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| DOE'S
EAT PLACE
[W]hen I was a kid, we had a little shed in the back [behind the restaurant], and we let the husks dry out [in there]. You have to let them dry out and get kind of almost just crackly, and I do remember that because I spent a many a time out in that back [shed] packing-up shucks. – Doe Signa, Jr. Located in Greenville on Nelson Street—once the epicenter of Delta Blues culture—Doe’s Eat Place tells the complicated story of Italian immigration, Delta foodways, and Mississippi social history. In the 1930s, the restaurant’s founder, Dominick “Doe” Signa, was working at the Greenville Air Base, where he acquired a recipe for hot tamales from an unnamed co-worker. Doe left the air base in 1941 to take over his father’s 1903 vintage grocery store. He soon began selling hot tamales to the neighborhood’s largely black clientele. Word spread and the white community came calling for Doe’s tamales, as well as traditional Italian fare such as spaghetti and meatballs. For generations, tamale cravings have been satisfied by coffee cans filled with hot tamales passing out those doors. Today, Doe Signa, Jr. carries on the tradition his father started so many decades ago, ensuring Doe’s Eat Place’s station as a cultural and culinary icon of the Mississippi Delta.
--- What follows is a portion of the original interview that has been edited for length. To download the entire transcript in PDF form, please click here. Subject: Doe Signa, Jr., owner, Doe’s
Eat Place-Greenville, MS --- Amy Evans: This is Amy Evans for the Southern Foodways Alliance on Thursday, April 7, 2005. I'm in Greenville, Mississippi at Doe's Eat Place with little Doe Signa; and Mr. Signa, would you mind saying your whole name and also your birth date for the record if you don't mind. Doe Signa: My birth date is July 12, 1952; the first name is Dominick and they got Doe from Dominick. How they did that I don't know. And then the last name is Signa, S-i-g-n-a. And you pass out this nice little history to everybody who comes through here of the restaurant, but I wonder if you could go back a little further and talk about your grandparents and how they actually came to Greenville and from where. Okay. I don't really know about my grandparents as
much…But I do know that my parents and specifically my daddy
lived in Vicksburg; that's where my Okay, okay. So the grocery–they came here and opened– Yeah; just a little--like I guess every other Italian little corner grocery stores, you know. [Laughs] As a matter of fact, my mother lived on the next corner just right down the street here and they had a grocery store, too, and then my daddy and my mother just--they knew each other--the families and stuff and I guess they just got married, you know. But yeah, they just had a little family grocery store just selling knickknack things and this, that, and the other and stuff like that. And that was 1903 that the grocery opened? Probably—yeah. Whenever it has in that thing right there, yeah [meaning the flyer given out to customers, which contains a short history of Doe’s Eat Place]. Do you have any idea of what kind of goods they sold in the grocery store? I really don't. I'm--I know that--I know that down at my mother's place it was just a general mercantile place like you know little canned goods and different things. I do remember that. This--the Doe--it was a little bit before my time here but I do remember down there because I would go down there and visit her [Phone Rings]--my mother's mother and daddy a lot and stuff like that when I was a kid and stuff like that, you know. So now here I don't really know. But I know that they sold a lot of little stuff out here and you know I--they might have even sold tamales. They might have started making the tamales out here and selling them out here kind of along with the grocery business you know and stuff like that. Do you have any idea where that tamale recipe came from? I want to say that--and [my brother] Charles can verify this, too, because he you know knows a lot more than I do about that. I want to say they got it from somebody--somebody gave it to them kind of and then who I don't know. And they kind of modified it and took away and added a little bit and this, that, and the other and that's how they kind of got it like that. But I don't know exactly who. Do you know anything about the history of tamales in this area? Well I know that--I know why daddy and them basically did it; it was just another way for them to make money, you know that--and pretty cheaply. You know it wasn't that--wasn't that cost--you know too much cost in it. And then hot tamales just evolved around here. I mean there's more hot tamale places in Greenville than I've ever seen. I mean, you know, it's just weird; it's like barbecue in Memphis, you know, or something. But I don't know why. I guess it's just an easy way for people to make money, and I think people like hot tamales in the Delta--it seems like anyhow. Oh, sure. Well but they're so labor intensive. I mean is there--? Well you saw—yeah, you're right. It is--they're--they're--well they're not that labor intensive if you don't make a lot, you know…But you know we--we--we average you know 250 dozen a week and that's just on a slow time, you know--and you know I think some of these other people that are making them, I don't think they're making that many a week. They're maybe making 50 dozen a week or something, you know but—yeah, it's--it's real labor intensive--it sure is. Well and y'all have that--I'm going to call it an extruder but I don't know what it is. Yeah, it's a little tamale machine--they call it--yeah. When did y'all start using that? That's daddy's second machine. He's had two. This
is his second machine, and he's used them all along. Well when he
first started from what I--I think--I think from what I understand
he had like a little hand crank that didn't put out too Well that first hand crank machine that your father used, did he make that? No, he had to buy--he bought that, too. Yeah, you can buy [that] stuff like that you know. And was that early on that he had that? Oh, well I'm sure it was like in the [nineteen] fifties maybe, somewhere around there, you know. --- Well let's talk a little bit about kind of the evolution of the place here and it being in this neighborhood and-- Basically, I do remember when I was a child that this used to be white--it used to be all white. Can I say that? I can say that. Yeah, yeah. It used to be all white here--here--all--everything, back to the levy. I mean there used to be some real nice flower shops and--and home and garden--there was a big nice home and garden center here called Seavers--Seavers Florist is what it was, but he grew a lot of his plants. I mean it was a big place over there and then it was just--over the period of years, I guess a lot of these people just kind of got old and--and business kind of moved from up here and kind of--kind of evolved and this--you know just kind of thing. People just started moving in and moving out and moving in and--and basically we're the only white ones on this--in this area right now really to be honest with you; so-- But when your father started serving hot tamales and stuff it was primarily a black clientele, is that--? Well, it was kind of a black clientele but there was a whole lot of white people living in this area, though, you know. But there's--there's always been blacks living--well kind of on down on Nelson; I guess you'd say it will be east--I guess you would say. No, east is that way. It would be south--on down in there and then I guess over the period of years, like I say, they kind of evolved back on down this way, but it was really kind of weird. It seemed like everything was backwards. The blacks would come in the front and the whites would come in the back, you know or something. It's kind of--you would think it would be the other way around or something. I don't know--but anyway that's kind of an added, you know. And so he was serving the black community from the front and serving tamales and-- And the whites would come in the back door…Yeah,
yeah, and fish and different things and they said bootleg beer,
but I never saw any. But I mean I--that's not to say daddy didn't
get some. My daddy was something. [Laughs] He--he got a lot of his
supplies from the Air Base out--when the war was going on and out
there he would go out there and--and buy supplies and different
things out there, you And what about this being a honky-tonk, too? Is there music and partying going on? Well it could have been--you know I don't remember that; that's a little bit before my time, you know. I just kind of--I'm reading kind of what you're reading, so-- [Laughs] Charles is responsible for this? [The handout of Doe’s history that is given out to customers.] Yeah; it sounds good anyhow. [Laughs]…But you know I do know that like--I know daddy had like--like a church bench outside, you know something where everybody would kind of sit out there and sit around and, you know, stuff like that. I do know that--that was told to me a bunch of times, you know. And did they always--when did they start serving these huge steaks, Porterhouse steaks? They would be in the '40s, yeah; daddy started out doing that for some reason. I mean he just liked everything to be big like that. Do you know where he got his meat? He would buy--he never bought like Charles and I buy through brokers, like food companies. He just went around to the grocery stores here in town because everything was so cheap, you know--it was so cheap. I mean you know for a big t-bone or sirloin, you may pay 50 cents a pound you know--you know and this, that, and the other but he just--he would go around to about two or three grocery stores here in town, probably Kroger; there used to be a Liberty Cash here and there used to be an A&P here, and he'd go and he'd call the butchers up and say I'll just--and all he wanted was like the--the middle, the center cuts out of all of them, and he'd go by and get 10 or 12 from him, 10 or 12 from him, 10 or 12 from him, you know that type thing. And so the butchers would cut them specifically for him. Cut them--right, yeah, yeah just how daddy wanted them cut. Daddy never cut any meat. He--and Charles and I was the ones that kind of started cutting the meat and stuff like that…Because the--the evolution of the price is going up a little bit. Save a little money? Yeah, save a little money doing that. And then a lot of the trimmings that we trim off the meat we can use in our tamales, too. So it's kind of--we don't really throw anything away. [Laughs] So are y'all using the exact same tamale recipe that your dad used?
Were they then? Oh, yeah. Daddy made all his in corn shucks--sure did. Do you know where he got the corn shucks? Yeah, he got--well he ordered a lot of them out of Texas. Daddy--daddy did a lot of stuff out of--ordering them out of Texas, but there was--there was a couple of farmers north of town here that raised a lot of corn and they would you know save daddy the--the husk and all this mess and he would go pick them up and we--I do remember this; when I was a kid we had a little shed in the back--back here, and we let the husks dry out. You have to let them dry out and get kind of almost just crackly, and I do remember that because I spent a many a time out in that back packing up shucks down in the thing. I don't know you know--but I do remember that a little bit though. But he used to get a lot of them like from north of town here and then he'd--he'd order some and stuff like that. Do you remember when it was that you changed to the parchment? I don't; Charles may--can tell you but I don't know. It's been a while; it's been a pretty good while. I don't know. --- Well how many…hot tamales…do you think you serve in a night? Well [Sighs] last--let's just take last night for instance. I didn't sell a whole lot of tamales. We probably sold about--for the whole day probably as far as tamales about maybe forty or fifty dozen or something you know which is--that's about an average day, you know. --- And y'all still do take-away business? Uh-hmm, take-out yeah, well—yeah, we have hot tamales to go all day, you know, that type thing but not anything--not really any lunch. Have y'all always done that? Did your dad do that with the tamales--take away? Yeah, we've had—yeah, we've always had that, yeah--yeah. --- Do you eat many of the hot tamales y'all make? Not a whole lot. I love the steaks. Now I'll eat the fool out of those steaks. My cholesterol--I'd hate to go see what it is. [Laughs] But we--we sure sell a bunch of them. Can you talk about the schedule of making them because I know the other day when we were here, y'all were cooking them.
