Photo courtesy of Kate Medley. Brochure by Devin Cox.
UP NEXT
Barbecue: An Exploration of Pitmasters, Places, Smoke, and Sauce
October 19-21, 2012
Delta Divertissement in Greenwood: October
18-19, 2012
(Tickets will go on sale late summer. Must be an SFA member to attend.)
2011: The Cultivated South
Delta Divertissement in Greenwood: Oct. 27-28
Southern Foodways Symposium in Oxford, MS: Oct. 28-30
Podcasts from presentations at the 2011 Southern Foodways Symposium on the Culitvated South are available now on iTunesU. See the SFA Blog for videos and more information from the symposium. And you'll also find online a photo gallery, the event brochure, a bibliography, and the schedule of events. Presentation videos are also online here, courtesy of Media and Documentary Projects at the University of Mississippi.
The Southern Foodways Alliance, an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, will host the fourtheenth annual Southern Foodways Symposium October 28-30, 2011, in Oxford, Mississippi, and on the campus of the University of Mississippi. This year’s theme is the Cultivated South. For much of our region’s history, agriculture has driven the Southern economy. From sugarcane plantations in the Gulf South to bean-and-corn subsistence farms in the Mountain South, our lives have long revolved around the cultivation of soils and the propagation of crops.
Much good recent work has been done on the documentation and preservation of our natural resources. We now know the names of imperiled strains of rice and their histories in the Lowcountry. We know the value of saving the seeds of shuck beans to ensure the future of Appalachian biodiversity.
Now it’s time to explore the culture of agriculture. To investigate the farm ideal, from both Christian and Muslim perspectives. To comprehend the unfulfilled promises of Forty Acres and a Mule. To reclaim the pimento as a vegetable. To welcome the return of olive trees to Georgia and South Carolina. Now it’s time to explore the Cultivated South.
Curious eaters will sample Lowcountry riffs on the prevailing farm-to-table ethic from Mike Lata of Charleston, South Carolina. And April McGreger, a daughter of Mississippi, now pickling and preserving in Carrboro, North Carolina. And Billy Allin, the locavore-in-charge at Cakes & Ale in Decatur, Georgia.
Curious drinkers will taste tipples from the late Eugene Walter, bard of Mobile. And listen to the musings of Dave Wondrich and Jack Pendarvis, who know a thing or three about cultivating a taste for drink.
Artistic expressions of food culture continue to make our hearts go pitter-pat. Amos Kennedy, the Alabama letterpress maven, will pay broadside tribute to okra’s import. And on Sunday morning, following hard on the heels of the ballet we staged a couple years back, we’ve commissioned an opera, based on Leaves of Greens, a collection of poems from Ayden, North Carolina’s Collard Festival.
These events provide opportunities for thinkers, writers, cooks, and eaters to come to a better understanding of American regional culinary culture. Lectures and performances, staged on the University of Mississippi campus, as well as in Oxford, at the Lyric Theatre and the Powerhouse, are amplified by informal lunches and dinners, served in and around the town.
The Delta Divertissement begins in Greenwood on Thursday, October 27, at noon and concludes on Friday, October 28, at ten in the morning. The Symposium formally convenes at noon on Friday, October 28, and closes at noon on Sunday, October 30. Host for the symposium is the Southern Foodways Alliance, an institute of the University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture.
The SFA’s mission is to document, study, and celebrate the diverse food cultures of the changing American South. That mission is grounded in the notion that food is a lens through which a region and culture as vast and varied as ours can be embraced and understood.
The primary donors that support the Southern Foodways Symposium are:
Anson Mills
Biltmore Estate Wine Company
Fertel Foundation
Jim ’N Nick’s Bar-B-Que
Lodge Manufacturing
Martha White
McIlhenny Company, maker of Tabasco® Brand Products
Mountain Valley Spring Water
Royal Cup Coffee
Stir the Pot
Taqueria del Sol
Viking Range
White Lily
Questions? Write sfamail@olemiss.edu.
THURSDAY NIGHT OPTIONAL DINNERS (Oct. 27)
6:00 p.m. and later
SPECIAL DINNERS AT CITY GROCERY AND SNACKBAR
Hosted by the City Grocery Restaurant Group, a portion of dinner proceeds will be donated to the Southern Foodways Alliance. Availability is limited. Please call the restaurant directly to make a reservation.
POSTMODERN PLOWBOY SUPPER
with Tyler Brown of Capitol Grille at the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville
City Grocery Restaurant
152 Courthouse Square
662-232-8080
Menu
For the Table: Pickled Okra, Kimchee, Beaten Biscuits with Deviled Ham
Second Course: Lamb Bacon, Mustard Greens, Butter Beans, Honey
Third Course: Double H Beef, North Georgia Candy Roaster Pumpkin, Morris Heading Collard
Dessert: Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Cobbler, Jack Daniels Gelato
Cost is $55, plus tax, gratuity, and wine.
GREEN GODDESS DINNER
with Alex Guarnaschelli of Butter Restaurant in New York City
Snackbar
721 North Lamar Blvd.
662-236-6363
Menu
For the Table: Mixed Charcuterie with Pickled Collard Greens, Smoked Bacon with Curry, Duck Breast Mortadella, and Chicken Livers with Caramelized Onions
Second Course: Lauren Farms Delta Prawns with Spicy Red Cabbage, Turnips, and Apples
Third Course: North Carolina Poulet Rouge au Piedmont with a Stout Mustard Glaze, Lafayette County Mustard Greens, and Parsley Breadcrumbs
Dessert: Baked Apples with Toasted Pistachios, Honey, and Sherry
Cost is $55, plus tax, gratuity, and wine.
