John T. Edge

The incomparable John T. Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, teams with Restaurant Eugene's Linton Hopkins, currently the SFA Board President, for an unforgettable evening of Southern food, talk and a book signing as the Eugene Author Series rolls into summer. ABOUT THE BOOK: Everybody ... (more)has one in their collection. You know — one of those old, spiral- or plastic-tooth-bound cookbooks sold to support a high school marching band, a church, or the local chapter of the Junior League. These recipe collections reflect, with unimpeachable authenticity, the dishes that define communities: chicken and dumplings, macaroni and cheese, chess pie. When the Southern Foodways Alliance began curating a cookbook, it was to these spiral-bound, sauce-splattered pages that they turned for their model. Including more than 170 tested recipes, this cookbook is a true reflection of southern foodways and the people, regardless of residence or birthplace, who claim this food as their own. Traditional and adapted, fancy and unapologetically plain, these recipes are powerful expressions of collective identity. There is something from — and something for — everyone. The recipes and the stories that accompany them came from academics, writers, catfish farmers, ham curers, attorneys, toqued chefs, and people who just like to cook — spiritual Southerners of myriad ethnicities, origins, and culinary skill levels. Edited by Sara Roahen and John T. Edge, written, collaboratively, by Sheri Castle, Timothy C. Davis, April McGreger, Angie Mosier, and Fred Sauceman, the book is divided into chapters that represent the region’s iconic foods: Gravy, Garden Goods, Roots, Greens, Rice, Grist, Yardbird, Pig, The Hook, The Hunt, Put Up, and Cane. Therein you’ll find recipes for pimento cheese, country ham with redeye gravy, tomato pie, oyster stew, gumbo z’herbes, and apple stack cake. You’ll learn traditional ways of preserving green beans, and you’ll come to love refried black-eyed peas. Are you hungry yet? Reservation price includes a first edition copy of the book, which the author will sign at the end of the evening. For full dinner price and description, visit the Restaurant's website [ http://www.restauranteugene.com/ ] or call (404) 355-0321. If you cannot attend the reading, but would like a signed copy of The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook, you may reserve it at http://acappellabooks.com/ev_edge_eug... .

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