Innholdsfortegnelse for May - June 2013 i Taste of the South

BARBECUE IS THE UNIVERSAL FOOD of the South. Everyone eats it, and everyone speaks the language of pulled pork, ribs, brisket, and smoked chicken. Sauce styles, rubs, woods for smoking, and the best cuts of meat are passionately debated. And you can bet there’s quite a stir when it comes to who serves up the best ‘cue in the South. From brisket in Texas to mutton in Kentucky and whole hog in South Carolina, we name 16 places worth hitting the road for on page 61. You’ll find a lot more than just slowsmoked meat being served in these institutions. Many of them are known for their Southern sides such as collard greens, macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, and fried pickles. And you always save room for dessert. Cobblers, banana…

Sample Southern creativity at Southern Makers in Montgomery, Alabama, on May 4. The state’s best fashion designers, chefs, artists, and tastemakers are convening for a day of seminars, shopping, and celebration of all things handmade. southernmakers.com Quench your thirst at the Beer, Bourbon, & BBQ Festival, with stops in Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 11, and Richmond, Virginia, on June 8. Admission gets you unlimited tastings of 60 beers and 40 bourbons. beerandbourbon.com CRAVING CAJUN CUISINE? Hit up the 30th Annual Mudbug Madness Festival May 23–26 in Shreveport, Louisiana, for creative crawfish dishes and nonstop live Zydeco music! mudbugmadness.com come in we're OPEN Top Chef alum Kevin Gillespie’s new restaurant, Gunshow, is a culinary adventure inspired by his family’s humble beginnings. Located in Atlanta, Georgia’s Glenwood Park neighborhood, this hotspot…

Each June for the past five years, Pat Martin of Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint in Nolensville, Tennessee, has been invited to join 18 pitmasters from across the country to prepare their finest smoked meats for more than 125,000 hungry New Yorkers at the annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in Madison Square Park. The logistics of cooking that much meat and feeding such multitudes is amazingly complex, but no more so than the process of actually getting the teams and their smoking equipment to Manhattan. DAY ONE 4 a.m., Nolensville, Tennessee The core of the travel group meets long before sunrise at Martin’s. It’s a motley crew, and I’ve never met any of them. I’m the stranger on the sidewalk with a duffel bag and a travel pillow. Ironically, only one…

T here are hors d’oeuvres, and there are snacks. Boiled peanuts don’t exactly fit either definition. Most often purchased on the side of the road, they’re rarely served in restaurants, and they can be carried through the rest of the afternoon or the week, however long they last. They seem to occupy a space between snack food and habit—kinda like chewing gum. As any diehard boiled-peanut fan can attest, the salty, wet little beans inspire your mind to take a lazy walk while your hand shuttles between bag and mouth and your teeth do the chewing. People eating boiled peanuts are usually engaged in other tasks, like driving, talking, fishing, or watching ballgames. Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) are not nuts. They are legumes, from the family Leguminosae, which includes lima beans,…

1. Amy Stankus, owner of Chocolate South in Atlanta, Georgia, hasn’t always been a chocolatier extraordinaire. She left her job as an architect to pursue her love of the sweet stuff, and aren’t we glad she did! The Chocolate South Hunter/Gardener Box is chock-full of delicious bites and makes a great gift for Mother’s Day…or Father’s Day, take your pick! $25, chocolatesouth.com 2. Do you love goat cheese as much as we do? This Make Your Own Goat Cheese Kit from Belle Chevre has everything you need to make it right in your own kitchen. $27.95, bellechevre.com 3. Taste one of these handcrafted treats, and you’ll never want ordinary marshmallows again! Light and fluffy, these tasty morsels come in lots of flavors, including bourbon, lavender, and carrot cake. Shipped to…

Southern Heirlooms I went on a nostalgia trip after reading Christy Jordan’s column on Southern heirlooms [“Southern Plate Suppers,” Jan/Feb 2013, page 17]. As the oldest of only two girls in my family, I lucked out and inherited my great-grandmother’s cast-iron skillet and footed Dutch oven. Family lore says these beloved heirlooms went with the family on an extended camping trip around Texas in a covered wagon. So when the beloved skillet cracked into pieces last spring, I cried. It was like a member of the family had died! My dear, sweet husband dutifully disposed of the pieces, went out and found a replacement, and spent months secretly seasoning it before he presented it to me this past Christmas. To be honest, it works just as well as the old…

When fire ravaged Sam’s Bar-B-Q in Humboldt, Tennessee, in summer 2012, second-generation owners John and Seresa Ivory thought their days of serving up authentic hickory- and oak-perfumed pork shoulders were over. But then a Southern miracle happened. A team of eager volunteers rallied by the Fatback Collective, the Southern Foodways Alliance, and Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q descended upon Sam’s to bring rebirth to the rubble. “We hope, that by lending a hand, we inspire others to do similar good works to sustain our great American folk food,” said John T. Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, and Nick Pihakis, founder of Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q, who spearheaded the volunteer efforts. Thanks to their hard work, you can stop by and enjoy Sam’s signature pork shoulder sandwiches—just be sure to…

