Fried Dill Pickles

At the Hollywood Cafe in Tunica, Mississippi—where fried dill pickles were created in 1969 and where enthusiasts still flock just to order them—this unusual dish is served with a secret ranch dipping sauce primarily as an appetizer before plate lunch specials of fried catfish, fried shrimp, fried chicken, and the like. (As for the actual conception of the specialty, “One day we’d ’bout run out of food and were hungry, so somebody just cut up some dill pickles, and battered ’em, and fried ’e