Pigging Out and About
Memphis, Tennessee, Sept. 13-15, 2007
the itinerary
- Thursday, Sept. 13
- Our tour starts at 6 p.m. at the Center for Southern Folklore, a downtown
Memphis cultural organization that's been helping visitors make sense of harmonicas
and collard greens since Bill Ferris and Judy Peiser opened its doors in 1972.
After feasting, family-style, on a chicken and cornbread dinner prepared by Ella Kizzie - a meal Peiser swears has the security guards stationed outside the kitchen salivating all day - Times-Picayune columnist Lolis Eric Elie, author of Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country and editor of Cornbread Nation 2: The United States of Barbecue, will talk about the meaning of barbecue and how such heady topics as race and class are expressed in pork. And for those looking to work up an appetite for a weekend's worth of barbecue, The Daddy Mack Blues Band will be churning out its danceable licks.
- Friday, Sept. 14
- Having suitably prepped our minds for our barbecue adventure, we begin today by training our palettes.
School's in when representatives of the Memphis Barbecue Association, the nation's
preeminent contest sanctioning organization and sponsor of the annual Memphis in May bonanza, join us at the historic Peabody Hotel to conduct a judging seminar. Participants should be sure they have call waiting on their home phones, as all interested graduates are eligible to be invited to judge any of the nation's hundreds of barbecue competitions.
After learning how to grade a plate of 'cue,
we'll depart the hotel at 2 p.m. for an eating tour of urban Memphis' top barbecue spots, including Cozy Corner, home of the Cornish hen plate, and Interstate Barbecue, which does a mean barbecue spaghetti. The day ends with a light dinner at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, whose impressive collection includes Ike Turner's silver lame suit, Isaac Hayes' 1972 Superfly El Dorado Cadillac and the organ Booker T used to record the iconic "Green Onions."
- Saturday, Sept. 15
- Today we venture deep into rural west Tennessee in the company of filmmaker Joe York,
who probed the whole hog barbecue tradition in his acclaimed documentary film Whole Hog. Joe will guide us through every step of the barbecue making process, starting with visits to the sawmill where serious pitmasters buy their lumber and the slaughterhouse where Lexington, Tenn. pigs begin their journeys from pen to plate. We'll sample some of the region's tastiest barbecue, with our journey climaxing at B.E. Scott's Bar-B-Que, a modest Mecca run by the legendary Ricky Parker, who labors for days over his whole hog barbecue.
- Lodging
- We have reserved a block of rooms at the Peabody, available to American Table participants at the deeply discounted rate of $195/night plus tax. Availability is limited: call (901) 529-4000 to make your reservation today.
American Table tourgoers are also eligible for a special $99/night plus tax rate at
the nearby Sleep Inn on North Front Street. To secure your room, call
(901) 522-9700.
