Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Southern Foodways: Franklin Food and Spirits Festival Benefitting the SFA

Posted by Melissa Hall, May 10, 2008 at 6:00 PM

Southern Foodways appears weekly as part of our collaboration with the Southern Foodways Alliance, an organization based in Oxford, Mississippi, that "documents and celebrates the diverse food cultures of the American South." Dig in!

Southern Foodways has an event coming up that serious eaters might want to attend. It is:

Franklin Food & Spirits Festival
May 30 – May 31, 2008, in Franklin, Tennessee

Discover the secrets of the smoke from the nation’s best barbecue pit masters. Indulge in authentic fried pies. Journey by film deep into the legends and lore of the South’s richest food traditions. We promise tasty food and a good time to everyone who attends. Jim 'N Nick's knows good old-fashioned Southern cooking, and we are bringing it to your doorstep with the Southern Food & Spirits Festival. Go whole hog or spend just $25 in BBQ Bucks. Either way, you'll feed body and mind. Advance tickets here, or you can buy BBQ Bucks at the gate.

Friday

Insider Access Dinner, 6:30 p.m.

The Potlikker Film Festival: Dinner and a Movie, Reversed: Feast your eyes on the delicious work of Joe York. Watch Southern Foodways Alliance documentary films and fried pies and hot chicken—the perfect appetizers to your dinner at Carnton.

Grand Dinner at Historic Carnton Mansion: Dine with some of the South's greatest chefs. Coordination Chef Drew Robinson, Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q. Guest Chefs; Jason McConnell, Red Pony Restaurant, Franklin; Martha Stamps, Martha's at the Plantation, Nashville; Tandy Wilson, City House, Nashville; Sean Brock, McCrady's, Charleston, SC; John Fleer, Sunburst Trout, Canton, NC.

Whole Hog Cooking Classes: Pit masters Ed Mitchell and Patrick Martin share their insights and experience on the grounds of historic Carnton Plantation.

Saturday

Celebration at the Square, 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Timeless Tastes Meet Traditions with a Twist: Sample the very best from the wild and wonderful world of Q! Renowned chefs like Ed Mitchell, Bob Gibson, Frank Vernon, Drew Robinson, Patrick Martin and more will coax flame and command smoke to deliver a tantalizing tour that winds from whole hog to brisket quesadillas to red neck tacos.

Biscuits with the Bard: Watch "The Rise of Southern Biscuits" and enjoy a biscuit break with the Bard of Southern Culture, John Egerton.

Heapin Helpin' of Heritage: Argue the merits of cake over pie. Talk sweet tea. Debate the perfect combo at a meat-and-three. All this and more, as you explore the State of the Plate with the Southern Foodways Alliance.

Spirits of the South: Experience the finest craft beers, wines and whiskeys in the South with tastings and commentary from the clearest minds in the business.

The Spirit Tree: Learn how to turn a tree into whiskey with Jim Myers.

The Potlikker Film Festival: Feast your eyes and treat your tastebuds. Short films, Hot Chicken, & Fried Pies and Whole Hog are paired with the culinary creations of local chefs.

About the author: Melissa Booth Hall, a Southern Foodways Alliance staff member, grew up in Middlesboro, Kentucky, just a few hundred yards from the Cumberland Gap. Her culinary education began at age four, when she was allowed to stand on a chair in front of a gas stove and make fried pies. She has Centre College and Chase College of Law to thank for her everything-else education. A lawyer by training, she recently figured out a way to turn her passion for food into a paying job.

3 Comments | Tags: SFA column, Southern Foodways Alliance