Churros are great, but where's the sweet tea?
Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 5:31PM Come late summer, I’m not sure what I look forward to most: the empanadas and tamales at the Latino Festival or the spanakopeta and baklava at Glendi.
As one who likes to eat, I do enjoy Manchester’s festival season. This year’s gorging began this past weekend with the ever popular Latino Festival, as well as Greekfest 2008 at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church and Mahrajan, a Middle Eastern festival put on by Our Lady of the Cedars Melkite Catholic Church.
The culinary fun continues with the African Caribbean Celebration on August 23 and something called People Fest on September 6. Glendi, the mother of all Manchester festivals, wraps up Festival Season 2008 the weekend of September 12.
While the food at these festivals is what attracts most people, the best thing about festivals is that they provide the larger community a window into the cultures of the ethnic communities that host the events. The end result is greater understanding and tolerance. That and higher cholesterol levels.
But there is one community that has yet to establish its own festival here in Manchester. It is a community whose homeland is misunderstood and its inhabitants routinely mocked. I speak, of course, of the American South.
Having emigrated, as it were, to Manchester from our beloved Southland some four years ago, I have found that, generally speaking, the general conception of Southerners in the minds of more than a few folks I've met here is something akin to this:
To counter such ignorant, misconceived sentiments, I would like to see a Manchester festival dedicated to all things Southern. Dixie Fest, as it might be called, would of course feature the culinary triumphs of the South, which has the most distinctive, if heart-attack inducing, cuisine of any region of the country. I dare anyone to resist the deliciousness that is country ham, cornbread, black eyed peas, fried catfish, boiled peanuts, lima beans, biscuits and gravy, fried okra, chess pie and, of course, the "house wine of the South," sweet tea.
Music would of course play a major role at Dixie Fest. The Dixie Chicks are perhaps a too-obvious choice to headline the event, but I'd settle for any good acts representing the country, bluegrass, jazz, blues, zydeco or any other of the Southern music genres.
Though I don't yet know how it would best be shared, the South's literary legacy should also be showcased. From Mark Twain and William Faulker to Eudora Welty, Richard Wright, Flannery O'Connor, Tennessee Williams, Carson McCullers, Robert Penn Warren, Truman Capote, Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Robbins, Willie Morris and beyond, Southern writers are, word for word, some of the best this country has produced.
Those who have spent anytime at all in the South know it is a region that has much to offer. It's not perfect by any means, but there is more than enough good to justify one fun and delicious festival.
Reader Comments (3)
Fried pickles, Will! We need fried pickles!
Why stop there, Peter? In Southern cuisine, the sky is the limit with regard to all things fried. Fried okra, fried pies, fried catfish, fried chicken, fried shrimp, fried turkey, fried green tomatoes, fried candy bars, fried Twinkies.....
I'd go to that! You also need Lane Cake, assorted greens (turnip, collards, mustard) with hot pepper sauce, as well as several things with pecans and peaches. Don't forget the endless varieties of Barbeque. You could hold this in conjunction with NASCAR, southern rock (skinard), the options are endless.
Thanks for the mention on your other post. Have a great week.