Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South
    Unavailable
    The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South
    Unavailable
    The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South

    Published by Penguin Random House Audio

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A people's history of Southern food that reveals how the region came to be at the forefront of American culinary culture and how issues of race have shaped Southern cuisine over the last six decades

    THE POTLIKKER PAPERS tells the story of food and politics in the South over the last half century. Beginning with the pivotal role of cooks in the Civil Rights movement, noted authority John T. Edge narrates the South's journey from racist backwater to a hotbed of American immigration. In so doing, he traces how the food of the poorest Southerners has become the signature trend of modern American haute cuisine. This is a people's history of the modern South told through the lens of food. 

    Food was a battleground in the Civil Rights movement. Access to food and ownership of culinary tradition was a central part of the long march to racial equality. THE POTLIKKER PAPERS begins in 1955 as black cooks and maids fed and supported the Montgomery Bus Boycott and it concludes in 2015 as a Newer South came to be, enriched by the arrival of immigrants from Lebanon to Vietnam to all points in between. 

    Along the way, THE POTLIKKER PAPERS tracks many different evolutions of Southern identity --first in the 1970s, from the back-to-the-land movement that began in the Tennessee hills to the rise of fast and convenience foods modeled on Southern staples. Edge narrates the gentrification that gained traction in North Carolina and Louisiana restaurants of the 1980s and the artisanal renaissance that reconnected farmers and cooks in the 1990s and in the 00s. He profiles some of the most extraordinary and fascinating figures in Southern food, including Fannie Lou Hamer, Colonel Sanders, Edna Lewis, Paul Prudhomme, Craig Claiborne, Sean Brock, and many others. 

    Like many great provincial dishes around the world, potlikker is a salvage food. During the antebellum era, masters ate the greens from the pot and set aside the left-over potlikker broth for their slaves, unaware that the broth, not the greens, was nutrient-rich. After slavery, potlikker sustained the working poor, black and white. In the rapidly gentrifying South of today, potlikker has taken on new meanings as chefs have reclaimed the dish. 

    Over the last two generations, wrenching changes have transformed the South. THE POTLIKKER PAPERS tells the story of that change--and reveals how Southern food has become a shared culinary language for the nation.

    Music Copyright © 2012, Lee Bains III
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 16, 2017
    ISBN9781524736187
    Unavailable
    The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South

    Related to The Potlikker Papers

    Related audiobooks

    United States History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Eat Your Way Around The USA

      May 25, 2023

      Eat Your Way Around The USA
      21 min read

    • Article

      Place At The Table

      Aug 13, 2018

      Place At The Table
      7 min read

    • Article

      ‘Setting A Place At The Table’: The Black Chefs Unearthing History

      Jul 8, 2019

      From Seattle to Charleston black chefs are exploring the deep, but often underappreciated, effects of black cuisine on a whitewashed culture.

      8 min read

    • Article

      Enough For everyone

      Oct 11, 2022

      Enough For everyone
      7 min read

    • Article

      Blueprint for Reconstruction

      Aug 15, 2023

      Blueprint for Reconstruction
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Mound Builders

      Aug 9, 2022

      The Mound Builders
      4 min read

    • Article

      Landscapes Of RESISTANCE

      Aug 30, 2019

      Landscapes Of RESISTANCE
      7 min read

    • Article

      Sharing The Rich History Of Doukhobors In BC

      Mar 15, 2024

      Of the many peoples forming British Columbia's cultural mosaic, few have received more media and political attention historically than the Doukhobors. Yet despite this attention, they continue to be misunderstood. Between 1908 and 1913, over 6,000 Do

      2 min read

    • Article

      Lost but Not Forgotten

      Nov 25, 2021

      Lost but Not Forgotten
      3 min read

    • Article

      Miami's Cuban Community

      Mar 24, 2020

      Miami's Cuban Community
      6 min read

    • Article

      3 Things to Know About the ‘Real’ Thanksgiving

      Nov 22, 2017

      For many Native Americans, Thanksgiving is not synonymous with blessings and praise. Rather, the day is a reminder of a dark history that is rarely told in its entirety. Year after year, elementary school children create paper turkeys and dress up as

      4 min read

    • Article

      Let Freedom Ring

      May 28, 2020

      Let Freedom Ring
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Black-owned Businesses That You Must Visit In The Capital Region

      Nov 23, 2023

      Ben’s Chili Bowl has been a staple in the U Street neighbourhood for generations, and even provided food to protesters during the March on Washington. In fact, this local institution recently celebrated its 65th anniversary. Be sure to swing by to tr

      1 min read

    • Article

      Accessing BC History in 2020

      Dec 4, 2020

      Accessing BC History in 2020
      11 min read

    • Article

      Wisdom Found

      Mar 9, 2022

      Wisdom Found
      4 min read

    • Article

      Slavery’s Painful Legacy

      Sep 29, 2022

      Slavery’s Painful Legacy
      6 min read

    • Article

      THE NEW Deep South

      Sep 2, 2021

      THE NEW Deep South
      2 min read

    • Article

      Keepers Of The Flame

      Nov 7, 2017

      Keepers Of The Flame
      10 min read

    Reviews for The Potlikker Papers

    4/5

    18 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Potlikker is the liquid left in the pot after boiling greens like collards or mustard. During slavery, the owners would dine on the greens, while the liquid in the pot was left for the slaves to consume. This potlikker is far more nutritious than the boiled greens and modern Southern chefs have reclaimed it. The Potlikker Papers is a social history of food in the American South and how the food the South is known for, from fried chicken to hopping John to gumbo to po' boys is a result of the African, Native American and European cultures that influenced what we eat now. John T. Edge is the director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, and his passion for every aspect of Southern cuisine is evident in every page of this excellent book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in food or who lives (or has lived) in the American South. For those who appreciate good food and live in one of the Southern states, it's required reading.
    • 4/5
      Well researched. A different type of history book that centers on what we eat and how we prepare it. Civil rights and the roots of cuisine are all integral parts of our story. This book is like an urban walk where something new is revealed around every corner. I was thankful many, many times for each of those new corners.