Posted by Melissa Hall, April 25, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Southern Foodways appears on Fridays 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!
Photographs taken by Amy C. Evans
SFA oral historian Amy Evans just returned from a weeklong fieldwork-gathering trip to the Windy City, looking for stories of transplanted Southerners who left their homes but held on to family recipes. Some of the people she visited include:
- James Lemons of Lem's Bar-B-Q, who left Indianola, Mississippi, as a young man, following his brothers to Chicago and into the barbecue business.
- Barbara Ann Bracy, who laughed as she remembered her Mississippi-born father opening the barbecue joint she still runs on the South Side and naming it after her.
- Edna Stewart, who recalled the moment when Civil Rights workers first visited her restaurant, Edna's, and when the Reverend Jesse Jackson fell for her sweet potatoes.
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Posted by Matthew Amster-Burton, April 7, 2008 at 11:30 AM
When I heard the Georgian Room, Seattle's fanciest hotel restaurant, would be holding an etiquette class for 8- to 13-year-olds, I had one question for instructor (and Georgian Room maitre d') Tony D'Agostino: are any kids going to come to the class on their own accord?
Not likely, he admitted. "How many kids go, 'Mom, I want to go learn etiquette?'" D'Agostino said. "It's right up with the adult classes, though. You go around the table and ask, 'Why are you here?' The husbands go, 'My wife is bringing me.'"
So how do you keep a captive and potentially unruly audience entertained? In a word, snacks. And not those cucumber sandwiches, either. The tiered tea trays will hold scones and clotted cream, peanut butter sandwiches, ham and cheese sandwiches (crustless, of course), and chocolate chip cookies. To drink, kids will get a choice of hot chocolate with whipped cream and mini-marshmallows, or herb tea. This doesn't sound like much of a choice to me.
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Posted by Melissa Hall, March 21, 2008 at 4:45 PM
Southern Foodways appears on Fridays 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!
Interested in Southern food but find yourself geographically challenged and living above the Mason Dixon line? Never fear—Zingerman's Roadhouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan is here! Zingerman's is devoted to finding (and making) the best foods in the world, and they're kind enough to ship their treasures right to your door. The Roadhouse (one of several jewels in the Zingerman crown, including the Bakehouse, the Creamery, the Delicatessen, and the Coffee Company) specializes in really good American food—their description, not mine! Alex Young, the chef at the Roadhouse, wowed us all last October during the SFA symposium with one of best oyster stews we've ever tasted.
The Roadhouse is hosting a fundraiser for the Southern Foodways Alliance featuring a meal from the Mississippi Delta. We're going to cover a lot of ground for this fundraiser. Marcie Cohen Ferris, special guest and SFA board president, is going to address the southern Jewish experience. She was born and raised in the south, and her two experiences of being both Jewish and southern have shaped her career. She worked with chef Alex to create a menu reflecting Jewish foods from the Mississippi Delta.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, March 13, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Don't flush just yet! The project drinkpeedrinkpeedrinkpee taking place at Eyebeam in New York City from March 13 to April 19 aims to raise awareness about the role your body (or more specifically, its waste) plays in the water system. To illustrate the potential for using properly treated urine—a sterile liquid—as a fertilizer for plants, Urine to Fertilizer DIY Kits will be available at the installation. How does the kit work?
Users will test their urine before the reaction. Then, they will add an enzyme, wait for their urine to hydrolyze, and then add Magnesium Chloride. A sediment will build up at the bottom of the jar. Using a filter, they will pour off and flush the liquid, leaving the fertilizer in the jar. They can add water and the seeds included in the kit to grow their own watercress hydroponically in the glass container used for the reaction.
For more information about treating urine to extract its nutrients, read this press release from EAWAG (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology). [via Cool Hunting]
Posted by Melissa Hall, February 29, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Southern Foodways appears on Fridays 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!
Arguably one of the hottest tickets in town, if not in the country, the High Museum Atlanta Wine Auction celebrates its 16th year. Last year, the auction set records as the most successful live auction in its 15-year history, bringing in revenues of more than $1.8 million.
