Southern Foodways Alliance, Uprooted

by Sydney Blanchard

Each month, our Uprooted series will highlight local chefs, restaurants, organizations, and farmers who are spearheading the farm-to-table and local foodways movements in South Louisiana.

It would be negligent of me, perhaps criminal, to attempt to write a series about Southern foodways without giving mention and credit to the Southern Foodways Alliance based out of Oxford, Mississippi.

The Southern Foodways Alliance's offices are located in the Barnard Observatory at the University of Mississippi

Founded in 1999 by author and activist John Egerton, the Southern Foodways Alliance aims to document, study, and explore the diverse food culture of the American South while mapping its evolution.

The Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi acted as an incubator and provided start-up capital for the SFA. In 1998, the Center staged the first Southern Foodways Symposium, organized by then-graduate student John T. Edge. 

JoAnn Clevenger: A Girl Scout with Gumption. Owner of Upperline Restaurant in New Orleans. 

Now SFA's Director and award-winning writer and commentator, John T. Edge and his team collect oral histories, produce films and podcasts, publish pieces of writing, mentor students, and stage events to further their mission to challenge the way people think of the South. It's nearly impossible to understand the impact of their work unless you watch some of their films.

Their podcast and print publication Gravy was named Publication of the Year by the James Beard Foundation.

Many credit Edge and the SFA with putting Southern food on the map nationally. Before it was trendy, someone had to make it trendy.

The Gospel of the Alabama Oyster, featuring Murder Point Oyster Company.

The SFA hosts an annual symposium, recently rebranded as Food Media South, where major players in the culinary media world come together to network, hear prominent speakers, and enjoy great food. Last year's symposium sold out in seconds. They've even had to create a summer symposium in order to meet the demand of attendees.

While on a media trip with Visit Oxford, I met with Edge at the SFA World Headquarters at the University of Mississippi. He joined us with a warm plate of biscuits and a story that explains the gap the SFA is trying to bridge.

Edge told us about Biscuit Pit in Grenada, Mississippi, where Earline Hall had been making biscuits from simple ingredients for more than 15 years. Each day Earline would cut out rounds of biscuit dough using a disemboweled tin can and would turn the dough into biscuits that tasted like something your grandmother would make.

After reading Edge's Garden & Gun article about the Southern biscuit renaissance that mentioned Biscuit Pit's biscuits, Don Newcomb of Oxford, the visionary behind regional chains Newk's and McAlister's, decided to open a restaurant concept called MyGuys utilizing Earline's biscuit expertise.

The idea of the homemade-style Southern biscuit being brought into a modern realm is what Southern Foodways Alliance is all about, Edge explained. 

Further, he said, his role at SFA is to complicate people's ideas about the South.

"We all see our work as a progressive force in this region," Edge said. "It’s not an attempt to preserve the South, it’s an attempt to document the evolution of the region and tell stories of the region that change perceptions and deepen understanding."

In Edge's view, food serves as a vehicle for bettering the South. The organization doesn't shy away from broaching issues of race, class, religion, gender, etc. In fact, Food Media South's 2016 symposium is specifically focused on "how race and gender impact which food stories get told and who tells them."

Having these kinds of important conversations through the lens of food can be powerful.

If We So Choose, a short documentary about food's role in the Civil Rights Movement. 

Edge mentioned the taint of slavery on the South, and the love/hate relationship he has with the South many Southerners identify with. The tensions between the joys and struggles of the South is what brought Edge to Oxford 20 years ago, where he hoped he would be able to work out his feelings through writing.

"People who thoughtlessly love the South ain’t paying attention," Edge said. "I think that food writing, thinking, exploring food is the most accessible way to get at some of the issues that really matter in the South...to get at issues of race, class, gender, ethnicity. That’s why I do this work."

In a region so divided, is it possible food can serve as a uniting force?

"The South is evolving for the better in many ways," he said. "We’re taking old ways and adapting them to the present."

