Over the past year we have had the chance to ask most of country musics biggest stars what their favorite food is. Despite all of their fame and riches, I was surprised at how many of them enjoy modest, simple homestyle meals.
When Blake Shelton is on the road he wont let the tour bus pass a Cracker Barrel, where he will almost always order country fried steak. He called it the pinnacle of Southern food. Jason Aldean said he gets his favorite treat every Christmas sausage balls. He likes to nibble on them while watching a Christmas Story. Trisha Yearwood is a great cook, and her specialties are sweet potato pie and pecan pie.
Brad Mates of Emerson Drive said he loves mashed potatoes. Considering she is a redneck woman, it is not too surprising Gretchen Wilson chooses pizza, with a Jim Beam chaser. Although he is not a vegetarian per se, when asked, Randy Owen (formerly of the group Alabama) said his favorite food is vegetables.
Dierks Bentley could eat Mexican food every meal. Montgomery Gentrys Eddie Montgomery claimed if he could choose his last meal it would be chicken and dumplings. Shania Twain loves any kind of pasta meal. Gary Allan likes coming to the Northeast because his favorite meal is fresh lobster. Sammy Kershaw is from southern Louisiana so it comes as no surprise his favorite food is boiled crawfish.
George Strait has a ranch in Texas, where he raises cattle and rides horses, and when hes done for the day, hell sit down to a big rare steak. On the other side of the spectrum are vegetarians Kellie Pickler and Carrie Underwood. Picklers favorite food is french fries and Underwoods favorite is cheese pizza. Jessica Simpson said she loves anything fried.
As slender as she is, it is interesting that Taylor Swift loves to finish every meal with a slice of her favorite dessert, cheesecake. Keith Urban craves sushi, and makes it a point to visit a sushi bar at each stop of his tour. Joe Nichols is also a sushi nut.
It is said Elvis Presley had a cook at his Graceland mansion that would make him fried banana and peanut butter sandwiches. Some of todays biggest stars are also hooked on unusual sandwiches. Alan Jacksons favorite is a pineapple and mayonnaise sandwich. Toby Keith enjoys fried bologna sandwiches. Martina McBride loves meatball sandwiches while Kenny Chesney is a big fan of the peanut butter and pasta sandwich.
Jimmy Lane is the 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. disc jockey and program director at WCTY (97.7 FM) in Norwich. E-mail him at jimmy@wcty.com