Friday night’s gala and Saturday’s live auction are already sold out. But, there is still space available at many of the events leading up to the big finale, one we think you’ll particularly enjoy because we planned it ourselves!
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Posted by Melissa Hall, February 22, 2008 at 9:45 AM
Southern Foodways appears on Fridays 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!
Georgia Organics is hosting its 11th annual conference, Quantum Leap: Taking Food & Farms Back...to the Future, February 28 to March 1 at the North West Georgia Trade and Convention Center in Dalton, Georgia.
Listen and learn as we imagine a future where farm, family, and community values merge with sustainable innovation—where thriving family farms connect with consumers at school, at work, at play. At this conference, you’ll gather the knowledge, tools, and connections needed to take your food and farms into that future. Learn about organic production, marketing, pastured livestock, local food systems, farm-to-school activities, and more from leaders in sustainable agriculture and foods.
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If you live around Des Moines, Iowa and don't know what you're doing March 1st, here's your solution: attend the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival. $30 will get you six hours of bacon-filled activities! More information at Bacon Unwrapped.
Posted by Melissa Hall, February 8, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Southern Foodways appears on Fridays 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!
A few months ago, just as the weather was turning cold, I waxed nostalgic about hog killing. I included some pictures of the practice and an essay from Southern Food Alliance member Evan Hatch.
At The Old South Farm Museum and Agricultural Learning Center, they don’t just talk about, write about, or photograph hog killing—they actually do it. And, if you ask nicely, they’ll let you help.
The Woodland, Georgia museum traces Southern rural life from the 1800s to the 1960s. On the property you’ll find everything from wood burning stoves to steam tractors. With acres of buildings and displays, you can spend a couple of hours looking at items that were common just decades ago. Here you can pump water and see the type of equipment used to wash clothes as well as see a working smokehouse, grind grain, spin cotton and perhaps make sausage.
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Posted by Melissa Hall, January 5, 2008 at 6:00 AM
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!
Happy New Year! Most of my time in this space is spent talking about the people who are the soul of Southern food—the men and women who grow, harvest, cook, and serve our meals. That’s a huge part of what we do at the Southern Foodways Alliance. We document those stories. But there’s another part to our mission: We also celebrate all aspects of Southern cuisine. How do we do that? Through events—Potlikker Film Festivals, day camps, field trips, fund-raisers, and, of course, our annual symposium.
At each event we bring folks together to talk about, think about, and argue about Southern food. We also eat and drink very well. The schedule for 2008 is already taking shape. And, it’s going to be a great year. If we’re coming to your neck of the woods, won’t you join us?
This weekend, the fine folks at Blackberry Farm are hosting their annual SFA fund-raiser, Taste of the South. It’s a weekend of food and fun. And, oh yes, a weekend where the members of The Fellowship of Southern Farmers, Artisans, and Chefs will welcome new fellows—Scott Peacock of Watershed in Atlanta, Alex and Betsy Hitt of Peregrine Farms in Chapel Hill, and Jamie and Jessica Little of Sweetgrass Dairy in Georgia. The fellows will be celebrated with first-rate food from Billy Allin, Linton Hopkins, and Andrea Ruesing. They will be toasted by first-rate wines and spirits courtesy of Jon-David Headrick and Julian and Preston Van Winkle. A silent auction featuring lots packed with art, food, and wine treats from across the South rounds out the bill. Blackberry Farm: 1471 West Millers Cove Road, Walland TN 37886
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Posted by Adam Kuban, September 6, 2007 at 4:15 PM
The New York City Food Film Festival continues tonight and over the weekend with its third and final installment for the year. Three nights of barbecue films, people. That's something we at Serious Eats can get behind.
Lights, camera, action at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City. Films are free and 'cue can be purchased at the event. More info here.
Posted by Harold Check, August 10, 2007 at 3:30 PM
If you happen to live on the left coast, you'll have the opportunity to enjoy these fine food events in the next week or so...
The Bite of Oregon
Fri-Sun, Aug 10-12
check for daily times
Waterfront Park
Portland, OR
Adults, $7 (kids under 12, free)
Food Network star Guy Fieri, local chefs duking it out Iron-Chef style, and plenty of great food, wine, beer, and music, including Dr. John and Patti Smith. A big deal!
