I was chatting with my buddy, Steve Davenport, the other morning. He made a point that struck home and did so in a manner that, frankly, I figured it needed a column.

Boiled peanuts are a snack so perfect and so in time with the South’s nature and experience only God could have created it. I’m fairly certain it was on the eighth day, right after He decided the original make up of the SEC. God himself, in my opinion, kicks back on a regular basis along with Lewis Grizzard, Erk Russell, Bear Bryant, and Pat Dye with a big cup of boiled peanuts, a cold coke, and listens to Larry Munson call the GA Bama game. God also pronounces it as “bolled p’nuts.”

Now, we all know tomatoes are best from a roadside stand, in the same note boiled peanuts should never be purchased in a can from the grocery store. In my view that’s worse than wearing a bathing suit to church. It’s sacrilege. Boiled peanuts should come from an old guy sitting at the four-way stop in the middle of nowhere, who only takes cash. Then along about the first of September you can find them on the way to any good football team. So, the Dawgs, Tide, Auburn, Clemsonand South Carolina lead the pack in this realm. Sorry Mizzou.

Boiled peanuts in these glorious roadside stands come in two varieties and in two flavors. You have the green boiled peanut and the regular boiled peanut. Now, green peanuts can honestly best be savored by eating it whole. Shell and all. The regular boiled peanut is made from aged peanuts. Typically, the aficionado pops the whole nut, shell and all, into his mouth, enjoying the shells seasonings. The shell is then cracked open with his teeth, allowing the delicious morsels in the inside to fall into his gullet. Soft and tasty! Now the recipe is usually spicy or regular. Regular is, more often than not, just a lot of salt and spicy is something akin to a creole seasoning or blend of pepper, red pepper flakes, salt and other things.

My lovely wife is from south Alabama and is the one responsible for my love of the boiled peanuts. They were never big in my family growing up. But then my family is mostly from the mountains. So, while we love white half runners and silver corn, I don’t think we had many peanuts. My wife will tell you that the best boiled peanut is with a Dr. Pepper and Eli Gold on the radio while Auburn is being beaten thoroughly.

We once hosted a party to celebrate our son’s baptism. One of the sides we served were some boiled peanuts I had made, much to the dismay of my mother. However, about halfway through the party we realized that Archbishop Haverland (of St. Stephen’s ACC in Athens) had not moved past the bowl! I’m not sure he ate anything else that day… He had never tried boiled peanuts before coming to our house one night where he discovered he loved them!

In short there is nothing like boiled peanuts enjoyed whether on the boat searching for white bass in the evenings, watching SEC football, or simply relaxing on the porch rocking in time with the crickets and katydids with your wife.

—Outdoors columnist James Pressley can be reached at jameskpressley@gmail.com.