It’s seldom a surprise anymore when a chef from Alabama receives an accolade or the state lands in an elite spot on a ranking of best foods. Our southern cuisine — whether the work of a chef, pitmaster or your grandma — is no longer a secret in national food circles.

That said, we have a couple of bits of food news among the theft, assault and politics today. And the results of yesterday’s quiz are down below.

Fairhope’s water woes

Some folks in Alabama have been able to sync their clocks with the afternoon thunderstorms, but the City of Fairhope is critically low on water, reports AL.com’s Mary Helene Hall.

The hot and dry weather is to blame, of course, but so is the area’s population growth of the past decade. While the city’s working to upgrade the system, Fairhope Water Superintendent Daryl Morefield has said the infrastructure has NOT kept pace with growth.

City officials say they’re operating so close to capacity that they need to impose restrictions.

By city ordinance, being at 100% capacity makes the restrictions mandatory, and violations (such as watering your lawn or washing your vehicle on Friday, Saturday or Sunday) could bring a citation.

Small-town embezzlement

A former Akron, Ala., city clerk is under orders to pay more than $110,000 in restitution for money she took from the small town, reports AL.com’s Carol Robinson.

A hundred large is a lot of cash, period, but in Akron it amounts to nearly $500 for each person counted in the last census.

Diann Taylor admitted to using her access to the town’s bank accounts to make $30,000 in purchases and withdraw more than $77,000 in cash. She received a 35-month suspended sentence with five years probation and was ordered to pay $110,908.60 in restitution.

King of American Seafood …

Chef Brody Olive of Orange Beach was named King of American Seafood at the 2023 Great American Cook-Off in New Orleans, reports AL.com’s Lawrence Specker.

Olive works at Voyagers at Perdido Beach Resort. His winning dish was gaff-top catfish with flash-fried mole crabs, gulf shrimp horseradish cream, pickled purslane and smoked paprika coral tuile.

A mole crab, incidentally, is what many on the Gulf Coast call a sand flea. It’s a crustacean, not a bug, but we like to creep out the tourists.

Mole crab, however, sounds more like table fare (I suppose) so we’ll stick with that and congratulate Olive for flash-frying them so well.

… and, while we’re at it, some barbecue

Real Estate Witch ranked the top barbecue cities by using criteria such as the number of barbecue restaurants per 100,000 people, average Yelp ratings and Google Trend scores.

AL.com’s Mary Colurso reports that Birmingham landed in fourth place nationally, behind Austin, Memphis and San Antonio, Texas.

By the numbers

211: Pounds that former boxer and Toughman champion “Butterbean” Eric Esch said he’s lost since “about a year-and-a-half ago, two years ago” on a yoga program designed by retired pro wrestler Diamond Dallas Page (remember the “Diamond Cutter”?).

Butterbean grew up in Jasper.

More Alabama news

Born on this date

In 1953, current U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin of Mobile.

Monday’s quiz results

On June 20, 2024, the St. Louis Cardinals will play the San Francisco Giants at Rickwood Field in Birmingham. What is the promotional name of that game?

• MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues (CORRECT) 70%
• The Rickwood Classic 25%
• The Say Hey Game 5%
• The Football State Baseball Classic 0%

Which of these actors was born in Anniston but moved away at a young age?

• Thomas Haden Church 28%
• Stephen Lang 26%
• Powers Boothe 25%
• Michael Biehn (CORRECT) 21%

Where is Nick Saban’s new $17.5 million beachfront property?

• Jupiter Island, Fla. (CORRECT) 77%
• Dauphin Island, Ala. 9%
• Hilton Head Island, S.C. 7%
• Pineywood Island, Ala. 7%

Which U.S. Supreme Court justice is scheduled to speak in Alabama next month?

• Ketanji Brown Jackson (CORRECT) 50%
• Clarence Thomas 22%
• Amy Coney Barrett 14%
• Samuel Alito 13%

The Birmingham Zoo experienced complications while planning its “Cougar Crossing” exhibit because …

• an old cemetery was discovered to be on the property. (CORRECT) 89%
• confusion over the meaning of “cougar” led to so many ticket sales to twentysomething men that the zoo’s computer system crashed. 6%
• the cost of cougar healthcare has increased dramatically. 3%
• board members are worried that Birmingham has more “dog people” than “cat people.” 2%

The podcast

Sign up to receive this in your email inbox daily: