Almost Live from the SFA Symposium

[Varmint]

Mayhaw Man and I are here in Oxford, Mississippi, attending the 2004 Southern Food Alliance symposium. After a long drive on I-55 and a stop for most excellent thin-fried catfish in Louisiana (details later), we arrived at Ole Miss. After checking into our dorm-like room at the Alumni Center Hotel, we headed to the Whole Hog Barbecue fest, featuring the barbecue of Ed Mitchell from Wilson, NC. We schmoozed with lots of folks, but the purpose of tonight's event was to eat, drink (an endless supply of Jack Daniels was available), and have fun. Mission accomplished.

Ed Mitchell conducted an interesting experiment. We sampled 3 different types of pigs: the first was raised on only barley. The second was fed an all natural diet of soybeans and corn. The third was fed a commercial diet, including regular feed of hormones, chemicals, and all the other stuff that bothers organic-zealots. The verdict? To me, it was pig, and they all were fine. Unfortunately, everyone knew what they were eating, and I'd be willing to guess that the non-commercial pigs will win the vote. It should have been a blind study here, but that opportunity was lost.

Finally, we saw a 2001 film about Ed Scott, the SFA's 2001 winner of the Fertel Keeper of the Flame Award, given to an individual who is dedicated to keeping the heritage of Southern cooking alive. Mr. Scott is the first African-American commercial catfish farmer, who couldn't find anyone to process his fish, because of the color of skin. It was an excellent film, and I look forward to the awarding of the 2004 Keeper of the Flame Award.

Hopefully, Brooks will follow up with some comments. More to come tomorrow, and, if lucky, some photos.

[Mayhaw Man]

After checking into our dorm-like room at the Alumni Center Hotel, we headed to the Whole Hog Barbecue fest, featuring the barbecue of Ed Mitchell from Wilson, NC.  We schmoozed with lots of folks, but the purpose of tonight's event was to eat, drink (an endless supply of Jack Daniels was available), and have fun.  Mission accomplished. 

←

Help! I'm trapped in a dormlike hotel room with a guy named Varmint who has been eating whole hog BBQ and drinking Jack Daniels like they were soon going to stop making the stuff and it was going to be his last chance to have any. Why didn't someone tell me what I was getting into? What's up with this guy?

Now, for the serious stuff.

Dean's right. All of the hog was good, or as the late, great Boozoo Chavis once proclaimed, " All parts of the pig are GOOD!" And Boozoo was right. There was some fine hog coming off those grills. I will also say, once again, that chopped pork, before the vinegar and stuff gets put on it, is TO ME, a better dish than what everyone seems to love. I just like the meat. No need to do much to it.

There were some excellent side dishes tonight, other than the traditional items that were provided by Mitchells. There were lima beans, spinach madeline (very spicy-nice touch), sweet potato casserole (complete with little tiny marshmallows on top), and some bread pudding for a bit of dessert. As Dean mentioned above, there was plenty of stuff to drink-Jack Daniels, beer, lemonade, sweet tea (no unsweet dammit-there should be a law ).

We were running a bit late leaving New Orleans this morning and after breakfast at the Bluebird, a stop at Boulangerie for some EXCELLENT pastry, and then a late morning snack (or an early lunch -it all depends on your point of view) at Middendorf's in beautiful, downtown Manchac, LA. we had to kinda drive fast. No more stops worthy of mention until we checked into our palatial suite in Oxford.

Hopefully we will get our phot situation straight in the morning. We both have cameras but we don't exactly get the prize for showing up with the peripherals needed for doing anything with the photos. Off to Radio Shack we go.

[Dave the Cook]

Did you guys lose William already?

[Pan]

Have fun, guys! I look forward to further reports.

[Varmint]

William is a very important man. Thus, he couldn't get away from his top level-security clearance job until late last night, and is catching the first flight to Memphis this AM.

[SobaAddict70]

One of these days you'll need to tell me what Jack Daniels tastes like.

And no, I don't plan on trying it out anytime soon.

Soba

[fifi]

I am thrilled to hear that you were able to connect with Middendorf's. My tummy is enjoying a sympathetic yummy. Looking forward to photos. Great trip, guys.