Skip to main content

Southern Foodways Alliance: More Than Just Barbeque

Without a doubt, the biggest trend in food over the past ten years has been eating smarter. Chefs, gourmands, and even marginally informed diners are more aware of what they are eating and where their food is coming from.

One of the forebears of this trend is the Southern Foodways Alliance, which was founded thirteen years ago in Birmingham, Alabama. John Egerton, a Southern journalist, author and activist who has remained the muse and moral center of the Alliance since its inception, organized the founders of the non-profit group. From the beginning, the SFA has been based upon the principle that food is a cultural product of the American South just as much as Faulkner, Memphis blues and Muscle Shoals.

Recommended Videos

When you think of Southern food, the first thing that comes to mind is barbeque and, according to a spokesperson for the SFA, 2012 was all about barbeque. Over the course of the year, the Alliance tried to explore barbeque cuisine through every lens they could possibly think of—whether that meant regional variations in meats and sauces to the issues of gender, labor, power, tradition, authenticity and animal welfare. Not your typical thought process when approaching a pulled pork sandwich or slab of baby back ribs.

This past October, the SFA premiered Pride & Joy, which is a feature-length documentary about Southern Food, which was made by the Alliance’s resident filmmaker Joe York. The film is set to make the rounds at film festivals in 2013 and will also receive an air date on PBS (the date is still to be determined).

Also, in 2013, the SFA is going to direct their focus on the role of women in Southern food and drink. Many members of the Alliance feel that Southern women are “under-celebrated as chefs and entrepreneurs” and will focus of both their June symposium (located in Richmond, Virginia) and their October symposium (located in Oxford, Mississippi).

But first, in January the SFA will hold their Taste of the South event, which serves as a benefit for the Alliance. Taste of the South is hosted by Blackberry Farm and will feature a lineup of chefs including Tyler Brown (Capital Grille in Nashville; voted one of Esquire’s Best New Chefs, 2011), Vivian Howard (owner of Chef & The Farmer in Kinston, N.C.) and Mike Lata (James Beard award winning chef at Fig in Charleston, S.C.). The event takes place from January 17-20 and culminates in a gala supper followed by an auction to further support the SFA’s work.

If you are educated on food, but not on the SFA, now is the time to start learning about this fantastic organization.

Matt Domino
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Matt Domino is a writer living in Brooklyn. His fiction has appeared in Slice and The Montreal Review, while his non-fiction…
Topics
Flashy Independence Day cocktails from Deep Eddy Vodka
Red, white, blue, and refreshing
Festive Deep Eddy shot.

The Fourth of July is tomorrow and if you don't have a signature cocktail in order yet, fear not. We've got two festive recipes from a vodka brand worth trying out at home. They're cold, colorful, and refreshing, meaning they're more than welcome on a long summer weekend.

Deep Eddy set us up with pair of cocktails befitting of the weekend, each with a trio of colors and flavors. In the end, you're set up with a beverage that can handle even the hottest afternoon as you try out some easy grilling recipes. And you can dress them up any way you like, adding cool straws or garnishes.
Declaration on Ice

Read more
The ultimate holiday weekend drink: Good Guys’ Frozen Fernet & Coke
Bitter, sweet, cold, and cola-driven
Amaro

Fernet is amazing stuff. The iconic Italian amaro adds a smack of bitterness and herbaceous goodness to your favorite cocktails, balancing out the drink at large and making it oh so tasty. And the liquid goes especially well with Coke, preferably frozen.

In the spirit of summer, we reached out to Good Guys in NYC for an optimal hot-weather cocktail. You know, the one that's the equivalent of playing in front of a gushing fire hydrant in New York City on a sweltering day. And I believe we have the drink.

Read more
Looking for a perfect sear on your steak? This surprising pantry item is the secret
The secret is already in your pantry
Grilled juicy marinated angus beef flank steak on wooden board. Finished juicy medium rare meat is resting before it is cut and sliced.

We already know that there are countless ways to cook a great steak. Whether you prefer the grill, a good old-fashioned cast-iron pan, or your beloved broiler, if you know what you're doing, you'll end up with a delicious meal. But if you've ever felt like your steak could use a bit more in the way of a perfectly crisp, deeply golden, ultra-crispy crust, the answer is probably already sitting in your pantry right now: cornstarch.

Why it works

Read more