Everyone has one: one of those places that other people would never think to eat at for one reason or another, but they go because they know what lies beneath the surface. Being from Louisiana, there are many places I can tell you to go to that may seem sketchy at first, but the food makes up for the drab decorations or the slowly deteriorating building. Though I have been at the University of Alabama for almost four years, I had never had a place like that in Tuscaloosa. That is, until Maggie's Diner.
For 33 years, Maggie worked for Tuscaloosa City
Schools as a cafeteria cook[BL1]. She retired
in 1997, but because retirement was too boring for her, Maggie decided to
fulfill her lifelong dream of opening up her own restaurant. She opened Maggie’s Diner in 1998 and it has
been open ever since. Each weekday, Maggie serves close to 200 people from all
different walks of life. The food that
she makes serves as a connecting link between these people. Before my trips to Maggie’s, I knew food
connected people, but I did not realize to what extent it did so. I never thought that the food my parents
cooked would hold such a strong connection to the place they grew up. I now understand why my family’s cooking is
so different from the Cajun cooking my friend’s parents were so used to making. It is because southern cooking, soul food, is
not just a style of cooking, but rather, an entire cultural practice. It connects not only my family to Alabama,
but all those whose roots are in the South[BL2].
From the outside, Maggie's doesn't even look like a
restaurant. Its white brick façade is
cracked and weathered with age and its windows and door are blocked by black,
rusted bars. The only hints that
Maggie’s is a restaurant are the assorted signs and the faintly emanating aroma
of down-home southern cooking. In fact,
when I first showed up at Maggie’s, I was not sure I was at the right place. “Surely
this can’t be right,” I thought. It
wasn’t until I spotted my other classmates that I knew that this was where I
was expected to be and honestly I felt a mild sense of dread.
The interior is no less dilapidated than the
exterior. The lighting is dim and
everything is bathed in a washed-out color and yet there are immediately a
couple charms. An old kitchen island
houses the desserts right as you walk in.
Sweet potato pie, homemade peanut butter cookies, and huge slices of
caramel are all place on paper plates on the island. Seemingly antique furniture
lines the walls with paintings from local artists in the gaps. The smell outside is now tenfold and flooding
the room from behind a foggy glass on a cafeteria style food serving counter. Behind the counter is a myriad of vegetables,
breads, and meats. When talking to Maggie,
she’ll tell you that prides herself on being able to provide more variety than any
other restaurant in town. When I went
for the first time, however, I had no trouble choosing what to eat. I chose what my mom cooks for me when I’m at
home: mashed potatoes with gravy, fried chicken, and fried okra. I topped it off with Maggie’s flatbread
cornbread, something my dad makes when he doesn’t feel like making full-fledged
cornbread. It made me remember that my
parents are actually from Alabama and that much of the food Maggie prepares is
similar to what my parents grew up on and in turn, what I grew up on.
“I just cook the food we had when I was young. My mother taught me how to cook. I cooked because my mom was always working. I
was the oldest girl, so that’s what I did.
We were poor, but we did what we could.
We would always have canned fruits and vegetables. We always had something.” Maggie pauses for a moment.
“We used pork in our vegetables, but I don’t use it
because I want people to be able to eat here.
You know, some people don’t eat it for some reason or another.”
Talking to Maggie reminded me of my mother’s stories
of growing up. My mom also had to
prepare meals for her younger siblings because her mom was always working. After finding out about Maggie’s history with
cooking for her family, I felt more connected to the food because it reminded
me of my own mom and the food she cooks.
Southern food connects families[BL3]. It connects
countries and continents. It connects
cultures. It tells a history of travel
and tradition and the passing down of recipes. It connects entirely disparate
peoples under one overarching principle.
The principle being that this food recalls a sense of nostalgia that is
a pan-human experience. Because food can
evoke such emotion, we all form a connection to the food we eat. Food that can resonate so deeply with the
core of so many lives deserves to be called soul food.
Eating at Maggie’s Diner and researching it further has
helped me realized my heritage, especially in relation to food. I always thought that because I grew up in
Louisiana that Cajun food would make more of a connection with me. It was then I realized that when I was
homesick in Japan, I did not long for crawfish etouffee or jambalaya, but
rather, I wanted mac-and-cheese, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and fried chicken. That does not mean that I do not enjoy food
from Louisiana, but I feel that the food my parents grew up on and shared with
me definitely holds a much deeper connection, a connection that will definitely
be shared with my children in the future[BL4].
[BL1]This
is a nice touch. You providing background, history.
[BL2]This
whole paragraph is relevant and works great for a review or even a personal
essay about the restaurant, but I suggest that you reorganize your piece so
that this appears earlier. It could possibly even be your second paragraph.
[BL3]This
is a good opportunity to run witht he "family" theme, i.e., Maggie
relates information about her experiences cooking for her family.
[BL4]Brittany,
you have everything you need here, but you need to do some revision. You have a theme and you have done some
research, but you do way too much telling and not enough showing. Let Maggie come alive for your reader. See my comments throughout, and let me know
if you have questions.
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