The third annual Southern Foodways Symposium will be held October 20-22, 2000, here on the campus of the University of Mississippi. This year’s theme is “Travelin’ On: Southern Food En Route,” an examination of what happens when Southerners--and Southern foods--travel north, and west, and across the Atlantic.

As was the case with previous symposia, this event will provide an opportunity for cooks, chefs, food writers, and inquisitive eaters alike to come to a better understanding of Southern cuisine and, in turn, Southern culture.

The keynote address will be given by New York resident and Southern expatriate Roy Blount, author of, among many other works, the recent memoir Be Sweet. Among other speakers will be John Floyd, editor of Southern Living magazine, Joe Dabney, author of the award-winning cookbook Smokehouse Ham, Spoonbread, & Scuppernong Wine, and Monique Wells of Paris, France, author of the new cookbook Food for the Soul. Author Jessica Harris will pay homage to Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) board president and chef/proprietor of New Orleans’ famed Dooky Chase restaurant, Leah Chase, when she presents Mrs. Chase with the SFA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Lectures, to be held in Barnard Observatory, the restored antebellum headquarters of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, will be complemented by a series of informal lunches, served in the sylvan grove at the heart of the Ole Miss campus. Featured foods will include “dueling gumbos” prepared by Leah Chase, Fritz Blank of Deux Cheminees in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Johnny Faulk of Grand Lake, Louisiana, bass player for the Grammy-nominated Cajun band the Hackberry Ramblers. Friday lunch will feature a sampling of more modern Southern fare from chef Neal Langerman of Georgia Brown’s restaurant in Washington, D.C.

Evening events include book signings, regional food and drink tastings, a barbecue, a catfish fry, and a street dance hosted by the Hackberry Ramblers. Festivities will close with a dinner on the grounds, served as the University of Mississippi gospel choir performs. Registration will open in late July. Contact John T. Edge at 662-915-5993, or via e-mail at johnt@olemiss.edu.