Read more Uprooted here:

Nino's Italian, Uprooted

Indie Plate, Uprooted

Red Stick Farmers Market, Uprooted

Iverstine Family Farms, Uprooted

Murder Point Oysters, Uprooted

Social's Small Batch Bourbon Dinner: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Calandro's Supermarket

Bourbon Menu at Social

Typically speaking, my Whisk(e)y Wednesday posts consist of reviews of bourbons, Scotches, Irish whiskey, and more whiskeys and whiskies from around the globe. Today, however, I'm going in a different direction. On Monday I had the pleasure of attending a Small Batch Bourbon Dinner at Social in Lafayette. The southern table and bar themed restaurant invited me to be their guest for the evening and experience chef Marc Krampe's creations as well as some world class whiskey.

The meal started with George T. Stagg and seared foie gras. A bourbon aged at least 15 years from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, the Stagg clocks in at a walloping 137 proof. This bad boy is tough to drink straight but if you do it'll put some hair on your chest. With a few dashes of water it really starts to open up with rich flavors of tobacco, cherries, and luscious charred oak. The seared foie gras with bourbon infused cherries proved to be an ideal counter to the strong whiskey which could cut through the fatty liver. Served with frisse, honey infused creme fraiche, and smoked trout roe, the dish got us off to a great start.

Our second course, came with the Black Maple Hill bourbon, which isn't actually a distillery itself. They instead source their whiskey from other distilleries and release a different batch each year under the Black Maple Hill label. This particular whiskey, rumored to be from the Heaven Hill distillery, did not come with anywhere near the firepower of the Stagg. A fair amount tamer, I could sip it straight and pick up some nice hints of honey and cloves. It worked very well with the Asian inspired seafood option of the night: filets of wood fired anago, which is actually eel, atop a puree and sprinkled with spiced hazelnut dust and puffed sushi rice. The textures took the dish to another level with sweet, smoky, smooth and crunchy all combined in every bite.

Seared Foie Gras, House Smoked Trout Roe, Honey Creme Fraiche, Bourbon Infused Cherries, Frisee

Brick Oven Anago, Spiced Hazelnut Dust, Puffed Sushi Rice, Kinome

The real superstar of the evening came next. Well, the food version, anyway. And the whiskey wasn't bad either. The Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye is another whiskey out of Buffalo Trace's Antique Collection. The rye is bold and spicy with many of the cinnamon notes that you want in a rye. Apple pie on the nose and fire on the tongue, it is easy to see why the Handy is such a sought after bottle. To counter that spice, chef put together a very contemporary twist on a homestyle dish. The lamb neck bourguinon featured succulent and tender shredded lamb meat atop a puree of charred celery root. To add to the dish in the the very traditional way, chef threw in some fingerling potatoes that were wonderfully cooked in fat and dusted in salt, along with a mushroom oil and carrot foam. Yes, a carrot foam. Most likely a carrot infused cream that then went through an iSi whip. We'll be doing stuff like this at an upcoming Triumph Kitchen pop-up dinner, if you are interested. The flavors and again the textures all worked extremely well in the bowl of deliciousness. This is modern comfort food at its finest. I want more. Now.

Lamb Neck Bourguinon, Charred Celery Root Puree, Confit Fingerling Potatoes, Mushroom Oil, Carrot Foam

Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year

The meal concluded with the real prize of the whiskey portfolio. The Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year Straight Kentucky Bourbon. This is pretty much the mecca of bourbon out there right now. Getting a bottle is like winning the lottery. Seriously, Calandro's Supermarket had a raffle to decided who got the right to purchase one of two (2) bottles they got allocated this year. And they were lucky to get the right to sell those two. Pappy 23 tastes like what a bourbon should taste like. Vanilla, oak, sweet corn, subtle spice, balance, complexity... it is all there. It is overproofed but it drinks fine neat. It isn't wound up too tight that you need to loosen it up before you can drink it. It is like driving a luxury car of the liquor world... you realize the hype when you get behind the wheel. When the whiskey hits your tongue, you know it is special. Sure, it is excessively hyped and there are other bourbon out there that are really good and not as hard to find. Some of that hype is worthy though. Most of it is due to scarcity and trendiness. But still, it is insanely good. As was the dessert, for the record. To compliment a lot of the tones of the whiskey, the sweet caramel dessert with fruity figs partnered wonderfully with the amaretti cookie crisps that provided a nice crunch. All in all, great whiskey, and a tremendous meal. Next time they do a dinner like this, you don't want to miss it!