San Rafael Food and Wine Festival
Sat, Aug 11, 10am-6pm
Falkirk Cultural Center
San Rafael, CA
Marin county artists, restaurants, and food producers do the weekend festival thing, with demos and tastings aplenty. Admission is free and the location is scenic, an elegant 19th-century country estate house.
Emily Wise Miller
Author of The Food Lover's Guide to Florence
Reading and Signing
Sat, Aug 11, 2pm
Book Passage Bookstore at the Ferry Building
San Francisco, CA
Viewing great art and architecture can work up a powerful hunger. If you're looking forward to a trip to one of Italy's most magical cities, or just want to relive past visits, come hear some traveler's tales from an experienced foodie.
A "Green Party" with Dave Lieberman
Wed, Aug 15, 7-9pm
Hollywood, CA
$100
Another Food Net chef, this one doing a good turn for FOOD & WINE's Grow for Good campaign to support local farms and sustainable agriculture. Advance ticket sales may be closed, but hey, it's Hollywood, schmooze your way in...
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 16, 2007 at 3:00 PM
The Gothamist-AHT/SE QBQ BBQ II
Photograph courtesy of Jason Perlow
Last year, Serious Eats burger site A Hamburger Today teamed up with Gothamist for the Gothamist-AHT QBQ (that's Quality Before Quantity), we've decided to team up with them again this year for another burger bash at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City, Queens. At last year's event, chef Harry Hawk served four regional burgers from around the nation.
We're doing something similar this year, but this time you get to choose which burgers will be served, with the top three vote-getters across Gothamist and A Hamburger Today/Serious Eats making the menu. Some are regional specialties, and some are original Water Taxi Beach creations. I'll get to the candidate burgers in a bit, but first the nitty-gritty details.
But before the details, can I tell you that later in the evening, Grandmaster Flash will be spinning at WTB? OK, the deets:
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Posted by Harold Check, June 22, 2007 at 5:45 PM
I saw an ad in a magazine for Sutter Home's Build a Better Burger campaign the other day. A wine company sponsoring burger contest? Please 'splain. Well, apparently, it's a $50,000 cooking contest, a television show, an online "burgerbase," and oh-so-much more! If you want to see (and taste) for yourself, head up to COPIA in Napa this weekend and be a part of the hoopla.
Saturday, June 23, 11 AM - 4 PM
Build a Better Burger — see event schedule
COPIA
500 First Street
Napa, Calfifornia
$10 includes burger, chips, garden salad and wine or other beverage
Other food-related options for your weekend pleasure include:
The Berkeley Internation Food Festival, which happens on Sunday, June 24th, at and around University and San Pablo avenues. It's the second occurrence of this now-annual event and you'll find cuisine from India, Spain, Pakistan, Thailand, Jamaica, Hawaii, Mexico and Central America represented. Admission is free. According to the festival website, there will be cooking demos all day:
The main attraction is the Kitchen on Fire cooking stage, hosted by celebrity Chef MikeC., from the prestigious north Berkeley Kitchen on Fire cooking school. Take a seat in front of the large cooking stage and watch guest chefs, including Olivier Said, Soni Bhatia and Fredrico Felix, Thanu Chaichana and Kevin Hogan, prepare dishes from around the world, and then sample them.
If Berkeley isn't you bag and you'd rather to kick it Marin-style, you are invited to enjoy the Mill Valley Wine & Gourmet Food Tasting, Sunday, from 1 to 4 PM, in Lytton Square, for the very reasonable price of $50. Knock yourself out.
Posted by Adam Kuban, February 21, 2007 at 10:43 AM
We just got word here at Serious Eats world headquarters that SE contributing editor Adam "The Amateur Gourmet" Roberts will be reading his piece "The Food Bully" at a reading series tomorrow evening.
Details, Details, Details
What: The food lit series Talking With Your Mouth Full, "an evening of food readings to make you drool."
When: Thursday, February 22, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Where: Jimmy's, 43 East 7th Street, New York City [map]
Cost: $10 per person. Reservation required; email or call 212-799-8075
