf-stable things with no mayo, pickled veggies, olives, olive oil, cured meats, “Mississippi caviar” (black-eyed peas, peppers and onions). You want a lot of vinegar: That’s gonna knock down bacteria growth but still pack a whole lot of flavor. We try to rub up against convention a little bit while catering to what folks want.
How has tailgating culture changed since you were a kid?
I’ve been in Oxford for 23 years. Tailgate culture has gotten a little more streamlined. What’s amazing is that at a time where [it seems] Americans…can’t get any more lazy as a population, the amount of work and dedication that goes into putting on a tailgate every Saturday is unbelievable. My hat is off to every person that gets out there. You still got an ice chest full of drinks and food. It’s a tremendous amount of work.
Football is a big deal in New Orleans, where I’m from. I grew up going to Saints games, and “tailgates” were house parties. Tailgating was something that I was unfamiliar with till I went off to college in Virginia. A pickup truck would back up into a parking lot, they pulled a cooler down on the ground, folks hung around the car. There were no fold-up chairs or tents. Turn another game on the radio. Come game time, [you] shoved stuff back in the car, went off to the game.
Coming to Oxford in college and seeing the Grove for the first time, that was like the NFL of tailgating, compared to what I’d seen … Back when I started 20 years ago, nobody called [to order delivery]. You go out into the Grove now, there’s a dozen businesses built around setting up tents and flat screen TVs and chandeliers. Folks are very proud of what they put on.
Who’s your team?
The Saints. And I’ve always been an Ole Miss fan, Ole Miss my whole life … I want Ole Miss to win it all and have the biggest party ever seen.
What would you suggest a fan bring to his tailgate party?
Something shelf-stable. A lot of the food safety concerns go right out the window in our mayonnaise culture.
Muffuletta. Bourbon. That’s shelf-stable. And good at room temperature. Marinated bean salads. They pack so much flavor as well as protein and carbohydrates. [You get] nourished for the day. Folks drink; your energy’s being sapped just by being on your feet in the sun. I love all the bean salads: red beans or black or black-eyed peas, real simple vinaigrette and vegetables and it can sit out forever and ever. And smoked meats: We sell a tremendous amount of whole smoked beef tenderloin, pork loins, smoked, sliced. Hit with mostly mustard. Caramelized onions, yeast rolls for pork, for beef we do a whole spread.
Mississippi Caviar
Makes 1 gallon (about 32 servings)
3/4 cup diced bacon
2 tsp. finely chopped garlic
1/2 red onion, finely diced
2 lbs. black-eyed peas
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 quarts chicken stock
1 green bell pepper, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, roasted and finely dice
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
2 Tbsp. Creole-style mustard or grainy Dijon mustard
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
In a large pot over medium heat, cook bacon until fat has melted, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add peas and red pepper flakes, then add enough stock to just barely cover the mixture. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer, cooking until peas are tender, about 25 minutes.
When peas are cooked through, drain and cool. Transfer to a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Store chilled in a tightly wrapped or covered plastic container.
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What’s your tailgating grub of choice?