Creme Caramel, Fig and Baby Walnut Compote, Amaretti Cookie Crisps

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by Calandro's Supermarket. Calandro's has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys as well as wine and craft beer. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote, Eric Ducote, and Jeremy Spikes. Scores are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, and Balance and Complexity using our own proprietary scoring system. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y (though not undrinkable) while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss and anything above 80 is rather extraordinary and anything above 90 is world class.

FoodBlogSouth

On January 22, Jeremy (Faire Les Courses) and I will be attending FoodBlogSouth in Birmingham, Alabama. The one day conference will cover great topics like:

• Why Southern Food is Trendy Across the USA
• Blogging about Southern Seafood After the 2010 Oil Disaster
• Food styling and photography
• Blog to Book: Becoming a published author 
• Hungry for More: How Blogging Keeps Customers Coming Back for More
• Reviewing restaurants

I'm pretty excited to see what I can learn, network with a bunch of my peers, and make some new friends.  If you are interested in attending FoodBlogSouth, make sure to check out their website!  Let me know if I can expect to meet up with you there!

Umami, Ooh My! Beef Brisket - Southern BBQ Sauce Contest

The winning recipe for Brisket in the Southern BBQ Sauce/Matherne's Supermarket/Bite and Booze contest went to Jeremy Wells, author of the blog Faire Les Courses, for a truly unique and equally intriguing creation.  I wasn't sure how this would turn out, but it was certainly worth meeting up with Jeremy on campus to try it out!

Jay Ducote presents a Southern Bar-B-Que Locker to Jeremy Wells

Well, let's get to it.  This is how Jeremy described his Brisket:

"I call this Umami, Ooh My! Beef Brisket. Umami, from the Japanese word for delicious, is savoriness, the fifth basic taste after sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. While sweet tastes often accompany pork and chicken well, beef is better paired with more savory flavors, which is why steaks are paired with red wines. The injection/marinade combines the savoriness of umami with some Asianeque flavors associated with the term's origin.

Two parts fresh pineapple juice
One part soy sauce
One part fresh-brewed green tea
One-half teaspoon Southern BBQ Cajun Seasoning
Dash of cayenne pepper

Pineapple juice, despite being sweet, soy sauce, despite its saltiness, and green tea, despite its mild flavor, actually have high levels of umami flavor. The flavors combine well and aren't overpowering, so inject the mixture liberally throughout the brisket.

The rub combines Southern BBQ's Louisiana Sweet Mesquite rub with another food high in umami: grated Parmesan cheese. About three parts rub to one Parmesan should work. After the whole brisket is liberally coated, smoke it for 1.5-2 hours per pound.

Unlike the other four tastes, umami from different ingredients produces a synergistic effect; in other words, a fifty-fifty mixture of two umami flavors can produce as much as eight times the flavor of either ingredient alone! So grab a beer, play a game of flip cup, and enjoy this "Absolutely Cajun, Positively Delicious" umami experience!"

Jeremy's "Umami" Brisket

Special thanks to Matherne's on Highland at Kenilworth for supplying the meat!

Smoked Cajun Carolina Pulled Pork - Southern BBQ Sauce Contest

Our second winning recipe in the Southern BBQ Sauce Bar-B-Que Locker Contest came from Lawrence VanZomeren with SOLA Tailgating.

Lawrence VanZomeren receives his Southern Bar-B-Que Locker from Jay Ducote

Here is Lawrence's recipe for Smoked Cajun Carolina Pulled Pork:


Smoked Cajun Carolina Pulled Pork
Prep:
The pork shoulder will start early Friday evening by being placed in brine.  The purpose for the brine is to seal the juices into the pork shoulder while it is on the smoker.  The recipe for the brine is
2 gallons distilled water
1.5 cups of molasses
1 cup of brown sugar
1.5 cups of salt (no iodine) or sea salt
1 cup of southern Bar-b-q seasoning salt
The brine and the pork shoulder will be kept refrigerated overnight for no less than 8 hours. I will use the process of smoking the shoulder to cook the meat. Once done brining I will dry the meat with paper towel and apply the Southern Cajun rub extremely heavy.

