Knit to This
John T. Edge on Food in the South
Dear Kay,
Southern food never ends. No matter how fancy, manipulated, or elevated it becomes, it’s an eternal story, and an eternal set of flavors, cooking styles—and history.
If you haven’t heard of John T. Edge, well, here’s your chance. As the director of the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi, he’s one of the best-known scholars of Southern food and the Southern history that overlaps it.
His recent book The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South was just named the All-City read by the Nashville Public Library. Events will run for weeks as everybody digs into this history of food and the South.
Here’s a great conversation with John T. Edge, from the Eater Upsell podcast, hosted by Helen Rosner and Greg Morabito.
This podcast has the typical long, slow podcast ramble before getting to the conversation, which begins at minute 8:23.
Love,
Ann
Photo: Jason Thrasher
And be sure to listen to the Gravy podcast from the Southern Foodways Alliance…always some interesting info about southern food culture!!
I’m reading “The Cooking Gene” right now, which is a tremendous combination of slave history, Southern foodways, and a personal memoir. Highly recommend.
I heard a conversation with him on a local NPR show, ‘Louisiana Eats.’ It was a typical driveway moment for me. Afterwards, I came in and started making a big pot of gumbo…
Thanks for the info. I’m reading his book now and it’s a very unique but real viewpoint.
Found his book on the “new books” shelf in my local library some months ago. Read it with fascination – highly recommend!