America Eats! On the Road with the WPA - the Fish Fries, Box Supper Socials, and Chitlin Feasts That Define

by Willard, Pat

• ISBN13: 9781596913622
• ISBN10: 1596913622
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-07-15
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Summary

Willard takes readers on a journey into the regional nooks and crannies of American cuisine where WPA writers--including Eudora Welty, Saul Bellow, Ralph Ellison, Nelson Algren, and others--were dispatched in 1935 to document the roots of this diverse culinary cuisine.

Author Biography

Pat Willard is the author of Pie Every Day, A Soothing Broth, and Secrets of Saffron, which was nominated for an IACP award for the best literary cookbook. She’s written for Bon Appetit, Ladies Home Journal, American Heritage, and the Los Angeles Times. She lives in Brooklyn.

Table of Contents

A Note on the Manuscript	p. xi
The American Cauldron	p. 1
Traditional Polyglot
The Big-Hearted Feast-Fund-Raising Dinners	p. 17
Bad Advice Ruins Brunswick Stew
A Booya Picnic
A Fifteen Center Pig Foot Supper
Recipe for Kentucky Burgoo
Chittlin Strut
The Harvest Queen-Agricultural Fairs	p. 47
Rocky Ford Melon Day
The Farmhouse Cellar
Threshers' Dinner
The Wild Shores-The Northwest	p. 78
Annual Events
Wild Parties
Recipe for Barbecued Salmon
Crawfish Feeds Past and Present
The Groveling Season-Political Gatherings	p. 98
Women Stop the Meat from Breathing
Barbecue Samples from the Georgia, Alabama, Kansas, Indiana, and Nebraska Offices
Bluebill's Sauce
Rodeo Barbecue Sauce
Candidates' Barbecue
A Gathering in the Woods-National Holidays	p. 124
A Ton of Rice and Three Red Roosters
Homecoming, East Bend, North Carolina
Conch Eats Conch and Grunts
At the Lord's Table-Church Suppers	p. 148
The Salzburger Gathering
The Big Quarterly
A Mormon Ward Reunion
A Passover Seder
A Revival Menu
May Breakfast
The Undertaker's Meal-Funeral Ceremonies	p. 180
Funeral Cry Feast of the Choctaw Indians
A Pitch-In Dinner After a Funeral Service
Cemetery Cleanings
Velorios (Wakes)
Stomping at the Post-Social Club Celebrations	p. 197
The Lodge Supper
Basques of the Boise Valley
A Fun Feed
'Possum Party
The Frontier-Mexicans, Indians, and Cowboys	p. 222
Introduction to the Southwest
The Municipal Market in San Antonio
General Camp Life Among the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Tribes
The Chuck Wagon (Including Son-of-a-Gun Stew)
Sow-belly
Camp Chuck
City Life-A Walk between Then and Now	p. 251
McSorley's Tavern
"Dining Abroad" in New York
Soda-Luncheonette Slang and Jargon
Peddler Chants: The Sorrel Woman, The Ah-Got-Um Man, The Street Chef, De Sweet Pertater Man
Oyster Stew Supreme
Literary Tea
America Eats! Now-Home from the Road, Mulling Things Over	p. 278
Outline Indicating Approach to Subject [excerpt]
Acknowledgments	p. 291
Photo Credits	p. 293
List of Recipes	p. 295
Index	p. 297
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