May-June 2016_nobleed

“I f people know nothing else about how Southerners supposedly eat, they know that bacon, barbecue, lard and ham are considered essential ingredients in the South’s culinary repertoire. Some even know a smattering of the history —Spanish and other European colonists bring hairy, spiky pigs — they get loose — they spread — and with their robust strength, tusks, teeth and boar-like behavior thrust and parry their way through a wilderness of cougars, bears and wolves. Even with predators aplenty — through brute strength and human intervention the pigs came out on top — leaving the South thick with a feral hog population to this day. Proto-Southern cuisine amplified Old World pork eating habits until the pig was in everything — from start to finish. Even today, from chopped bacon in salad to piecrust made with lard, it somehow makes an appearance. It comes with red-eye gravy in the morning and perhaps even with ice cream in the evening.” —Michael Twitty, Culinary Historian

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