mississippi

The Mississippi Delta is an area that arouses strong, if often contradictory emotions. Among the poorest regions of the country, it is still beloved by many for its rich cultural history, agricultural importance and hardscrabble residents. Love blues music? Thank generations of musicians, like B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf, who grew up on and around…

If there’s anything that Southerners care about more than their regional cuisine, it’s gotta be SEC football! To celebrate the 2015-16 college football season, Food Republic is launching a new series, SEC FoodBall. Each week, we’ll profile a Southeastern Conference town, and more importantly tell you where you should eat and drink if you’re fortunate…

Sure, we're obsessed with food, but that only means we'll travel for the best restaurants, bars and markets. When we do, we like to stay at hotels that put us on the front lines of a city or town's sought-after spots (thus our hotel review column, The Hungry Concierge). Relaxing summer vacations may have come to…

Jackson, Mississippi, isn’t necessarily the first destination that comes to mind when considering gastrotourism, but Jesse Houston of Saltine is looking to change that. Recently named one of Bon Appétit magazine’s Best New Restaurants for 2015, Saltine is, of course, named after the salty crackers that traditionally provide the crunchy vehicle for large, flabby Gulf oysters…

World-renowned pro pitmaster and chef Melissa Cookston's new cookbook, Smokin' in the Boys' Room, is exactly what you need to freshen up your grilling repertoire before prime season hits. She's a 3-time world champion, you know. From the cuts of meat you want to eat to sides, marinades and her own time-tested techniques, don't break…

If Charleston, SC's James Beard Award-winning Hominy Grill is serving local Cathead Vodka cocktails, you know that's what you want in your glass. Executive Chef David Uecke created this drink to showcase South Carolina's exceptionally sweet local blackberries: "We want to make our all of our cocktails very southern, like you would make for a…

While there are few places more famous for moonshining, the state of Mississippi has had just one legal distillery operation in the past century. Cathead Vodka was co-founded by a pair of college buddies with a longtime dream, who just a few years ago, in 2010 to be exact, pooled their knowledge of the liquor…

A Spoken Dish is a video storytelling project produced by the Southern Foodways Alliance, the Oxford, Mississippi–based non-profit dedicated to documenting (and proselytizing) the diverse food culture of the American South. The extensive series features men, women and children from all around the southern United States sharing their favorite food memories, stories and recipes. Farmers,…

Sure, you’re familiar with Nashville and Atlanta. But what about the smaller southern cities packing just as much flavor? In The Hidden South, Chris Chamberlain takes a look at a region of the South that is most certainly worth traveling to for the food. In her excellent dining travelogue “Eat Drink Delta: A Hungry Traveler's…

Sandwich fatigue is a very real affliction you may not even know you have. If you can't remember the last time you were excited by the prospect of something between two slices of bread, flip through these offerings to jump-start your sandwich-crafting instincts and make an afternoon snack you can truly be proud of. Like…

Culinary culture enthusiast, food writer and editor Francis Lam is teaming up with the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) and NYC pop-up enabler City Grit next Wednesday, Jan. 16th, for an evening of food and stories. Lam moved down to East Biloxi, Mississippi to help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Through the clean-up effort and subsequent trips…

Donald Bender is the head baker at the Mockingbird Bakery inside the Viking Cooking School in Greenwood, MS. With experience working in Mississippi, New Mexico, Minnesota and Louisiana, Bender has a broad culinary background, but he really hit his stride when he returned to his hometown of Oxford, MS in the mid-90’s and created his…

Barbecue aficionados and Southern food enthusiasts descended upon Mississippi this past weekend for the Southern Foodways Alliance’s 15th annual Symposium, a four day event of learning, food and fellowship that left attendees reaching for their gout medication. A small group kicked off the proceedings on Thursday in Greenwood, MS at Viking Corp’s luxurious Alluvian resort…

The topic of sauce is a controversial one among professional pitmasters. Properly smoked meat needs, at most, a kiss of sauce to accentuate the natural flavors imparted to the meat by burning of the wood. To purists, sauce should not be added before serving, but should be available at the table for a light-handed application…

The Big Apple Inn in Jackson, Mississippi is famous for their pig ear sandwich, which is exactly what is sounds like—a squishy roll piled with what is sounds like. Whoa. The condiments are always the same: mustard sauce, coleslaw and hot sauce. According to one of the employees, you “need to order a pile of…