Smoked trout and sweet potatoes are just a sampling of the savory fare offered in "Taste of Appalachia: Asheville and Environs," an Aug. 1-3 field trip sponsored by the Southern Foodways Alliance.
An arm of the University of Mississippi Center for the Study of Southern Culture, SFA hosts its third annual out-of-state tour, an introduction to the foodways of Appalachia, a region where cultural, ethnic, geographic and agricultural forces converge to create a rich tradition in food and culture.
The tour is hosted at Asheville, N.C.'s famed Biltmore Estate, the 19th-century Vanderbilt mansion nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where participants are likely to dine and dance at the Orange Peel Social Aid and Pleasure Club, launch day trips to the Sunburst Trout Farm and Hickory Nut Gap Farm, and taste winery samples after discussions by food and wine experts.
"We chose to focus an entire year upon Appalachia, to give voice to the people and places of the mountain South," said John T Edge, SFA director.
Because SFA trips sell out quickly, early registration is recommended. Cost for the three-day field trip is $275 or $245 for SFA members. Prospective participants can download registration forms or join the SFA at www.southernfoodways.com.
Other stops on the trip include a behind-the-scenes tour of Biltmore Estate's agricultural programs, its 73 acres of vineyards and winery operations, livestock programs and market garden, as well as its kitchens and pantries. An Appalachian supper at Biltmore's former truck farm cottage, accompanied by live bluegrass music and clogging, is also a part of the trip.
The excursion is an appetizer to the Sixth Annual Southern Foodways Symposium set Oct. 2-5 and hosted at UM-Oxford by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. The event, which this year will highlight the people, places and food of the mountain South, attracts food writers, academics, chefs and food enthusiasts to discuss the influence of Southern food and culture.
"Highlights of the fall symposium will be talks by Kentucky writer Ronnie Lundy ("How to Make It Real Compared to Possum"), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Rick Bragg and novelist Lee Smith," Edge said.
In addition to lively discussions that explore Appalachian people, places and traditions, the symposium will feature a ham tasting curated by Kentucky executive chef Jim Gerhardt and, as a one-day precursor to the symposium, a cooking class taught by John Fleer of the Inn at Blackberry Farm in Tennessee and sponsored by Viking Range Corp. of Greenwood.
SFA is a member-supported organization of more than 500 academics, chefs, food writers, cookbook authors and other food enthusiasts, who preserve and promote the traditional and developing food cultures of the South. Its mailing address is: Southern Foodways, University of Mississippi, Center for the Study of Southern Culture, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677-1848.
For more information about the field trip, e-mail Manda Palomares at [email protected], and for details about the SFA, go to http://www.southernfoodways.com. Those requiring special assistance because of a disability also should contact the sponsor.
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