SFA Past Events
2007 – State of Southern Food
The State of Southern Food
October 25-28, 2007
The 10th annual Southern Foodways Symposium examined the state of Southern food. We pondered where we have been. And where we are going. We assayed our field of study. We thought critically about the SFA’s role in documenting and celebrating the diverse food cultures of the American South. We paid homage to the subjects of our oral history initiative. And we repaid debts of pleasure earned over generations.
Shirley Corriher offered a class in the science of cooker; Atlanta’s Refugee Family Services shared a workshop on how communal cooking serves as a bridge for new immigrants; and a panel discussion, channeled by members who were with us at the beginning, reflected on the history of the symposium.
There was talk about the State of the Plate: meat, veggies, and—of course—cake. Ted Breaux taught us how absinthe, the green fairy, lit up Southern cocktail culture, and Dave Wondrich toasted us with the history of New Orleans’ signature sazerac. Sandy Oliver, Charles Joyner, and others offered an alimentary education, reflecting on the state of food studies, and all the race, class, and gender politics therein.
Of course, we ate well. In 2007, the year of the pig, we saluted all things swine. Whole hog barbecue, doused with a vinegar sauce. Not to mention boudin, gratons, and bacon. And pig ears in mustard sauce. Emerging ethnicity matters to us, too. We dished tacos pollo frito. And refried black-eyed peas, spiked with Tabasco. For dessert, Sean Brock wrapped our mind’s palate around the promise of boiled peanut cotton candy.
Charleston: Citadel of the Lowcountry
June 22-24, 2007
The SFA traveled to the port city of Charleston, South Carolina, citadel of Lowcountry culture and cookery, for our seventh annual field trip. Early arrivers toured Middleton Plantation, took a foodways tour, and enjoyed the oldest landscaped gardens in the nation. We tasted she crab soup, shrimp and hominy, stewed okra, and Carolina Gold rice. We sipped Charleston-style Madeira and sparkling wine from Carolina at the Thomas Rose House. We supped at fabled and funky haunts, like the Old City Jail and Bowen’s Island, and dined at swell restaurants, like McCrady’s and the Wreck. We celebrated Gullah and soul food cooking from the likes of Martha Lou's, Bertha's, and Gullah Cuisine. The region’s best scholars showed us the way, providing context and amplification, sketching the intertwined histories of people and place.
July 21, 2007
5 – 8 PM @ St. Arnold's Brewery
2522 Fairway Park Drive Houston, TX
EATS from Houston chefs and a real live TACO TRUCK:
- Corn-shingled catfish nibs from Claire Smith and Jeb Stuart of Shade
- Sirloin tacos with chile de árbol from Memo and Claudia Piñedo of Jarro Café
- Monica Pope of t'afia lends her culinary talent to the evening
FILMS about Southern cookery and Southern culture from the SFA’s Joe York: MARSAW, HOT CHICKEN, and SOMETHING BETTER THAN BARBECUE. Also featuring Glass Brothers Watermelon Stand from HOT TOWN, COOL CITY, by Houston’s own Maureen McNamara.
MUSIC by Toby Champagne of Dean's Credit Clothing with Puerco Picante
COLD BEVERAGES from St. Arnold’s, the oldest craft brewery in Texas. That Summer Pils should be drinking nicely.
AND AIR-CONDITIONING delivered by way of portable blast chillers. Go ahead, hug one.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
4-7 p.m. @ Sweetwater Brewing
195 Ottley Drive in Midtown Atlanta
WITH EATS:
- Potlikker Shots by Virginia Willis Culinary Productions
- Catfish Popcorn by Anne Quatrano, Bacchanalia
- Pig on a Stick by Linton Hopkins, Restaurant Eugene
- Dirty South Crackerjack by Steven Satterfield, Watershed Restaurant
- Sazerac Tassies by Sonya Jones, Sweet Auburn Bread Company
AND FILMS from the SFA’s Joe York: MARSAW and HOT CHICKEN.
Camp Carolina – Preserving the Taste of Place
September 7-9, 2007
Chapel Hill is where people have long come to immerse themselves in the study, preservation, and celebration of foodways, farming, music, pottery, and history. The SFA weekend began with self-guided Friday activities, both in Chapel Hill and nearby Hillsborough, and a cocktail and bluegrass gathering at the Carolina Inn, better known as the “front porch” of the University of North Carolina.
Saturday started with an early morning tour of the Carrboro Farmers Market, followed by a keynote talk from Ben Barker of Magnolia Grill and tales and music from Bland Simpson, UNC professor and piano player for the Red Clay Ramblers. Later, we split into three groups.
Group Book n’ Eats followed the lead of novelist Allan Gurganus and cooking instructor Sheri Castle at a Southern Season. Group Turners and Burners visited the ceramic studios of Siglinda Scarpa and Rusty Sieck in nearby Pittsboro, and heard from UNC professor and pottery expert Terry Zug. Group Mozz and Tomatoes toured Peregrine Farm and Chapel Hill Creamery. Eats and drinks were courtesy of Sara Foster of Foster’s Market, Keith Allen of Allen & Sons Barbecue, Counter Culture Coffee, and others.
Saturday night, Bill Smith of Crook’s Corner dished a family-style summer supper of fried chicken and fixings. And Karen Barker led a crew of talented bakers bent on handcrafted desserts made from North Carolina-grown peanuts and sweet potatoes. And the North Carolina Wine and Grape Council, primary underwriter of this Day Camp, poured its best.
After supper, we heard from John Dee Holman, storyteller, dancer, and Piedmont blues artist.
Sunday morning meant coffee at 3 Cups, a coffee café committed to all things local, breakfast noshes from Sandwhich, and goodbyes.
- For a full schedule of events, click here.
Camp Shoals
April 20-21, 2007
In concert with the annual Alabama Adventure Weekend, a celebration of handcrafted food, music, art, and fashion held April 20-21, 2007, in and around Florence and Tuscumbia, Alabama, the SFA introduced Camp Shoals.
Registrants dined on rabbit and watercress, cooked by Scott Peacock of Watershed Restaurant and Frank Stitt of Highlands Bar and Grill; pondered the Muscle Shoals Sound with musicologist Jay Leavitt; and grooved to the guitar stylings of the Greg Spradlin Outfit.
A portion of the registration fee underwrote a Joe York-directed and SFA-produced documentary short about the men who work the kettles at Shoals community chicken stew feeds.
- For a final schedule of events, click here.
Blackberry Farm
February 24, 2007
At the 2007 Blackberry Farm Taste of the South Gala, we dined on seared diver scallops, rack of lamb, and smothered chicken with oyster mushrooms and dirty rice. Guest chefs were Mike Lata, F.I.G., Charleston, SC; John Currence, City Grocery, Oxford, MS; Corbin Evans, Savvy Gourmet, New Orleans, LA; Hugh Acheson, Five & Ten, Athens, GA; and Phoebe Lawless, Scratch Baking, Durham, NC.
- Click here for a menu.