From Central Texas to North Carolina, oak is the workhorse of woods. It imparts a balanced smoke flavor to meat. Oak tends to burn slower than other woods, so it’s a great choice for larger cuts of meat that require longer smoking times. Second to oak and one of the most popular smoking woods in the South is hickory. It gives meat a strong smoky flavor, reminiscent of bacon. Pecan is a popular choice in Louisiana and other states along the Gulf Coast. It has an interesting nutty flavor. Fruitwoods such as apple and cherry add a mild sweetness and a subtle, fruity flavor to whatever you cook over them. Post oak and mesquite are used widely in Texas. Post oak is a type of white oak that’s abundant in…

You can smother it on brisket, mop it up with white bread, and, for the fourth year in a row, you can celebrate barbecue sauce with its very own festival in Austin, Texas. 8 cups water 1 pound fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 pound fresh yellow wax beans, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 (15.5-ounce) can light red kidney Last October, folks from across the country and culinary spectrum brought 143 sauces to be tried, tasted, and judged at the third annual Gettin’ Sauced! contest and festival. Eighteen went home winners. While some of these sauces may require road trip to taste, many can be ordered online and enjoyed in your own kitchen or backyard. beans, rinsed and drained 11⁄2 cups grape tomatoes, halved 1⁄2 cup chopped white…

“I honestly believe that being Southern is not a geographical designation. It’s something that comes from the heart.”—Edward Lee Edward Lee, a Korean American from Brooklyn, New York, has spent the last decade in Louisville, Kentucky, where he is the chef-owner of the acclaimed restaurant, 610 Magnolia. A three-time James Beard finalist for Best Chef: Southeast, he survived 14 weeks on Bravo’s television series Top Chef. Lee’s cuisine reflects his American story, combining the flavors of his Korean roots, the techniques of classical French training, and the traditional foods of the American South. How does a Brooklyn-born kid, the son of Korean immigrants, get from New York to Louisville, Kentucky? It was one part serendipity and one part destiny. Some of it was just pure luck. I came to Louisville…

RIPE FOR THE PICKING Look for firm, red stalks with a crisp texture. Like celery, the crisper the texture, the fresher the produce. Rhubarb colors range from red to green, and while red rhubarb can be sweeter, a difference in color does not necessarily indicate a difference in taste. SOUTHERN ROOTS Folks just south of the Mason-Dixon Line are perfectly positioned to grow this cool-weather perennial. Rhubarb can be found from late winter to early spring, with field-grown varieties at their peak from April to June. Visit tasteofthesouthmagazine.com for our recipe for Mini Strawberry Rhubarb Pies. SAVE IT FOR LATER Wrap your rhubarb in plastic, and refrigerate it for up to one week. In addition to stewing and canning, you can freeze rhubarb for up to eight months.…

My family loves to laugh. That might seem like an odd statement because I’m sure most folks would say the same thing. But in my family, we place a high value on laughter and seek it as often as possible. My ancestors lived difficult lives as sharecroppers, and laughter was something they learned to cling to. It kept them going, reminded them of joy in the middle of hardship, and ensured the family always had something to look forward to, even if it was wondering what the next punchline might be. Some of my earliest memories include Mama playing little pranks on us, or my brother and me hiding and jumping out when Mama walked around the corner. Of course, in my family this wasn’t a cause for surprise. It…

If you want to get a food debate started anywhere in the South, chime in with an opinion on barbecue. Everybody has one, and most of them are different. But the beautiful thing is, none of them is wrong. Barbecue is good whether it’s from North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Kansas City, Texas, or anywhere else. Meat smoked low and slow until it’s cooked through and then cooked more until it becomes rich, juicy, and tender—what’s not to love about that? Still, get that debate started. At best, you’ll make friends with the like-minded, and at worst, you’ll learn about some new places to try. And speaking of places to try, here are some of the best barbecue joints the South has to offer. 12 BONES SMOKEHOUSE ASHEVILLE AND ARDEN,…

Johanna Kanen's three-bean salad is always a favorite at Memorial Day picnics in Penasacola, Florida. MARINATED THREE-BEAN, TOMATO, AND BACON SALAD Recipe courtesy of Johanna Kanen, Pensacola, Florida Yield: 8 to 10 servings 8 cups water 1 pound fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 pound fresh yellow wax beans,cut into 1-inch pieces 1 (15.5-ounce) can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed 11⁄2 cups grape tomatoes, halved 1⁄2 cup chopped white onion 1⁄2 cup distilled white vinegar 1⁄3 cup canola oil 11⁄2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill 11⁄4 teaspoons kosher salt 1⁄2 teaspoon sugar 1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled 1. In a Dutch oven, bring 8 cups water to a boil. Add green and yellow beans; cook until crisp-tender, approximately 3 minutes.…