Brett   Anderson,John T. Edge
The hungrily awaited sixth volume in the Cornbread Nation series tells the story of the American Southâ€”circa nowâ€”through the prism of its food and the people who grow, make, serve, and eat it. The modern South serves up a groaning board of international cuisines virtually unknown to previous generations of Southerners, notes Brett Anderson in his introduction. Southern food, like the increasingly globalized South, shows an open and cosmopolitan attitude toward ethnic diversity. But fully appreciating Southern food still requires fluency with the regionâ€™s history, warts and all. The essays, memoirs, poetry, and profiles in this book are informed by that fluency, revealing topics and people traditional as well as avant garde, down home as well as urbane.,The book is organized into six chapters: â€œMenu Itemsâ€ shares ruminations on iconic dishes; â€œMessing with Mother Natureâ€ looks at the relationship between food and the natural environment; â€œSouthern Charactersâ€ profiles an eclectic mix of food notables; â€œSouthern Drinkwaysâ€ distills libations, hard and soft; â€œIdentity in Motionâ€ examines change in the Southern food world; and â€œThe Global Southâ€ leaves readers with some final thoughts on the cross-cultural influences wafting from the Southern kitchen. Gathered here are enough prominent food writers to muster the liveliest of dinner parties: Molly Oâ€™Neill, Calvin Trillin, Michael Pollan, Kim Severson, Martha Foose, Jessica Harris, Bill Addison, Matt and Ted Lee, and Lolis Eric Elie, among others. Two classic piecesâ€”Frederick Douglassâ€™s account of the sustenance of slaves and Edward Behrâ€™s 1995 profile of Cajun cook Eula Mae DorÃ©â€”are included. A photo essay on the Collins Oyster Company family of Louisiana rounds out ,Cornbread Nation 6,.,Published in association with the Southern Foodways Alliance at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. A Friends Fund Publication.
Food and Drink,Food,History,Food History
Cornbread Nation 6