I spent the past weekend at the Southern Foodways Alliance 2018 Winter Symposium here in Birmingham. 
I joined more than 150 people from all over the country to talk about what it means to produce, grow, cook, eat and love food in the South.
Attendees included James Beard Foundation Award-winning restaurateurs and chefs as well as some of the latest crop of nominees. There were coffee growers, food writers, oral historians, a mariachi band, educators, activists, photographers, farmers and filmmakers. Some people were there simply because they love Southern food.
And that’s good enough.
From a drink made with Cathead Honeysuckle Vodka, Good People‘s Snake Handler reduction AND Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale to breakfast cake made by Dolester Miles, the pastry chef at Highlands Bar & Grill, to Chef Duane Nutter‘s lunch of Sea Island Red Peas and Shrimp (and much more!) to Becky Satterfield’s amazing gumbo full of Conecuh Sausage, it was a delicious time worth savoring.
See my story on Alabama NewsCenter for all the details.
You’ll find that we heard CNN’s Moni Basu talk about growing up in an Indian household in the American South and how food narratives can effect change. Fawn Weaver and Clay Risen talked about Nathan “Nearest” Green, the former slave whom many believe taught Jack Daniel how to distill whiskey. Writer Julia Turshen spoke about her book Feed the Resistance: Recipes and Ideas for Getting Involved, which benefits the ACLU. Food writer and dining critic David Hagedorn explored the various meanings of Southern hospitality, and Atlanta-Journal Constitution reporter Rosalind Bentley talked about the women who fed the Civil Rights Movement and sustained protestors with home-cooked meals respectfully served on their good china.
You’ll want to put next year’s Winter Symposium on your calendar. I’ll see you there.
savor 