Gravy Quarterly No. 89

In a year when the Southern Foodways Alliance asks, “Where is the South?”, the Fall 2023 issue of Gravy examines Southern food inside and outside the region. Readers will follow traditional Southern foods as they transcend the region’s historic geographic borders. Meanwhile, newcomers to the South adapt to regional tastes and introduce new flavors to the canon.

Mackenzie Martin tells of culinary entrepreneur Annie Fisher, who built a booming catering business at the turn of the twentieth century with her signature beaten biscuits—all without investors or access to a bank loan, as a Black woman in Jim Crow Missouri. In a story by Mikeie Reiland, two professional soccer players of African Muslim ancestry find a taste of home in Nashville, at iftar, the fast-breaking meal of Ramadan. Chris Jay serves up Shreveport stuffed shrimp, a dish perfected by a network of Black chefs in Shreveport, Louisiana, through five generations of restaurant ownership.

Gravy columnist Hanna Raskin tracks Bojangles’ expansion into the Midwest, asking: does a fast food biscuit lose its fluff outside the South? Adrian Miller digs into the menu archives at the Carter Center to find out exactly how “Southern” the First Family ate in the White House. SFA oral historian Sarah Rodriguez shares excerpts from the new oral history project, Tapping into Richmond Beer, which chronicles craft brewing in Richmond, Virginia, through the city’s vibrant and diverse beer scene. Poet Reyes Ramirez explores Latino foodways in Texas in verse from his debut collection El Rey of Gold Teeth, forthcoming from Hub City Press. Erika Council talks biscuits and business in a Q&A about her new book, Still We Rise: A Love Letter to the Southern Biscuit with Over 70 Sweet and Savory Recipes.