Food writers deliver history and humor

Lisa Donovan, the former pastry chef at Husk restaurant, with historian Jack Neely at The Biscuit Bash event that closed the Southern Food Writing Conference.

Lisa Donovan, the former pastry chef at Husk restaurant, with historian Jack Neely at The Biscuit Bash event that closed the Southern Food Writing Conference.

Using the 1900 tome called simply “Knoxville Cook Book,” historian Jack Neely illuminated attendees at the Southern Food Writing Conference earlier this month with information on just what a cosmopolitan city Knoxville was back then — at least in the food department.

It all centered on Market Square where, Neely reported, “people would claim you can get anything.”

“Knoxville was at a crossroads in 1900,” Neely said. “On Market Square they sold bear, possum and biscuit flour by the barrel. They sold Italian pasta and German sausage, seafood and Kosher food. Some restaurants were open 24 hours. But Knoxville had rough edges. It was a very stratified society.”

Neely described the Gold Sun, one of those 24-hour places where you could play “stump the waiter” and try to see if you could ask for something the restaurant couldn’t prepare. Then, there was the Vendome, a fancy French restaurant. And expensive wine bars on Gay Street and in the Hotel Imperial.

There also was a wide array of street food available in Knoxville, including tamales sold by an African-American street vendor. And hot dogs. In fact, the first time the words “hot dogs” ever were mentioned was in a Knoxville newspaper in 1893.

Interestingly, there were oyster bars everywhere, he said. Dating from the 1850s, fresh, live oysters were shipped to Knoxville and kept cool in train cars. “Oysters were big in Knoxville,” Neely said. So big, in fact, that the “Knoxville Cook Book” contained 23 recipes for them.

Jack Neely

Jack Neely

Knoxvillians were eating lentils at that time and also “had tendencies for eating innards,” Neely said. “I don’t know why, but we stopped eating them.”

The cookbook had a dozen recipes for sardines, recipes for aspic and “hard boiled eggs in almost everything.”

The cookbook called for seven different kinds of milk as ingredients in various dishes and included a whole chapter on drinks. But it didn’t call any of the drinks “cocktails.” Rather they were referred to as “cordials” or “punches.”

The cookbook also had recipes for several “mock” dishes: mock turtle, mock oysters and mock brains (which really were egg yolks). Surprisingly, he said, there wasn’t a single recipe for grits. Or possum.

Other excerpts from the second half of the Southern Food Writing Conference. (See previous post for a report on the first half.)

  • The hilarious food writer Julia Reed of “Garden & Gun,” “Elle Decor” and “The Wall Street Journal,” didn’t disappoint. She said that, growing up in Greenville, Mississippi, she noticed that “everybody either drank or couldn’t drink. Nobody didn’t drink.”
  • Steven Satterfield, executive chef and co-owner of Miller Union in Atlanta, has a just-released book about vegetables called “Root to Leaf.” “Fresh produce is nature’s multivitamin,” he said. Click here for a New York Times review of his book. But know that if you read this review, you will absolutely go buy the book. I know I am.
  • One of my favorite speakers at this event each year is Cynthia Graubart. She usually co-presents with the legendary Nathalie Dupree, but Nathalie couldn’t make it this year. She and Cynthia are co-authors of several great cookbooks that I love. “My mother was a terrible cook,” Graubart said. “I learned to cook in self-defense.”
Julia Reed.

Julia Reed.

Susan Pucket, former food editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, interviews chef and author Steven Satterfield.

Susan Puckett, former food editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, interviews chef and author Steven Satterfield.

Lunch for the food writers' second day was provided by Sweet P's Barbecue under a huge tent at the Krutch Park extension.

Lunch for the food writers’ second day was provided by Sweet P’s barbecue under a huge tent at the Krutch Park extension.

Erin Donovan of Visit Knoxville with Christopher Ford, the proprietor of Sweet P's.

Erin Donovan of Visit Knoxville with Christopher Ford, the proprietor of Sweet P’s.

Hungry writiers.

Hungry writiers.

Yep. This is what it's all about.

Yep. This is what it’s all about.

And Sweet P's famous banana pudding, of course.

And Sweet P’s famous banana pudding, of course.

Greg Horne provided lunch tunes.

Greg Horne provided lunch tunes.

Later in the evening, after a field trip to Cruze Farm, the conference guests headed to The Standard for The Biscuit Bash, an event that is the official close of the food conference and the official opening of The International Biscuit Festival.

Getting the bash started.

Getting the bash started.

A cool way to recognize the sponsor.

A cool way to recognize the sponsor.

The food, provided by Knox Mason, included slow roasted Heritage Farm pork sliders with Muddy Pond sorghum barbecue sauce.

The food, provided by Knox Mason, included slow roasted Heritage Farm pork sliders with Muddy Pond sorghum barbecue sauce.

Benton's bacon fat brioche with Sweetwater Valley pimento cheese and pickled local ramps.

Benton’s bacon fat brioche with Sweetwater Valley pimento cheese and pickled local ramps.

Curze Farm shortcake biscuits, Olive & Sinclair chocolate chips, Mountain Meadows strawberry conserve and whipped cream.

Cruze Farm shortcake biscuits, Olive & Sinclair chocolate chips, Mountain Meadows strawberry preserve and whipped cream.

Jessie Bailin and Eric Bowen.

Jessie Bailin and Eric Bowen.

Gay Lyons, left, and Erin Donovan.

Gay Lyons, left, and Erin Donovan.

Laurens Tullock, left, with his daughter Chyna Brackeen and her husband, Darrien Thomson.

Laurens Tullock, left, with his daughter Chyna Brackeen and her husband, Darrien Thomson.

The Cleverlys put on a great performance.

The Cleverlys put on a great performance.

Thanks a million to John Craig, the biscuit boss, here with Tasia Malakasis, the owner of Belle Chevre, a goat cheese company in Elkmont, Alabama. She was a presenter at the conference.

Thanks a million to John Craig, the biscuit boss, here with Tasia Malakasis, the owner of Belle Chevre, a goat cheese company in Elkmont, Alabama. She was a presenter at the conference.

Next year’s Southern Food Writing Conference is May 12-14. Get in on it!

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5 Responses to Food writers deliver history and humor

  1. Maria Cornelius, on May 26th, 2015 at 1:40 pm said:

    As a child of the South, I laughed out loud.

    “ … everybody either drank or couldn’t drink. Nobody didn’t drink.”

  2. Alan Carmichael, on May 26th, 2015 at 2:22 pm said:

    Julia Reed was hilarious. Loved her story about trying to sell lemonade with her childhood friends to drivers on the dirt road outside their house in Mississippi. Their sales got better when they substituted beer from their parents extra refrigerator for the lemonade. Never doubt the ingenuity of a determined child.

  3. Gay Lyons, on May 26th, 2015 at 3:24 pm said:

    I love Julia Reed–always look forward to her pieces in Garden & Gun.

  4. Cynthia Moxley, on May 27th, 2015 at 9:26 am said:

    Maria: That was one of my favorite lines of the conference!

    Alan: Loved that story, too.

    Gay: Me, too!

  5. Annette Winston, on June 3rd, 2015 at 2:17 pm said:

    I actually bought a copy of The Knoxville Cookbook at The Book Eddy years ago. It is very interesting reading.

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