"Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!"

I'm a good Keeper of Secrets. That is, unless the secret could possibly lead to injury or death; or the destruction of someone else's property. My rock solid loyalty begins to waiver when a person's dark side surfaces.

What does that have to do with this plate of food? Well, its contents were going to be "my little secret." In other words, I wanted to keep you guessing. I was fairly certain that my seven "followers" would think it was a plate of chocolate chip cookies. I pictured them drooling over the very thought of the fresh-from-the-oven sweet treats.

I then wondered if they'd have the same reaction if they knew it was Fried Green Tomatoes. I suspected not. How many people relish the thought of eating hard unripe tomatoes dipped in thick batter and fried in two inches of fat? That's a little too Southern for most people.

But, like Gomer used to say on The Andy Griffith Show,"Surprise, surprise, surprise!" Fried Green Tomatoes aren't from the South after all. I did a bit of research (I'm way too curious about things that don't really matter.) and discovered that they originated in Italy in the 1600s. They made their way into the American culinary scene in the Northeast and Midwest in the early-to-mid 20th century. There may be a link to Jewish immigrants since recipes were found in a number of early Jewish cookbooks. I've yet to research the Italian/Jewish connection but it's on my list of things to do.