Best Southern Foodways Alliance Podcasts (2023)

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Gravy

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What's Next for the Women of Mama Dip's Kitchen? 24:34

40m ago24:34

24:34

In "What's Next for the Women of Mama Dip's Kitchen?" Gravy producer Leoneda Inge takes listeners to Mama Dip’s Kitchen, known for its chicken and dumplings and scrumptious homemade desserts. The restaurant has fed tourists, celebrities, and steady customers for nearly fifty years in Chapel Hill, North Carolina—so the community was shocked when the…

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Gravy

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Tasting the South in the San Fernando Valley 25:50

15d ago25:50

25:50

In “Tasting the South in the San Fernando Valley,” producer Rebecca Katz tells the story of how three black women created a soul food institution in one of the whitest parts of the San Fernando Valley that still thrives today. During the Second Great Migration in the 1940s, large numbers of Black Americans traveled west to Los Angeles, California. …

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Gravy

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Adaptation, Survival, Gratitude: A Lumbee Thanksgiving Story 26:58

21d ago26:58

26:58

At this point, most of us know the Thanksgiving story about the Pilgrims and the Indians happily indulging in a joint feast is a vast oversimplification of what actually happened. But how many of us still have an idea of Native people that's stuck in the past? "People didn't believe that I was Native because I was from North Carolina," Lumbee India…

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Gravy

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The Swamp Witches 31:02

1M ago31:02

31:02

Winter mornings are serene in the cypress groves of the Mississippi Delta. There’s the glide of the canoe, and the gentle ripple of camouflage waders disappearing into waist-deep water. What finally breaks the pre-dawn quiet is the fire of a shotgun, and the splash of a Labrador Retriever. And then, there’s the laughter of a group of women. That’s …

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Gravy

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Czech Out Texas Kolaches 22:52

2M ago22:52

22:52

In “Czech Out Texas Kolaches,” Gravy producer Evan Stern invites listeners to join him on a return trip to his native Texas to explore the history, origins, and evolutions of kolaches through the voices of bakers of varying backgrounds and perspectives. This episode complements the oral history project Stern created for SFA, The Keepers of Kolaches…

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Gravy

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North Carolina Pottery from Clay to Kiln 27:31

2M ago27:31

27:31

In “North Carolina Pottery from Clay to Kiln” Gravy producer Wilson Sayre invites us to consider the vehicles that our food sits on—plates. In this episode, she takes us to central North Carolina, where the story of the hand-thrown pottery and its relationship with food is told with gusto. If you eat with your eyes, then the “plating” of food is an…

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Gravy

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A Shrimp Boat Blessing with no Shrimp Boats 28:47

3M ago28:47

28:47

In “A Shrimp Boat Blessing with no Shrimp Boats,” Gravy producer Irina Zhorov takes listeners to Bayou La Batre, on Alabama's Gulf Coast. Long known as the seafood capital of Alabama, Bayou La Batre has hosted a Blessing of the Fleet – a festival to bless local commercial shrimp and fishing boats – since the 1940s. Fishing has long been a dangerous…

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Gravy

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Annie Fisher’s Beaten Biscuits Meant Business 27:58

3M ago27:58

27:58

In “Annie Fisher’s Beaten Biscuits Meant Business,” Gravy producer Mackenzie Martin digs into beaten biscuits, the tender, flaky hardtack rolls that date back to the 1800s, when they were often served with ham and particularly popular in the South. Historically speaking, beaten biscuits were incredibly laborious to make—so they were viewed as a cul…

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Gravy

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Tasting Kentucky in Tiananmen 25:11

4M ago25:11

25:11

In “Tasting Kentucky in Tiananmen,” Gravy producers Ishan Thakore and Katie Jane Fernelius explore how KFC became one of the most popular restaurant chains in China, and what its dominance reveals about other huge Southern firms. KFC is now part of the corporate conglomerate Yum! Brands, which includes chains like Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. But it ha…

