If you haven’t yet put fork to a mouth-watering warm tomato tart, you haven’t lived. Reason enough to make a beeline for the Alabama border, a Deep South state that just might woo you with buttermilk fried chicken, cole slaw, barbecue, and sausage gumbo. Pack your appetite, folks, when it comes to cooking they don’t mess around in these parts.

Not surprisingly, down Mobile way and along the Gulf Coast, fresh seafood plays a starring role on many a menu, from coconut fried shrimp and crab soup to tuna, snapper, crab class and an abundance of oysters. Hungry travelers will also find a range of traditional staples at most eating establishments, from Po’boys and hush puppies to grits and greens. This close to New Orleans, also look for hearty gumbos - seafood and otherwise - to make an appearance along with delectable pecan pie.

Neither can one come this far south and overlook the importance of catfish, an important player at many a restaurant and cafe across the state, along with barbecue, the stuff of life (and sandwiches). Farther north, tuck into crawfish, peach pie just out of the oven and those famous fried green tomatoes at some Birmingham cafe(made more famous, of course, by the film of the same name). Wash it all down with the drink of choice around here, sweet tea. For something a slightly stiffer, consider an Alabama Slammer or an Alabama Fizz, or visit one of the state’s dozen or so wineries which bottle varietals like White Zinfandel, Riesling, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese.