As you emerge from the canopy of kudzu that shrouds many a Mississippi back road, and crest a slight hill, the hamlet of Abbeville lies sprawled out before you.

Located in the hill country of northeast Mississippi, Abbeville is 12 miles north of Oxford, Mississippi, 20 miles south of Holly Springs and 55 miles south of Memphis. Traveling on Mississippi Highway 7, look for the signs (10 miles north of Oxford) which point toward Old Highway 7 and downtown Abbeville.

Like numerous small Southern communities that were bypassed by rail lines, roadways and Reaganomics, Abbeville is no longer the thriving town that it once was. In fact, it hardly qualifies as a town at all.

If this were the Old West, tumbleweeds would surely be blowing down Main Street. As it is, boarded-up storefronts outnumber open businesses. Columned ante-bellum homes have no place here. Welcome to the land of shotgun shacks and double-wide trailers. Welcome to Abbeville.

Why on earth would you want to visit such a desolate Southern backwater? The answer:

You gotta love a place where you can get fried chicken, squash casserole, collard greens, fried okra, cornbread, sweet tea and a load of ammo. Step in. Sit down. I'll explain.

Owned by the Davis family since 1973, Ruth and Jimmie's has served generations of Lafayette County residents. The building -- long, skinny and weathered but well-kept -- has been a part of the Abbeville community since the Golden Age of the country store in the 1930s.

At various times, the proprietors have sold bait, shotgun shells, shoes, guns, hardware and gasoline. As recently as five years ago, live crickets and minnows vied for floor space with display racks of Spam. Today, though much of the country store atmosphere remains, the sale of sporting goods is a sideline. What matters now is the food. Lucky you!

The screen door slams behind you. Suddenly, the smell of skillet-fried chicken engulfs you in a caloric fog of Deep South magic. Like a siren's song, the oil -- bubbling away in the skillet -- calls you forward.

To your left and right are shelves stacked with an odd assortment of canned goods, Moon Pies and T-shirts. The room is deep. The ceilings are high. The place is downright comfortable.

At the far end of the room, four women buzz about a small four-burner stove in a frenetic dance of culinary creation. The product of their toil? What I consider to be one of the South's premier plate lunches.

Don't sit at the booths on the far wall. Instead, grab a seat at one of the 12 stools facing the Formica-clad counter. Soon, you are confronted with the first of many decisions. Relax; this one is easy. Tea? Yes, you'll have it sweetened -- so sweet you can feel your teeth melt.

Though the fried chicken (available Thursdays) is crusty where it should be crusty, tender where it should be tender, and juicy all the way through, the vegetables demand your undivided attention.

Watch closely as your hosts -- using only pork fat, sugar and salt -- transform the South's bounty into the stuff of dreams. Thrill to the sight of a ladle full of rich, homemade, beef-studded gravy as it races down the mountain of homemade, purposefully lumpy mashed potatoes on your companion's plate only to come to rest at the base of a golden, aromatic yeast roll.

On a typical day, 12 vegetables are offered: Collard greens, yellow squash, creamed corn, green beans, candied yams, mashed potatoes, butter beans, cole slaw, beets, potato salad, cucumber & onion salad and the supreme achievement of this remarkable kitchen -- fried okra.

How good is the fried okra? It is so good that I have been known to decline a slice of pecan pie or a bowl of banana pudding and instead order a second helping of this deftly fried treat -- redolent of the marriage of cornmeal, salt, okra pod and oil.

Whether you choose the okra or a more conventional dessert, you will not leave Ruth & Jimmie's hungry. Though at the conclusion of your Dionysian feast you may feel tight as a tick after a seven-day ride, resist your urge to remain in your seat and rub your belly; others are clamoring for your seat.

Instead, amble up to the counter, fork over the $5 or $6 to cover your tab, and order a copy of Ruth & Jimmie's soon-to-be-published cookbook. The secret of their fried okra lurks somewhere within.

To order the cookbook, write them care of Ruth & Jimmie's, Business Route 7, Abbeville, MS 38655. They can be reached by phone at (601) 234-4312.