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Gravy

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A Tale of Two Laredos 28:15

9M ago28:15

28:15

In “A Tale of Two Laredos,” Gravy producer Evan Stern visits Laredo, Texas, which shares history, culture, and memory with its sister city across the border, Nuevo Laredo. For decades, Mexican border towns were renowned for refined, white tablecloth restaurants where jacketed waiters served a café society that transcended international boundaries. …

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Gravy

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A Texas Cabrito Communion 24:19

9M ago24:19

24:19

In “A Texas Cabrito Communion,” Gravy producer Evan Stern invites us to ride along as he joins the Avila and Aguirre families for a celebratory reunion and cabrito cookout at their YY Ranch, which sits below the Nueces River in Texas. The river once served as the boundary between Texas and the Mexican states of Coahuila and Tamaulipas, and some adv…

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Gravy

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Blessed Egg Rolls and the Evolution of Rockport, Texas 26:09

9M ago26:09

26:09

In “Blessed Egg Rolls and the Evolution of Rockport, Texas,” Gravy producer Evan Stern takes listeners to the small town of Rockport, Texas, which hugs the shores of Aransas Bay on the state’s Gulf Coast, about 35 miles northeast of Corpus Christi. There, he visits Saint Peter’s Catholic Church, founded by Vietnamese arrivals in the early 1980s, an…

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Gravy

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A Taste of Sicily on Galveston Bay 24:01

10M ago24:01

24:01

In “A Taste of Sicily on Galveston Bay,” Gravy producer Evan Stern takes listeners to Galveston, Texas. Once perhaps the greatest town of significance between New Orleans and San Francisco, today its population doesn’t even crack the top fifty of Texas cities. But while Austin is often referred to as a small town with growing pains, some say Galves…

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Gravy

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Noodling with the Texas Wends 24:36

10M ago24:36

24:36

In “Noodling with the Texas Wends,” Gravy producer Evan Stern takes us to the small, Central Texas town of Serbin, which was last included in the Census more than 20 years ago, when the population was only 37. But its sign still proudly announces itself as the “Home of the Texas Wends”—and the locals take their noodles seriously. An ethnic minority…

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Gravy

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The Gulf’s Last Generation of Black Oystermen? 29:55

12M ago29:55

29:55

In “The Gulf’s Last Generation of Black Oystermen?” Gravy producer Kayla Stewart takes listeners to south Louisiana, where Black men have played a key role in the region’s oyster industry—and where today, they are few and far between. Stewart speaks to one of the area’s last Black oystermen about how we got here, and what this means for the future …

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Gravy

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Buying and Selling Food in the Black South 26:59

12M ago26:59

26:59

“Buying and Selling Food in the Black South” is the fourth installment in reporter Kayla Stewart’s 2022 Gravy podcast season, where she explores Black foodways in the South and beyond. For this episode, she speaks to Black business owners who are trying to improve food access in Black communities. Stewart explores the history of Black-owned grocery…

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Gravy

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In Houston, Three Tastes of West Africa 30:52

1y ago30:52

30:52

In the episode “In Houston, Three Tastes of West Africa,” Gravy producer Kayla Stewart takes listeners to her hometown of Houston, Texas, which boasts one of the most vibrant international food scenes in the country. It’s a city where Black Americans have built their own communities and pathways to success, and where diversity is prized. It’s also …

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Gravy

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The Joyful Black History of the Sweet Potato 30:31

1y ago30:31

30:31

In “The Joyful Black History of the Sweet Potato,” Kayla Stewart reports for Gravy on sweet potatoes, which Southern-born Black Americans have baked, roasted, fried, distilled—and long revered. Stewart takes listeners across the United States to learn how African Americans are finding new, interesting ways to enjoy sweet potatoes. Harvey and Donna …

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Gravy

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Annie Laura Squalls and Her Mile High Pie 27:18

1y ago27:18

27:18

In “Annie Laura Squalls and Her Mile High Pie,” Gravy producer Kayla Stewart tells the story of Annie Laura Squalls, who, in 1960, became head baker at the Caribbean Room, the popular in-house restaurant at New Orleans’ renowned Pontchartrain Hotel. It was there where Squalls created her “Seven Mile High Pie,” known colloquially as the “Mile High P…

