SFA Blog

Southern Six-Pack

2012-02-10T15:20:00.000-06:00

Hello, winter. It's about time you showed up! Snuggle up on this cold, rainy, and in some cases snowy (Nashville, you're so lucky!) Friday and let your six-pack keep you warm. 1. The National Portrait Gallery tells the history of America through individuals who have shaped its culture. It is only right and fitting that a portrait of Leah Chase working in her kitchen (painted by Gustave

Smokin' Cocktail

2012-02-09T14:23:00.003-06:00

Photo courtesy of honestcooking.comTobacco + bourbon = classy cocktail?It appears so. Joe Raya, owner of Charleston's The Gin Joint, has proceeded to the final stages of Woodford Reserve's competition to find the best manhattan with his recipe including tobacco-infused bourbon.According to The Local Palate, "Raya’s Connecticut Shade Manhattan is made with fresh leaves of shade-grown tobacco

On the Tamale Trail: A 1906 News Item from the Yazoo Sentinel

2012-02-08T14:39:00.000-06:00

Headline from the July 26, 1906, edition of the Yazoo Sentinel in Yazoo City, Miss.; tamale image by Amy Evans Streeter A friend of the SFA, who happens to be researching the architectural history of Yazoo City, Mississippi, stumbled upon this gem of an article from the July 26, 1906, edition of the Yazoo Sentinel: INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT HOT TAMALES: Manufactured in Vessels Used for Family

Wendell Berry to lecture in Birmingham: Feb. 27

2012-02-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

Monday, Feb. 27 @ 7 p.m. Leslie S. Wright Fine Arts Center at Samford University Birmingham, Alabama for more info and tickets, see www.samford.edu

SFA Web Redesign: A Request for Proposals

2012-02-07T15:38:00.001-06:00

The Southern Foodways Alliance will redesign its current website in 2012. We are seeking qualified web designers who are interested to contact the SFA via Mary Beth Lasseter, at southernfoodwaysmail@gmail.com. Upon contact, SFA will reply via email with our request for proposal attached. In brief, SFA is looking for a web team that is experienced in graphic design, responsive design,

Earp's Seafood Market reopens in Raleigh, NC; time for broiled flounder!

2012-02-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

Earp's Seafood Counter Broiled Flounder Photos courtesy of the Communal Skillet At the Communal Skillet this week, SFA friends learn two good bits of news. First, Earp's Seafood Market in Raleigh, North Carolina, reopened their doors last week after tornadoes forced a shut down over nine months ago. (Remember those severe storms they had?) Second, Earp's Seafood sells good flounder,

Texas Preserved, Foodways Texas Symposium, set for March 23-25

2012-02-06T19:02:00.000-06:00

SFA is proud to have advised the good folks at Foodways Texas, back when they were in their infancy. Looks like they're proving to be the best sorts of chips off the foodways blocks. Texas Preserved, the second second Foodways Texas Symposium, set for March 23-25, will explore the ways folks preserve Texas (as a region, as an idea) and the ways folks preserve food in Texas. They'll talk about

Southern Six-Pack

2012-02-03T11:00:00.000-06:00

This week's six-pack offers a little history, a little trend spotting, and a little are you kidding me? A very good week, indeed.1. The Times Picayune is celebrating its own quartoseptcentennial with a fascinating series of stories celebrating 175 years of life in New Orleans. Not surprisingly, food and drink get their due.2. Planning some 7 Layer Dip or some Velveeta Spicy Sausage Goodness

Year of BBQ: Morris Barbeque in Hookerton, NC

2012-02-02T11:15:00.000-06:00

William Morris, Jr. outside his smokehouse in Hookerton, North Carolina. (Photo by Denny Culbert/ The Barbecue Bus) To find Hookerton’s only barbecue joint follow 1st Street southeast as it leads out of diminutive downtown Hookerton. The name of the cotton field-lined road you’re now driving along is named for the half-century-old plus smokehouse down a mile on the left. Yes, that’s

Pride & Joy: A Southern Foodways Alliance Film Project...the Trailer

2012-02-02T10:37:00.005-06:00

You've heard us mention that Joe York's been working on a feature-length documentary, right? Well, the time is near. And he's got the trailer to tide us over.Pride & Joy: A Southern Foodways Alliance Film Project (the trailer)The film aims to answer a few core questions:* What do foodways tell us about who we are as Southerners?* How and why do traditional foodways endure?* As the South's ethnic

Shared Tables: A Triangle Symposium--Feb. 28-29, 2012

2012-01-31T09:00:00.000-06:00

Image courtesy of Shared Tables Shared Tables: A Triangle Symposium on Global and Local Food Studies will provide a forum for local and global experts to explore key issues related to food studies in an inter-disciplinary academic and community gathering. The event will take place on February 28--29, 2012. The first day of the symposium on Tuesday, February 28, at the University of North

Rice Pudding that even Mary Jane would enjoy

2012-01-31T07:00:00.000-06:00

Photo courtesy of the Communal Skillet Our friends at the Communal Skillet are sharing with us poetry and good food this week. Quoting A.A. Milne (yes, author of Winnie the Pooh fame), they report on poor Mary Jane, a six-year-old who doesn't want rice pudding for dinner again. Of course, had she tried this simple rice pudding recipe from the SFA, she might not have had such a tantrum.

Hungry People in the Wartime South Ate Rat Pie

2012-01-30T16:38:00.000-06:00

The mail is still exciting hereabouts. (We get few junk mail circulars at SFA world headquarters.) Each day, new foodways-focused books and journals cross the transom. If you could join us in the office this afternoon, you could peruse the latest smart offerings. We keep them stacked on the coffee table, within easy reach. Meanwhile, on the bulletin board, we post the most intriguing academic

Southern Six-Pack

2012-01-27T14:29:00.003-06:00

Happy 4709! It's the Year of the Dragon, a dragon with nine sons. At the risk of picking favorites, we here at SFA are partial to the middle child -- dragon number 5 -- because his domain is quietness, sitting, fire, and smoke. Which sounds exactly like a night spent tending a hog with Rodney Scott or Ed Mitchell or Patrick Martin. In the year we turn our attention to all things barbecue,

Bon Appetit Stirs the Pot

2012-01-25T14:03:00.001-06:00

Photograph of Ashley Christensen by Julian Broad for Bon Appetit When Bon Appetit magazine got wind of all the fun we've been having at the Stir the Pot supper series, they had to travel to Raleigh to check it out for themselves. Writers Matt and Ted Lee and photographer Julian Broad had "One Rowdy Night in Carolina" with Poole's chef Ashley Christensen and guest chef Edward Lee (of 610

Okracast: Desiree Robinson of Cozy Corner in Memphis

2012-01-24T18:55:00.000-06:00

Photo by Rien T. Fertel, 2008. To kick off SFA's year of barbecue, check out this okracast featuring female pitmaster Desiree Robinson of the Cozy Corner Restaurant in Memphis, TN. SFA first interviewed Mrs. Robinson back in 2002 when the oral history initiative was brand new. Rien Fertel conducted this follow up interview in 2008. Family and the restaurant Raymond Robinson built are

Potlikker Film Festival Charleston (A Murderer's Row of Talent)

2012-01-24T14:57:00.012-06:00