Gas Industry Gives Pa. Stores Taste For The South

Gas industry gives Pa. stores taste for the South Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 9:50 am, Wednesday, April 24, 2013 Thanks to an influx of Southerners filling jobs in north-central Pennsylvania's booming natural gas industry, a region not often placed on many culinary maps is finding itself flush with the foodways found below the Mason-Dixon line, arguably the source of some of the nation's richest culinary traditions. Suddenly, convenience stores stock sweet tea, barbecue is a hot seller, and the almost Norman Rockwell-quaint Country Store in Pennsdale even makes its own boudin, a pork sausage popular in Louisiana. New drilling technologies have helped them unlock the vast reserves of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, a geological formation deep underground that extends through much of Pennsylvania. Some longtime restaurants have tweaked their menus, too, adding spicier dishes and the occasional special smoked-pit barbecue cookout. Acme, which opened about three years ago, has a menu that pulls together barbecue styles from around the country, though brisket is the hot seller with gas workers. Store manager Kathy Fleming said Hurley's also now stocks mayonnaise from Blue Plate, a brand that dubs itself the "Legendary Spread of the South." All these changes have made eating easier for people like Cameron Simon, who came from Houston four years ago to be a regional operations manager for Stallion Oilfield Services in Williamsport. [...] recently, making Tex-Mex food at home was a challenge. On this overcast afternoon, the pungent smell of jambalaya wafted out of the truck, and workers trickled over for lunch.