Since this is the season to indulge, Memphis notables (and one former Memphian) were asked, “What is an essential something you must eat or drink at this time of year or it won’t feel like the holidays?”
Unapologetic founder James “IMAKEMADBEATS” Dukes: “Probably my dad’s peach cobbler. His peach cobbler is pretty famous. It’s the attention to detail in the crust. He’ll add pineapple to it [the filling]. He just has a very unique approach to peach cobbler. During the holidays, people will legit ask it to be sent to other cities. If people are swinging through town and happen to be there, they will request it.”
Paula & Raiford’s Disco owner Paula Raiford:
“I have to have the homemade pound cake. My best friend’s [Tiffany Conrad] cousin (Angela Gaines makes it). It is dee-lish. One, it is homemade. She doesn’t bake as much as she used to. She always does it for Thanksgiving and Christmas. You know you’re going to get it and it makes it taste better because you know you’re going to get it for Christmas. You don’t get it year round.”
Grammy-winning engineer/producer Matt Ross-Spang:
“I eat it all year round, but the first thing that comes to mind is gravy. I just love it so much. You put it on everything: the turkey, the dressing, the ham, the rolls, the green beans.”
Memphis Whistle executive chef Kyle Gairhan:
“Latkes and stuffing. I’m Jewish. Those are the two things I think of during the holidays. Stuffing starts around Thanksgiving. And latkes for Hanukkah. [Made from] sourdough, onions, celery, butter.”
Former city Mayor AC Wharton:
“Eggnog. [With] Southern Comfort. In my hometown, there was no alcohol, so my mother made boiled custard. But there was a bootlegger who lived next door to us. And the only time Daddy spiked his boiled custard was at Christmas. He slipped across the fence to the neighbor to get a little nip in his boiled custard, which made it eggnog. The difference between boiled custard is just that. No spices and certainly no alcohol. But you could get a dispensation on Christmas to put a half teaspoon of bootleg stuff in it. And that made it eggnog. But only my daddy could do that. Now that I’m grown, I can have eggnog. When I was a kid, it was boiled custard.”
Performer Al Kapone:
“My mom’s baked spaghetti. My mom’s baked spaghetti is just amazing. It’s always festive. Number one, she bakes it. Number two, she puts these cheddar cheese chunks in it. I don’t know what all the other ingredients she puts in, but the distinctive sharp cheddar cheese chunks, when you go in and get you a helping of spaghetti, you get those nice, melted sharp cheddar cheese chunks in every bite. It lights you up like a Christmas tree. That’s how good it is. My mom’s spaghetti is a staple for any holiday. When she cooks that, I’m excited. I’m in a festive mood.”
Dave’s Bagels owner/founder Dave Scott:
“No-bake cookies. One hundred percent. My wife [makes them]. It started with my mother. My mother’s been making them for years, my whole life. You’ve probably had them before. They’re chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies. Blend it all together in a little pot. Drop off little drops of that while it’s hot on the wax paper and it cools into a cookie. Whenever I see those around I know the holidays are close.”
Wrestler Jerry Lawler:
“It’s just been a long-time tradition of mine. When I tell people this, they say, ‘Oh, my gosh. Are you kidding me?’ It’s the old tried-and-true Claxton fruitcake. I have to have the Claxton. This year, back before Thanksgiving, they had them at Sam’s Club. Big packs of three of them. I’ve gone through one. I’ve got two brand-new ones to finish off before Christmas. I think the thing about the Claxton is there really is no ‘cake.’ It’s just all fruit. I don’t know what they’ve done to the fruit to make it almost like a solid piece of custard. Very little cake. Just all sugary fruit. People hate fruitcake. I don’t know what the deal is. Johnny Carson used to tell this joke on his show: There’s only one fruitcake in the world and it gets re-gifted every year to different people. It never gets eaten. It just gets regifted.”
Wrestler Jimmy Hart, professional wrestler/former Memphian now living in Tampa, Florida:
“I don’t drink, but just eggnog. I think it’s according to where you live. Hot chocolate if you’re up north. I think eggnog. You only see it during Christmas time, don’t you? If it’s Christmas time, it’s eggnog with or without liquor.”
Note: On New Year’s Eve, Hart and Lawler will reunite to sing — yes, sing, not wrestle — at King Jerry Lawler’s Hall of Fame Bar & Grille on Beale Street. “We’re going to do about an hour-long set,” Lawler says. “We’re going to sing in the New Year.”
Chef/owner of Alcenia’s restaurant, B. J. Chester-Tamayo: “Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Easter, you must have chicken and dressing. In the Chester household no ifs, ands, or buts. As long as I have lived, I’ve had chicken and dressing. Except maybe once when she was in the hospital, I had my mom’s. Out of 67 years of my life, if it wasn’t her chicken and dressing she made, it was her recipe.”
How was the chicken and dressing she bought?
“It was absolutely terrible.”
Grammy-winning record producer Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell: “I smoke a turkey every year and I have been for 10 years or probably longer. Turkey. It just has to happen.”
And what does Mitchell like on his turkey?
“Oh, bourbon. Four Roses bourbon, please.”
Rendezvous restaurant owner John Vergos:
“Except for this year since my mother isn’t doing it, we have to have spanakopita. Spinach pie. I think that she’s recognized among the Greeks in Memphis as making the best spanakopita. She doesn’t write it [the recipe] down. You have to watch her. She’s fine. We’re just doing it at my sister’s and we’re just not going to have it this year. We had it Thanksgiving and we’re not having it Christmas.”
So, how does Vergos feel about that?
“It’s just not Christmas.”