The third annual Southern Foodways Symposium was held October 20-22. Thanks to the strong support of sponsors Southern Comfort and the Catfish Institute--as well as Bottletree Bakery, Fat Possum Records, the Oxford Tourism Council, and Viking Range--the gathering was a financial and critical success, drawing a sell-out crowd to the University of Mississippi campus and garnering positive media coverage in publications ranging from Cooking Light magazine to the Wall Street Journal.

   This year's theme was Travelin’ On, an examination of what happens when Southerners--and Southern foods--travel north, and west, and across the Atlantic. Among the highlights were author Joe Dabney’s ruminations on the Hillbilly Highway; Nathalie Dupree’s observations on how the media has marketed the idea of Southern food; cultural geographer Richard Pillsbury’s talk, “Grits Lines, Barbecue Belts, and Authentic Chicago-Style Delta Ribs: Geography and Southern Foodways”; Seattle attorney Peter McKee’s rumination, “It’s the ‘Cue: The Life-Altering Impact of Southern Food on One Unsuspecting Yankee”; writer Roy Blount Jr.’s take on eating Southern in the Big Apple; and journalist William Rice’s lecture, “The Life and Legacy of Craig Claiborne.”

   In addition, two awards were presented. Leah Chase, of the fabled Dooky Chase’s restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana, received the SFA’s second Lifetime Achievement Award, while venerated pitmaster J. C. Hardaway of the Big S Grill in Memphis, Tennessee, received the first Keeper of the Flame Award. Both awards are sponsored by the Southern Foodways Alliance.

   Lunch and dinner offerings expanded this year. Neal Langerman of Georgia Brown’s in Washington, D.C., wowed Friday luncheon guests with modern fillips on traditional Lowcountry cuisine, while pitmaster J. C. Hardaway of the Big S Grill in Memphis--with an assist from Randy Yates of Ajax Diner in Oxford--served pluperfect barbecue sandwiches capped with slaw, to an appreciative crowd that same evening. Saturday lunch, served from the splendid Viking kitchen erected under a tent in the Grove, featured Creole gumbo from Leah Chase, SFA board president; pepperpot gumbo from Fritz Blank of the restaurant Deux Cheminées in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Cajun gumbo from Johnny Faulk, bass player for the Hackberry Ramblers band.

   The Saturday evening meal, held in the bucolic village of Taylor nine miles south of Oxford, offered registrants a taste of catfish past, present, and future, with dishes from Karen Carrier of Automatic Slim’s Tonga Club in Memphis, Tennessee; Jimmy Kennedy of the River Run Café in Plainfield, Vermont; and Louis Osteen of Louis’s in Charleston, South Carolina. Afterward, Lynn Storey of Taylor Catfish served up fiddler catfish, rolled in spiced meal and fried to a turn. Sunday lunch marked the close of the conference, with a Dinner on the Grounds featuring duck hash piled atop a homemade biscuit, served by Paige Osborne of Oxford’s own Yocona River Inn.

   New this year were a variety of musical performances, from bluesman Robert Belfour, who played songs from his new album, What's Wrong with You, and, of course, the Grammy-nominated Hackberry Ramblers, who brought down the house on Saturday night with their Western Swing-inflected Cajun music. For those who were unable to attend, audiotapes of the proceedings are available. Please call 504-892-1157 to request an order form.

   Based upon the success of the annual symposium, the SFA is in the throes of planning similar events in North Carolina and Kentucky. Look for details in the coming months. And, yes, plans are already taking shape for the 2001 symposium, slated for October. Conference-goers will be invited to explore the historical connections between the farm and the table in the South.