I live in a small town in south Georgia called Thomasville. It’s the type of place people describe as “charming” and “quaint”. (And it is those things, even if the locals don’t prefer those words.) It’s a town with lots of funny quirks and strange traditions that “we’ve been doing forever.”
One of my favorite traditions here is the annual chicken pilau dinner at the Thomasville History Center.
When I first saw this word, I pronounced it “pill-ouw”. I was quickly corrected- here in the south, it’s pronounced “per-lieu”. Chicken pilau is basically just chicken and rice, cooked down into a delicious porridge consistency. There are many many variations of this dish- some include vegetables or other meats, some include different spices.
The pilau served at the annual dinner is very basic: white rice, chicken, salt, and pepper. Each to-go container comes with a packet of Saltine crackers and (sometimes) a side of green beans- this year, it was coleslaw.
The dinner is held every year in November on election day. The pilau is cooked on the grounds of the Thomasville History Center in ancient looking cauldrons. Volunteers of all ages take tickets, cook meals, and pass out dinner plates. It’s a “to-go” type deal- you drive through the line and take it home with you.
Hundreds of people enjoy this once-a-year treat, making it a huge fundraiser for the History Center. You will inevitably see people you know waiting in line, who will ask you about “your mom and them.”
It’s a comfort to me to see so many people lined up around the block to support historic preservation and community programs. I look forward to waiting in line after work once a year with the windows down, the smell of chicken pilau wafting in, the happy people all feeding their families the same thing on this one special day.
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