“Thought y’all might like these while you wait,” said my waitress, placing a red paper-lined basket on the table in front of me. Inside, a glorious heap of small, round, golden-crisp, freshly fried pickle slices. “Don’t forget the tartar sauce.” She pointed to a small pot tucked behind an extra-large piece. “Y’all enjoy!” And didn’t I just, one warm, comforting tartar-dipped bite after another. I could hardly stop, despite the feast to come.
Overexcited to be experiencing my first taste of southern hospitality in the rural Deep South, I’d gone all-out with my order: a catfish sandwich, red beans and rice and a side of dam fries – the name a nod to the nearby reservoir, I later learned. “They’re topped with ranch and barbecue sauce, mustard, melted cheese and jalapeño slices. You want some? They’re real good. Trust me,” my server insisted, crouching down to add it to my order. She was right.
It was noon in sunny Louisiana, and I was having a hot sit-down lunch off Highway 473. At a gas station. The Curtis Grocery and Deli in Toro, Sabine Parish, to be exact. Behind the cashier’s desk, the quiet, no-frills dining room had filled up with families, workers and solo diners. Forest-green booth-style seating lined the wall opposite an open kitchen. Lacing the air, a hearty scent and satisfying sizzle of frying food.
Fried pickles are a gas station delicacy in the Deep South
(Ellie Seymour )
I was following a 450-mile Gas Station Eats trail for five days through No Man’s Land, a landscape of pine forests in the southwest corner of Louisiana on the border of east Texas. Also known as the Neutral Strip at one time, when the newly formed US fought over the border with Spain to buy Louisiana from France, the area became a lawless western frontier when armies were withdrawn.
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There are 21 stops on the trail – gas stations, convenience stores and diners – three in each of seven southwest Louisiana parishes, serving the best of the region’s homespun southern soul food dishes. These range from seafood near the Gulf of Mexico to barbecue and traditional Southern recipes in the region’s north. Each stop is signposted, listed on the trail website and a ‘No Man’s Land Trip Planner’ app, which includes other attractions, tours, events and more.
I walked my first Southern soul…
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