Pucker Up!

I meet a lot of great and interesting people in this business.

That was certainly the case a couple of weeks ago.

I was wandering around downtown Birmingham working on a story when I ambled into Bailey’s Corner Conoco on First Avenue North.

Inside, owner Steve Bailey was propped up behind the counter, pretty much as he has been for the past 32 years.

I was in the middle of making small talk with Steve when he suddenly blurted out, “you wanna try a pig’s lip?”

“Uh, no thanks,” I responded.

We continued to chit-chat for a little while, but during a break in the action, Steve tried again:

“Wanna try a pig’s lip?”

Now, I’ve been living and working in Mississippi and Alabama for the past 12 years, but in all my travels around the South, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pickled pig’s lip.

They come in large glass jars with a toxic-red colored pickle juice inside.

Ever since I moved away from home to go to college at age 18, I’ve lived by the principle “I’ll try anything once,” so I think it really surprised Steve when I said, “sure, I’ll try one.”

Before I knew it, Steve grabbed a jar of pickled pigs’ lips off the shelf, handed me a paper towel and a fork, and popped the jar open.

Apparently, pickled pigs’ lips are considered a delicacy in Southeast Louisiana and Southwest Mississippi where locals keep them on the counter as bar food.

For some reason, the trend hasn’t caught on here just yet, but many people who grew up eating them flock to Bailey’s Corner to buy a jar week after week.

The first thing you notice about a pig’s lip is that it’s enormous.

Then you notice the pores where hair had been plucked from the lip.

They really look like huge tongues.

And if that doesn’t make you ready to dig in, I don’t know what will.

Well, after a moment of silent prayer, I took a bite.

Then I took another, and another.

You know what?

It wasn’t that bad.

I’m not sure that I would add them to my weekly diet, but as a pork-lover, I thought it was pretty good.

It kind of tasted like a fatty pork chop with a spicy pickle flavor.

As I swallowed back the last bite, I turned to Steve.

“So you eat these all the time?”

“Nope,” he responded, “never had one in my life.”