The annual Oxford American Food Issue is now out on newsstands. (We all remember what those are, right?)
It’s a bounteous meat-and-three of Southern food writing — lots of meaty features and compelling side stories, a few of which are up online:
- Todd Kliman’s heartfelt piece about his obsession with the Chinese chef Peter Chang, who briefly cooked at Tasty China in Marietta. It cuts deeper (and funnier) than Calvin Trillin’s recent New Yorker piece on Chang, which was told from a bemused distance.
- Beth Ann Fennelly writes about the widespread practice of geophagy, or dirt eating, that is particularly prevalent in the rural poor South. Ever see those little packages of white kaolin sold at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market produce stands?
- Warwick Sabin ponders the reasons why the obesity epidemic affects the Southern poor so disproportionately. The “fresh, local food” now so in vogue is becoming a luxury item, the author argues.
- Brandon Reynolds looks at the Mattie’s Southern …