Marlene Geren pours the cooked ingredient into a pan of vanilla wafers and cut bananas to complete the Countryside Cafe's famous banana pudding. Sandy Owens, near right, and Ingris Sargento assisted in the process.Best Banana Pudding In Tennessee
10. Jack of Hearts Bar-B-Que in Spring Hill9. Muddy’s Bake Shop in Memphis8. Loveless Cafe in Nashville7. Cozy Corner in Memphis6. Mama’s Farmhouse in Pigeon Forge5. Countryside Cafe in Ooltewah4. Arnold’s Country Kitchen in Nashville3. Central BBQ in Memphis2. Sweet P’s Barbeque and Soul House in Knoxville1. Peter D.’s in MurfreesboroSource: Only In Your StateTo read what was written about each restaurant, go to www.onlyinyourstate.com/tennessee/tn-banana-pudding.
National Banana Pudding Festival
› When: Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 1-2› Where: Centerville River Park, 111 Dickson Road, Centerville, Tenn.› Admission: $5 each day, free parking› Highlights: National cook-off and the Puddin’ Path, where visitors can sample a variety of banana puddings made by local nonprofits for $5 per person.Information: bananapuddingfest.org
Sandy Owens, near right, Ingris Sargento and Marlene Geren begin to prepare the Countryside Cafe's famous banana pudding in a back kitchen at the Ooltewah restaurant.
Sandy Owens, left, Ingris Sargento and Marlene Geren work together to prepare the Countryside Cafe's famous banana pudding.Mornings at Ooltewah's Countryside Cafe begin with whipping up a big batch of banana pudding to serve the lunch crowd. It's the first of three batches made every day from scratch - approximately 60 servings total - because the Southern classic is in such demand.
"It's the recipe my grandmother, Emma Walker, and my mother, Imogene Green, used," says Marlene Geren, Countryside owner and the third generation to whom the family recipe has been passed.
Geren, her cousin, Sandy Owens, and staff member Bris Sargento are the only three who know the closely guarded recipe, which Geren wouldn't disclose.
"It's a good 100 years old because my grandmother was born before the 1900s and she started cooking as a young girl," Geren explains. "I can remember her telling me she had used her mother's recipe, and she didn't like the way it turned out, so she added some things and changed it up. We make our pudding fresh and serve it warm. I think that's what has made it so special."
Classic banana pudding is a creamy concoction of layered vanilla wafers, sliced bananas and homemade pudding (often called the custard). It's a Southern comfort food that's so popular, Tennessee has its own National Banana Pudding Festival in Hickman County each fall, where 10 restaurants compete in a pudding cook-off. Peter D's in Murfreesboro currently holds bragging rights for the country's top banana pudding.
Tennesseans' propensity for pudding recently inspired a Top 10 list of the state's best restaurant-made banana puddings. Called Only in Your State, it has been circulating on Facebook for the last two weeks. Coming in at No. 5 was Countryside Cafe, the only Chattanooga location in the list.
On Facebook, Pat Burrell of Collegedale described Countryside's dessert as "hot and creamy out of the oven."
"I eat at Countryside approximately every nine to 10 days," she says. "I like their banana pudding because it is always freshly made hot and they serve it in a bigger bowl with whipped cream. Yummy."
But readers didn't hesitate to give shout-outs to numerous other restaurants they thought merited a ranking. Among them: Calhoun's in Lenoir City, Fall Creek Falls Restaurant, Elliston Place Soda Shop in Nashville, Cool Cafe in Franklin, Big Fatty's in Knoxville and Purple Daisy in St. Elmo.
When Times Free Press readers were asked on Facebook what local restaurants they thought served the best banana pudding, Famous Dave's on Gunbarrel Road and Southern Star were repeat favorites.
"Our banana pudding is homemade and that's probably the reason people love Famous Dave's, period - because almost everything we have here is homemade," says Aaron Feil, Famous Dave's manager.
