Hmmm. Cobbler....my great-grandparents hailed from Poland and Russia and they made their way to California with stops either on the East Coast or in Canada respectively. From their background to where they came from in North America they had no inkling of Southern food/desserts and neither did my grandparents or parents outside of pecan pie—which I never really liked that much.
I was an adult and married before I got around to trying another Southern dessert. It happened like this: One day my husband and I were in Pasadena—I can't remember why. We were walking around and we smelled this HEAVENLY fragrance. We crossed up and down the street literally following our noses. Where was it coming from? Finally we discovered the source: this tiny shop, no sign, no real windows and a screen door.
In we went, and it turned out to be this itty-bitty bakery run by this old fellow who made nothing but cobblers. There was a fan blowing the warm, oven air around along with the sweet smells. In a display case was a clutter of disposable tins of cobblers. There was hardly any room to stand.
My husband, whose mom was from Arkansas, explained to me what they were (I know there is contention over this, but he insists it's not a cobbler without a biscuit topping, and this old fellow made that kind). He sold them in different sizes, four servings or eight, I seem to remember. The one we had smelled was peach, fresh from the oven, and, of course, we purchased some. It was still warm in that tin, and tasted as good as it smelled.
We learned that this guy's shop was actually famous; there were newspaper articles on him and everything. And they all said the same thing...everyone found that shop exactly as we did: by following that wonderful fragrance wafting down the street. The shop is long gone now, but it was a marvel, this place that sold only cobblers hidden away amid all those big buildings. Any-whoo...not long after tasing my first cobbler, I sought out recipes and made my own. They had my kitchen smelling almost as wonderful as that shop. And I remember wondering after pulling out my first, wildly successful peach cobbler: "These are like the best pies only super easy to make! Where have these been all my life?"
So, thanks so much for reminding me of all that. I am now going to have to make a peach cobbler.