And then when you sell them to go in a can-- Can--tin can, yeah we do--we do; we get them from schools and stuff here. Oh, yeah? Yeah, the schools save them and then Sunflower Grocery saves them for us and stuff--Super Value I mean; they save them for us. Did that originate with your dad just out of convenience? Uh-hmm, yeah. Daddy used to do all that, yeah. Is there anything you might--could share--choose to share about the recipe in the hot tamales? No. I can tell you something though that's really
funny--another little story. When I went to daddy and told him you
know I wanted to get married and you know all the stuff like that
How would you say yours are different from a lot of the other tamales that are out in the Delta? Well one reason is--is that we put them in the paper. That's--that makes them different. Taste wise I don't know--we just use like a plain white cornmeal, like if you're making corn bread home--we use that kind of meal. Now some of them they use a masa meal which is the flour--it has a little bit more of a floury texture--don't know, but then--but I think basically the same ingredient is in all of them basically you know and I think the shuck makes it taste better--the corn shuck…I think the corn shuck makes it taste better. Yeah? Why do you think? Because of the corn flavor; it gives it a little bit better flavor…I have been known to--to get some corn shucks and when I'm cooking them up front throw them on top of the hot tamales--just throw them and let them steam with the--you know give them that little flavor you know. I have been known to do it but I ain't done it lately. [Laughs] Well and I would imagine the parchment kind of keeps a lot of the sauce out--? Yeah, it holds the tamale a lot firmer than the--than the shuck does--than the corn shuck, and it--because it--sometimes in the corn shuck if you don't watch them good, if they get to boiling too hard they'll boil out. Some of them will just boil out of there, you know. Are there some other hot tamales in the Delta that you like to try? Never have…No, I ain't tried any of them. I really haven't. I haven't tried anything. --- To download the entire transcript in PDF form, please click here.
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daddy was. And then he came to Greenville and his family moved to
Greenville, but they were in Vicksburg. And they lived in a little
house right next door--right behind the place here. That was their
family house and then daddy you know just kind of opened up this
little business. But basically daddy--my daddy came from Vicksburg
and my mother who is Brocato, she was already here. Now her--her
mother and daddy came over on the boat from Italy and--I'm not mistaken--but
I think that my grandparents on my daddy's side came over, too.
Carmela, that was their name, Carmela Signa. I think they came over,
too, but don't ask me what--where they came over from. 
many
at one time, but then he eventually went to Texas. They come out
of San Antonio, if I'm not mistaken, and he got one there and then
I think he got another one and I don't--this one I think cost at
the most $2,000--at the most, I think. And Charles, my brother in
Oxford, purchased one from basically the same area. I don't know
if it was the same company or not--and I think he paid like way
up there. I don't know--he can maybe verify that, but--but you know--but
they--they're pretty expensive and stuff, you know.
know.
So--because the Air Base in the '40s was really the--the little
airport we have out there, you probably never have ridden out there
but you--and I don't even know if they're still out there. I haven't
been out there in so long, but they used to have a lot of little
huts--little individual houses out there where I guess the military
stayed, you know--barracks. That's what I guess you'd call them--barracks--where
military stayed out there, but I think they've kind of done away
with all that stuff out there now. 
Uh-hmm,
basically yeah, yeah, yeah…Well the only thing that is different
about them is they're not in corn shucks.
Well
basically just on a normal week we'll make them on Tuesday--cook
the meat and stuff on Tuesdays and grind it up and season it and
put it in the refrigerator and run them off on Wednesdays. Now during
the winter months when it gets cold or--or from about October and
November to January and February usually we just make them when
we--as we need them, which is usually a couple of times a week--maybe
on a Tuesday and a Thursday because the sales increase a lot when
it gets colder and stuff like that.
and
then he said--you know he--of course, Italian people they don't
talk a lot. You know they just kind of--you know they just don't
trust too many people either I don't think; I don't know. But anyway
he said, “Now look, I'm going to tell you now,” he said,
“It's fine you're getting married and everything, but don't
tell your wife the hot tamale recipe because if she gets mad she
may marry somebody else and they may go--they may go make hot tamales,”
you know. So I said Daddy, “You know there's a thousand hot
tamale recipes out there.” But that's just a little deal,
you know. But it's your basic stuff--chili powder and different
things in it and stuff like that you know.
