"Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" was written in 1987 by Fannie Flagg. It weaves together the lives of several characters in the small town of Whistle Stop, Alabama, over several decades, primarily during the 1920s through the 1980s.
The story is narrated through a series of flashbacks, primarily by Evelyn Couch, a middle-aged woman who visits a nursing home and meets Ninny Threadgoode, an elderly woman with captivating stories about her past. Ninny recounts her experiences growing up in Whistle Stop, focusing on her aunt, Idgie Threadgoode, and Idgie's best friend, Ruth Jamison. The two ran the Whistle Stop Cafe, a gathering place famous for its fried green tomatoes and welcoming atmosphere. Their friendship defies societal norms, challenging the expectations placed on women in their time. The narrative explores themes of racism, love, friendship, and the struggles of the South during the Jim Crow era.
Key events include the bond that forms between Idgie and Ruth as they navigate their lives amid prejudice and hardship. As Evelyn learns about their strength and resilience, she begins to find her own sense of identity and empowerment. Ultimately, the novel celebrates friendship, the power of storytelling, and the transformative nature of love, leaving readers with a poignant sense of hope and the importance of community.
A movie adaption of the novel was released in 1991
The main topics in the story are:
Match the following quotations to the key vocabulary above:
1 - “Remember if people talk behind your back, it only means you are two steps ahead.”
2 - “I wonder how many people don't get the one they want, but end up with the one they're supposed to be with.”
3 - “You know, a heart can be broken, but it keeps on beating, just the same.”
4 - “It’s funny, when you're a child you think time will never go by, but when you hit about twenty, time passes like you're on the fast train to Memphis. I guess life just slips up on everybody. It sure did on me.”
5 - “You never know what's in a person's heart until they're tested, do you?”
6 - “It’s funny, most people can be around someone and they gradually begin to love them and never know exactly when it happened; but Ruth knew the very second it happened to her. When Idgie had grinned at her and tried to hand her that jar of honey, all these feelings that she had been trying to hold back came flooding through her, and it was at that second in time that she knew she loved Idgie with all her heart.”
7 - “I believe in God, but I don't think you have to go crazy to prove it.”
8 - “People can't help being what they are any more than a skunk can help being a skunk. Don't you think if they had their choice they would rather be something else? Sure they would. People are just weak.”
9 - “The Whistle Stop Cafe opened up last week, right next door to me at the post office, and owners Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison said business has been good ever since. Idgie says that for people who know her not to worry about getting poisoned, she is not cooking.”
10 - “That’s what I'm living on now, honey, dreams, dreams of what I used to do.”
11 -“…nobody was ever really ready to turn off their mother's machine, no matter what they thought; to turn off the light of their childhood and walk away, just as if they were turning out a light and leaving a room.”
12 - “And so, as quietly as he had lived, he slipped out of town, leaving only a note behind:
Well, that's that. I'm off, and if you don't believe I'm leaving, just count the days I'm gone. When you hear the phone not ringing, it'll be me that's not calling. Goodbye, old girl, and good luck.”
13 - “I’m too young to be old and too old to be young.”
14 - “People didn't call blacks names anymore, at least not to their faces. Italians weren't wops or dagos, and there were no more kikes, Japs, chinks, or spics in polite conversation. Everybody had a group to protest and stick up for them. But women were still being called names by men. Why? Where was our group? It's not fair.”
15 - “If there is such a thing as complete happiness, it is knowing that you are in the right place.”
Conversation time:
Do you think food is important in our and other cultures?
What are your favourite Italian LOCAL dishes?
Do you you have a dish you were used to eat in your childhood and you don’t eat anymore?
Is there a particular story or memory behind this recipe?
Is there a café, or a restaurant, you feel particularly “yours”? Do you feel nostalgic about it? Why?
United Food of America
With the help of the pictures, fill in the map with the names of the ten following traditional, local recipes:
Solutions are available here:
Cooking Time: Fried Green Tomatoes - The originale recipe from Alabama
Let’s prepare, cook and taste the original Green Fried Tomatoes!
Ingredients (serves 6)
6 large green tomatoes
3 large eggs
1 cup of milk
1 ½ cup of all-purpose flour
1 cup of cornmeal
2 cups of bread crumbs
some salt
½ teaspoon of ground pepper
vegetable oil for frying
Directions:
Slice tomatoes 1,5 cm thick. Discard the ends.
Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-sized bowl.
Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper on another plate.
Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip tomatoes into milk and egg mixture; dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.
Heat oil in a large deep pan. Place tomatoes in hot oil in batches of 4 or 5, to prevent them from touching; fry until crisp and golden brown on one side, then flip and fry on other side.
Transfer fried tomatoes to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat with remaining tomatoes. Serve and enjoy!
You can download the recipe here:
What role(s) do cafés, restaurants and other type of locals (discos, pubs, diners etc) play in our society?
Movie time. Watch the trailer, then complete the activity below, about the four main characters in both the novel and the film.
Four key women in “Fried Green Tomatoes”: RUTH - NINNY - IDGIE - EVELYN. Who is who?
...this morning we cooked and tasted Fried Green Tomatoes at .... Babylon Café
Riccardo Zambon, 26 October 2024
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