2022 Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame: Fresh Air Barbecue
Fresh Air Barbecue in Jackson, Georgia, is the oldest pit-cooked barbecue restaurant in Georgia still in its original location. It is also the 2022 Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame Award Winner.
Dr. Joel Watkins, a veterinarian, opened Fresh Air in 1929, serving rabbits and goats that he raised and barbecued on the weekends. George “Toots” Caston, a fifth-generation native of Jackson, introduced pork when he bought the place in 1952. Caston refined the cooking process, optimizing for indirect heat, and perfected his father’s recipe for Brunswick stew. He developed the tangy tomato and vinegar sauce that would make Fresh Air a favorite stopping point for travelers on their way to Atlanta or Florida. In 1984, Fresh Air was voted Best Barbecue in Georgia in a statewide poll.
After more than forty years in the barbecue business, George passed away in 1996 at the age of eighty-nine. Today, four generations of the Caston family have been involved with Fresh Air, and many dedicated employees have worked in the business for decades. The restaurant prides itself on quality products, consistent recipes, and a short, simple menu—one of the few additions over the past eighty years was cole slaw, which is made in house. In 1989, the family opened a second location in Macon, Georgia, but loyal customers and barbecue lovers still make the pilgrimage to the original Fresh Air in Jackson.
Each fall since 2000, the SFA, with support from the Fertel Foundation, has honored a relatively unsung hero or heroine, a foodways tradition bearer of note, with the Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame Award. We pay homage to their life and work through a documentary film, directed by Joe York. This year, that film, Fresh Air Barbecue, debuted live on October 21st during the 25th Southern Foodways Alliance Fall Symposium in Oxford, Mississippi. Celebrating these Keepers of the Flame, we also pay homage to the late Ruth Fertel, the beloved and respected New Orleans restaurateur and entrepreneur.