He estimates his restaurant serves 50 to 100 orders a week of the creamy dessert, which is the same recipe used by all Famous Dave restaurants.
Nancy Adams, owner of Southern Star downtown and on Signal Mountain, says her desserts are also made from a family recipe that's been passed down through three generations. She has served banana pudding every day for 16 years, she says.
"We make the custard from scratch - it's butter, sugar, eggs, milk and cornstarch made in a double boiler, then bananas and vanilla wafers. On a busy day, we make 75 to 80 individual orders downtown."
Countryside's Geren says its "banana pudding takes a lot of stirring and a lot of love. The stirring gives it the creamy texture it has.
"You start from the basic ingredients - milk, eggs, sugar and flour - over really good, hot heat. My grandmother used to make it with meringue on top. She would divide her eggs, put the yolks in the pudding and the whites in the meringue. But we've found not everyone likes meringue. We serve it plain and the waitress will ask if a diner wants whipped cream on top."
She says she's noticed an uptick in the number of banana pudding orders since the Only In Your State list appeared. Meghan Kraft, an employee of HarperCollins in Nashville who compiled the list, said she judged on "creaminess of the pudding and keeping the integrity of the banana flavor - I didn't want artificial flavor like the taste of Laffy Taffy."
She admits she only visited five of the 10 restaurants in person (Countryside not among them) but "I looked to the voices of Tennessee, talked to lots of people, read a lot of Yelp reviews and other online media and comments. We put together what people thought here in the South."
Next door are two recipes for banana pudding. The first is a made-from-scratch version similar to Countryside's and Purple Daisy's. The other is for parents on the go who still want to serve this classic but need a time-saving shortcut.
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.
Banana pudding recipes
Homemade Southern Banana Pudding 3 large eggs, separated 3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided to 1/2 and 1/4 cups 1/3 cup all-purpose flour Dash kosher salt 3 cups whole milk 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 box of Nilla Vanilla Wafers 4 to 6 ripe bananas, sliced Pinch cream of tartar Divide egg whites and yolks into separate bowls; set aside the whites at room temperature to make the meringue. In the top of a double boiler, whisk together 1/2 cup of the sugar with the flour, salt and milk. Whisk in the yolks and cook, stirring mixture constantly, until it thickens. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla and set aside. In a 1-1/2 quart-sized bowl or baking dish, spoon a small amount of the custard on the bottom of dish. Add a layer of wafers on top of the custard and build them up around the sides of the bowl with rounded tops facing out. Top the layer of wafers with banana slices, top that with custard and repeat layers, ending with custard on top. Set aside. Make meringue by beating the egg whites on low speed until they begin to look frothy. Add cream of tartar, increase speed to medium and beat until soft peaks begin to form, gradually adding in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Beat until stiff peaks begin to form. Spread the meringue across the top of the last layer of custard, spreading to the edges. Using a spatula, create some swirls on top of the meringue and place under the broiler, with the door ajar, for a few seconds, just long enough to brown the peaks and edges of the meringue. Alternatively, you can bake it at 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. Let pudding rest for 1 hour, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours before serving. Serves 12. Note: Egg custard must be cooked slowly and takes time to thicken. A double boiler is recommended to prevent curdling eggs and burning the custard, which can easily happen using direct stovetop heat. - From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish Five-Ingredient Banana Pudding 3 cups cold milk 2 packages, 3.4-ounces each, Jell-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding 30 vanilla wafers 3 bananas, sliced 1 8-ounce container of whipped topping, thawed Beat pudding mixes and milk with whisk for 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Arrange half the wafers on bottom and around sides of 2-quart serving bowl. Top with layers of half the banana slices and pudding; repeat. Spread top of dessert with layer of whipped topping. Refrigerate 3 hours. Serves 14. - Kraftrecipes.com
Marlene Geren holds the Countryside Cafe's famous banana pudding before serving it at the Mahan Gap Road restaurant.