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Gravy

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SFA Symposium and Spoonbread 5:20

1y ago5:20

5:20

A reflection on the 2004 Southern Foodways Symposium, by soul food scholar Adrian Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Southern Foodways Alliance

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Gravy

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A Symposium Memory 4:31

1y ago4:31

4:31

A reflection on the first Southern Foodways Alliance Barbecue Symposium, by Founding Director John T. Edge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Southern Foodways Alliance

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Gravy

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Rib Tips, Hot Links, and the Mississippi Roots of Chicago Barbecue 26:24

1y ago26:24

26:24

In “Rib Tips, Hot Links, and the Mississippi Roots of Chicago Barbecue,” Gravy producer Courtney DeLong dives into the history of Chicago barbecue and its connection to the Great Migration. When people think about the best barbecue cities in America, they tend to think about places like Memphis, Kansas City, and Austin. In doing so, many neglect a …

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Gravy

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Father, Son, Fire: A Chat with Howard and Harrison Conyers 25:55

1y ago25:55

25:55

In “Father, Son, Fire: A Chat with Howard and Harrison Conyers,” the fourth episode in Gravy’s five-part series on barbecue, Howard Conyers—a barbecue expert and NASA rocket scientist—introduces listeners to a formative influence in his barbecue education and journey: his father, Harrison Conyers. Some people find barbecue, but the Conyers family w…

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Gravy

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Southern Barbecue Goes West 27:57

1+ y ago27:57

27:57

In “Grandpa’s Barbecue Blooms Out West,” Gravy producer Monica Gokey takes listeners to Idaho Falls, Idaho, to explore what happens when a Southerner leaves the South and opens a barbecue joint in the West. Grandpa’s Southern Bar-B-Q originally opened in the small town of Arco, Idaho, which is obscurely famous for being the first community in the U…

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Gravy

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Brisket Pho, a Viet Tex Story 22:26

1+ y ago22:26

22:26

In “Brisket Pho, a Viet Tex Story,” Gravy producer Jess Eng explores the emergence of Viet Tex, a cuisine created in recent years by contemporary Vietnamese-Texan chefs. These chefs grew up steeped in multicultural dining, eating Central Texas barbecue alongside family recipes. Now, in their own businesses, they marry smoked meats and barbecue spic…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Southern Foodways Alliance Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

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Gravy

Southern Foodways Alliance

1
Okracast

Okracast

1
What's Next for the Women of Mama Dip's Kitchen? 24:34

1
Tasting the South in the San Fernando Valley 25:50

1
Adaptation, Survival, Gratitude: A Lumbee Thanksgiving Story 26:58

1
The Swamp Witches 31:02

1
Czech Out Texas Kolaches 22:52

1
North Carolina Pottery from Clay to Kiln 27:31

1
A Shrimp Boat Blessing with no Shrimp Boats 28:47

1
Annie Fisher’s Beaten Biscuits Meant Business 27:58

1
Tasting Kentucky in Tiananmen 25:11

1
A Tale of Two Laredos 28:15

1
A Texas Cabrito Communion 24:19

1
Blessed Egg Rolls and the Evolution of Rockport, Texas 26:09

1
A Taste of Sicily on Galveston Bay 24:01

1
Noodling with the Texas Wends 24:36

1
The Gulf’s Last Generation of Black Oystermen? 29:55

1
Buying and Selling Food in the Black South 26:59

1
In Houston, Three Tastes of West Africa 30:52

1
The Joyful Black History of the Sweet Potato 30:31

1
Annie Laura Squalls and Her Mile High Pie 27:18

1
SFA Symposium and Spoonbread 5:20

1
A Symposium Memory 4:31

1
Rib Tips, Hot Links, and the Mississippi Roots of Chicago Barbecue 26:24

1
Father, Son, Fire: A Chat with Howard and Harrison Conyers 25:55

1
Southern Barbecue Goes West 27:57

1
Brisket Pho, a Viet Tex Story 22:26

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