The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Vol. 7: Foodways (The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, 7)

I have the original "Encyclopedia of Southern Culture," and I am delighted to see that a new edition is being published, and in an expanded, multi-volume format, too. On the whole, I like what I've read so far quite a lot. Most articles strike a pleasing balance between the academic and the popular, with both good general information and entertaining tidbits.I do have a few reservations, though. Some of the articles in this volume (and other volumes, as well) quote authors who aren't credited in the short end-of-article bibliographies. The articles occasionally seem rather random and choppily edited. And some articles appear to drag in race just so the authors can assure the reader that slavery and Jim Crow were Very Bad Indeed. (Are they instructing the presumably-white-Southern and thus presumably-benighted reader? Or do they simply feel obligated to throw in a "racism is terrible" remark as a sort of "Hail, Mary!", regardless of how appropriate to the particular context?) Sometimes this tendency is merely a matter of stating the obvious, but sometimes it achieves a certain level of entertaining absurdity, e.g., after noting that African Americans during the Jim Crow era often had to carry their meals because restaurants wouldn't serve them: "While their home-cooked meal was probably better than what they would find in a restaurant on the road, for most blacks the food took on a bitter quality because of the lack of freedom to choose."In addition, I have come across one case (in a different volume of the series) where the author of an article quotes her own theory extensively and in the third person, in the process commending the scholar (herself) for shedding new light on the topic. All of these lapses in professionalism suggest that many articles were farmed out to graduate students and perhaps not sufficiently edited afterwards.I also wonder that of all the experts connected with this project, none of them seem aware that "Mammy" is a traditional British and Irish equivalent for "Mommy" or "Mummy," and that (especially in old songs and rhymes) it doesn't always necessarily refer to a black slave or servant.As a folklorist, I could also wish for a little more on the folklore of food, but my objections in general are on the level of quibbles. This is a very worthwhile project, and I look forward to the yet unpublished volumes.

Loved It. Shipped Very Quickly & well packaged! 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Love this book!

This book was literally just a dictionary of ingredients. Not very useful or impressive.