The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook

305 Pages·2010·12.14 MB·English

by  Southern Foodways Alliance

Everybody has one in their collection. c C T
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You know—one of those old, spiral- or plastic-tooth-bound cookbooks sold to support l
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a high school marching band, a church, or the local chapter of the Junior League. a E
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Th ese recipe collections refl ect, with unimpeachable authenticity, the dishes that ns b M
defi ne communities: chicken and dumplings, macaroni and cheese, and chess pie. y de S
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When the Southern Foodways Alliance began curating a cookbook, these spiral-bound, c
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sauce-splattered pages served as a model.

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Th is cookbook is a true refl ection of southern foodways and the people, regardless of ove I T
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residence or birthplace, who claim this food as their own. Traditional and adapted, fancy e
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and unapologetically plain, these recipes are powerful expressions of collective identity. Published in association b
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Th ere is something from—and something for—everyone. Th e recipes and the stories that with the Southern Foodways erin k C E FOODWAYS
accompany them came from catfi sh farmers, ham curers, attorneys, cooks, toqued chefs, Alliance at the Center for the irk O R
Study of Southern Culture at ne
academics, writers, and people who just like to cook—spiritual Southerners of myriad w O
the University of Mississippi N

ethnicities, origins, and culinary skill levels. r K ALLIANCE
www.southernfoodways.org o
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Edited by Sara Roahen and John T. Edge and written, collaboratively, by Sheri Castle, en B F
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Timothy C. Davis, April McGreger, Angie Mosier, and Fred Sauceman, the book is hot O O
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divided into chapters that represent the region’s iconic foods: Gravy, Garden Goods, rap O O Community
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Roots, Greens, Rice, Grist, Yardbird, Pig, Th e Hook, Th e Hunt, Put Up, and Cane. c
Publication made possible ou K D
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Herein you’ll fi nd recipes for pimento cheese, country ham with redeye gravy, t
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in part by a gift from the s
tomato pie, oyster stew, gumbo z’herbes, and apple stack cake. You’ll learn traditional y o W
University of Georgia Press f th E Cookbook
ways of preserving green beans, and you’ll come to love refried black-eyed peas. Friends Fund e au di A
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Are you hungry yet? | e b
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Sara Roahen is an oral historian and the author of Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the ph b R L
New Orleans Table. She has written for Tin House and Food & Wine. John T. Edge is director y an oa
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of the Southern Foodways Alliance. He is the author m e
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or editor of ten books, including Th e New Encyclopedia ier & A
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of Southern Culture: Foodways. Edge writes for the
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Printed in China
T. C

E SARA ROAHEN & JOHN T. EDGE
d E
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THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA PRESS e
ATHENS, GEORGIA 30602 ALTON BROWN
Foreword by
WWW.UGAPRESS.ORG Georgia
THE
SOUTHERN
FOODWAYS
ALLIANCE
COMMUNITY
COOKBOOK

THE
SOUTHERN
FOODWAYS
ALLIANCE
COMMUNITY
COOKBOOK
EDITED BY SARA ROAHEN AND JOHN T. EDGE
Published in association with
The Southern Foodways Alliance
at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture
at the University of Mississippi
THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA PRESS Athens & London
Publication of this work was made possible, in part, by a generous
gift from the University of Georgia Press Friends Fund.
Images are by Devin Cox.
Published by the University of Georgia Press
Athens, Georgia 30602
www.ugapress.org
© 2010 by the Southern Foodways Alliance,
Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi
All rights reserved
Designed by Erin Kirk New
Set in Adobe Garamond Pro
Printed and bound by Kings Time Printing Press
Th e paper in this book meets the guidelines for
permanence and durability of the Committee on
Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the
Council on Library Resources.
Printed in China
14 13 12 11 10 c 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Roahen, Sara.
Th e Southern Foodways Alliance community cookbook /
edited by Sara Roahen and John T. Edge.
p. cm.
“Published in association with Th e Southern Foodways
Alliance at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at
the University of Mississippi.”
Includes index.
isbn-13: 978-0-8203-3275-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
isbn-10: 0-8203-3275-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Cookery, American—Southern style. I. Edge, John T.
II. Southern Foodways Alliance. III. Title.
tx715.2.s68r62 2010
641.5975—dc22 2010011415
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
I daresay any fi ne recipe used in Jackson could be
attributed to a local lady, or her mother—Mrs. Cabell’s
Pecans, Mrs. Wright’s Cocoons, Mrs. Lyell’s Lemon
Dessert. Recipes, in the fi rst place, had to be imparted—
there was something oracular in the transaction—and
however often they were made after that by others,
they kept their right names. I make Mrs. Mosal’s White
Fruitcake every Christmas, having got it from my mother,
who got it from Mrs. Mosal, and I often think to make a
friend’s recipe is to celebrate her once more, and in that
cheeriest, most aromatic of places to celebrate in,
the home kitchen.
EUDORA WELTY OF JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

CONTENTS
Meet the Southern Foodways Alliance ix
Foreword by Alton Brown xi
Preface by John T. Edge xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
A TASTE
What We Eat While We Cook 1
1 GRAVY
Where We Begin 13
2 GARDEN GOODS
Straight from the Dirt 27
3 ROOTS
A Sweet Potato Is Not a Yam 51
4 GREENS
From Collards to Mustards 65
5 RICE
Limpin’, Hoppin’, and Every Which Way 81
6 GRIST
Biscuits, Breads, and Other Grindstone Goods 97
7 YARDBIRD
Chickens and Eggs 121
8 PIG
From Snoot to Tail 139
9 THE HOOK
Pulled from Our Waters 169
10 THE HUNT
Deer Camp and Quail Lodge Cookery 193
11 PUT UP
Pickled, Brined, Jarred, and Canned 207
12 CANE Sweet Stuff from the Banana Pudding Republic 227
More about the Southern Foodways Alliance 259
Contributors 261
Index of Names 273
Index of Food 277

MEET THE
SOUTHERN FOODWAYS
ALLIANCE
Th e Southern Foodways Alliance, founded in 1999, is an institute of the
Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi.
We document, study, and celebrate the diverse food cultures of the changing
American South. We’ve recorded more than fi ve hundred oral histories, from
row-crop farmers to artisan ham curers. We’ve made more than twenty-fi ve
short fi lms, documenting the lives of fried chicken cooks, bartenders, and
cattlemen who raise grass-fed beef. We also publish books and magazines,
mentor students, and stage six to eight events each year—symposiums
and fi eld trips and fi lm festivals—that function as camp meetings for true
believers in the cultural import of regional cookery and culture.
Th e sfa works to pay down debts of pleasure, earned over generations.
In doing so, we set a common table where black and white, rich and poor—
all who gather—may consider our history and our future in a spirit of
reconciliation. Membership in the sfa is open to anyone. Regardless of his
geographical status. No matter her biscuit technique. Even if—bless your
heart—you put sugar in your grits.