Put It on the Skillet: Liner Notes

Contemporary documentary films on a variety of southern food topics are available through Appalshop, Folkstreams, and the Southern Foodways Alliance (filmmaker Joe York). Filmmakers Les Blank, William R. Ferris, and Stan Woodward’s classic films documenting traditional music, culture, and folklife also include important work on southern foodways. For Put It on the Skillet we’ve assembled a tasting here of some of the best short films on southern foodways. These films are excellent resources for classroom use or home consumption. Thanks so much to our friends at the Center for Documentary Projects and the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi and to Fred Sauceman and the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services at East Tennessee State University.

Menu

“Shortnin Bread”: Opening Credits and Montage (1:28)

“Shortnin Bread” is a classic tune, performed here by Neal Pattman, featuring Taj Mahal. The two first played the song together when they met up at the Music Maker studio in Pinnacle, North Carolina. This traditional arrangement is by Pattman, from the album Prison Blues, used by permission of Heyday Media Group a/c Lucky Guitar Music (ascap), courtesy of Music Maker Relief Organization, www.musicmaker.org . The photographs in the opening sequence are from Marcie Cohen Ferris’s private collection.

SFA to Go: An Introduction to the Southern Foodways Alliance Film Initiative (2:30)

John T. Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, offers a brief overview of the mission of the sfa’s documentary film initiative. Courtesy of the Southern Foodways Alliance, a member-supported institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, on the web at www.southernfoodways.org .

Buttermilk: It Can Help (13:18)

Can buttermilk solve the world’s problems? According to Earl Cruze, a dairy farmer and buttermilk maker from Knoxville, Tennessee, who is profiled in this short documentary, “It can help.” Courtesy of the Southern Foodways Alliance, a member-supported institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, on the web at www.southernfoodways.org .

A Red Hot Dog Digest: A Travelogue along the Lee Highway (19:33)

In 1963, Interstate 81 was constructed through the southwestern part of Virginia, and many locally owned businesses along a much older thoroughfare, Lee Highway, did not survive. In the cities of Bristol, Marion, Wytheville, and Christiansburg, restaurants have held out against the pressures of conformity by serving red-dyed hot dogs. This is the story of that product and the people who depend on it for a living. Produced by the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services at East Tennessee State University.

Capitol Q (16:00)

A documentary profile of the Jones Family of Ayden, North Carolina, whose Skylight Inn restaurant upholds a family tradition of whole-hog barbecue that dates back to the early 1800s. Courtesy of the Southern Foodways Alliance, a member-supported institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, on the web at www.southernfoodways.org .

Tortillas de Maiz (12:46)

The influences of globalization, especially Hispanic immigration, are changing the way that southerners think about food. Tortillas de Maiz explores how the Hernandez Family of New Albany is bringing traditional Mexican corn tortillas to the communities of northern Mississippi. Produced by Ferriday Mansel, Duvall Osteen, and Alan Pike, with support from the Center for Documentary Projects at the University of Mississippi.

Hot Chicken (10:21)

Prince’s Hot Chicken in Nashville, Tennessee, is half Heaven, half Hell. The chicken that comes out of the kitchen is hotter than fried magma, but for the masochists who eat it day in and day out, going to Prince’s is more than a dare, it’s a way of life. Courtesy of the Southern Foodways Alliance, a member-supported institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, on the web at www.southernfoodways.org .

The Total Running Time is 78:24

alan pike and marcie cohen ferris compiled Put It on the Skillet. Alan Pike mastered the dvd and coordinated its production.