Cooking:
Once at the tailgate party I will fire up the smoker and get the wood chips smoking. The best way to cook the shoulder is to do it keep it smoky and cook it for a long time and at a low temperature.  I will use apple wood chips for the flavor.  Smoking the shoulder will last the first ¾ of the time and then it will just cook the last ¼ this all depends on my experiences and how I feel the shoulder is cooking up

After the meat is removed from the smoker it will sit and not be touched for 30min in a pan covered with tin foil.  After the resting period the pork will be pulled and the southern bar-b-q sauce will be added.  The flavors of the brown sugar in the brine and the brown sugar sauce will come together very nicely.  

The Cajun Carolina Pork Shoulder rests before getting pulled apart and mixed with sauce

Special thanks to Matherne's on Highland at Kenilworth for supplying the meat!

Mongolian Chicken Thighs - Southern BBQ Sauce Contest

The first winner of the Southern BBQ Sauce Bar-B-Que Locker contest is Alan Manda and his Southern Mongolian Chicken Thighs.  Alan took home the prize for the chicken category and grilled up his recipe prior to the LSU vs. Alabama football game.

Jay Ducote hands the Southern Bar-B-Que Locker over to Alan Manda

Alan submitted the following recipe for the contest:

12 Boneless Chicken Thighs
Southern Cajun Seasoning
Hoisin Sauce
2 Bundles of Green Onions
Southern Smokehouse Brown Sugar Grill-N-Que Sauce
Southern Cajun Basting Spray
4 cloves of Garlic (minced)

-Marinate Chicken Thighs overnight in 1 cup of Hoisin Sauce and 1 cup of Southern Smokehouse Brown Sugar Grill-N-Que Sauce, garlic, and 1/2 bundle of chopped green onions.  Add more in equal parts if needed to cover chicken.

- Remove chicken and lightly sprinkle with Southern Cajun Seasoning to desired spice level

- Grill chicken, while spraying with Southern Cajun Basting Spray as needed.

- Chop up the remaining green onions.  After chicken is done and put onto a serving dish, top with the green onions.  In a bowl on the side, have 2 cups Southern Grill-N-Que Sauce, 3/4 cup of hoisin sauce, 1 teaspoon of Southern Cajun Seasoning, available is anyone wants to add extra sauce.

-Makes a perfect tailgating food that people can grab for a quick bite, or put on a bun to enjoy.  Southern BBQ with an Asian twist.

Chicken on the grill gets a light dusting with Southern's Cajun Seasoning

Mongolian Chicken Thighs with the Southern Bar-B-Que Locker ingredients

Special thanks to Matherne's on Highland at Kenilworth for supplying the meat!

Christina's in Beauregard Town

Hidden in downtown Baton Rouge at the corner of St. Charles and Somerulos, Christina's has been offering up quality home cooking for years.  This little restaurant is not as well known as it should be around town, but its loyal customers still keep the place packed for breakfast and lunch.  I recently ate lunch at Christina's for my first time and was certainly not disappointed.  Darrell Broussard joined me on the walk from our busy offices to the Beauregard Town neighborhood.  The quaint restaurant is warm and welcoming, and the lunch menu is full of Southern-fried home cooking. 

Christina's in Downtown Baton Rouge

Christina's had a lunch special on this fortunate day that featured a chicken fried steak with gravy and three sides.  Their list of sides rotates so it is written on the wall instead of in the menu.  However, it is long enough to count as reading a book, so picking three seemed like a difficult task.  I wanted to vary things up a bit, so I eventually settled on the buttered corn, collard greens, and praline yams.

Chicken Fried Steak with Buttered Corn, Collard Greens, and Praline Yams

The corn had a good buttery taste as the name implied but beyond that was just your average canned corn.  The collard greens tasted pretty good and I enjoyed their saltiness and tender texture.  However, the highlight of the sides, and in fact the entire meal, came in the form of the praline yams.  They may not have been much more than canned sweet potatoes with plenty of butter and caramelized sugar, but this dish was purely delightful!  I could have eaten those praline yams all day!  The chicken fried steak had a great flavor and combined well with the white gravy, but it was a little smaller than I would have liked.  Still, the praline yams made up for everything and in the end, I had no complaints with the meal or the restaurant.  I'd gladly go back to Christina's any time, and I especially want to check it out for breakfast!