Kaleigh Wright

Dr. Pascoe and Dr. Welborn

Foodways

February 22, 2022

Satterfield’s BBQ
Going to Satterfield’s was a pleasant experience. I liked how the restaurant was decorated

with framed thematic pictures, stuff representing Mercer University, and pennants from other

major surrounding colleges. The food was delicious. Getting to try it after reading about

barbeque helped connect words to real concepts including how the restaurant was family owned

instead of a franchise. It also connected to the localness that comes with southern foodways as

the food served at Satterfield’s is sourced from local farms. A lot of the readings on the topics we

have done have mentioned about these foodways depending on local ingredients and people

making do with what was available which is still seen in restaurants that use locally sourced

food.

Food was set up buffet style in heating trays and we self-served, grabbing what we

wanted from the trays. The first two trays had the sides in them. In the first tray was macaroni

and collards. The collards were vibrant green and a little soupy where they had been cooked

down and the juices collected around them. They tasted savory but had a hint of sweetness where

they were probably cooked with a pinch of sugar in them. The macaroni was in the same heating

tray, and it was a baked macaroni. It had a thick cheese sauce around it with a crusty top from the

oven. I did not try the macaroni due to being lactose intolerant but from what others said, it was

good.
 The next heating tray had Brunswick stew in it and a pork barbeque. The Brunswick stew

had pulled pork, corn, tomatoes, onions, and something green in it that was visible. It also had a

barbeque sauce, probably already on the pulled pork that was added, in it to help add flavor.

Brunswick stew is often a side of Barbeque in the region from Georgia to Virgina1. The

birthplace of Brunswick stew is a widely debated topic between Georgia and Virgina that has

created a great competition between cooks of the two states. Virgina’s claims have recipes that

follow the antebellum recipes of stews of wild game and onions, butter, and seasonings. These

changed however as the domestication of animals made meats like pork, beef, or chicken more

readily available. Georgia’s recipes come from camp stews that are identical to contemporary

Brunswick stew, with its inclusion of vegetables, but used squirrel meat and chicken. Despite the

battle of ownership, the importance of Brunswick stew in contemporary cooking comes down to

the keeping of tradition of the challenging work of making the stew and the love it shows to

community when made and served2.

The pork barbeque was served as pulled pork in a pan without sauce on it. There were at

least two barbeque sauces available to put on it. The pulled pork was a light brown pinkish color

with bits on some ends that were blackened from the smoking process. It had a smoky flavor and

it was slightly greasy from the fat of the pork. The last heating tray had pulled chicken and

brisket in it. The brisket was cut into thin strips along the width of the meat. Its outside had a

crispy crust that was black, and the inside was a brown color. It tasted smoky and like beef.

Barbeque comes from techniques picked up in the Caribbean from African Slaves. The two

combined as slaves took their knowledge on roasting meat and combined it with methods they

saw in the West Indies when they passed through. Barbeque then became a social event as it

hosted family and community to demonstrate hospitality. It was then used as a method of
fundraisers and rallies for politicians in the south. Around the twentieth century barbeque went

commercial, with most restaurants being independently owned instead of franchises3. These

restaurants began to spread across the United States as Southerners, (especially Black

Southerners) began to move out of the south but took the tradition of smoking meat with them to

places like Chicago.

As a Macon native I have had barbeque several times before. Some of my cousins even

own a barbeque restaurant. Eating barbeque after the readings helped make the content come to

life and enforce how important barbeque is. Barbeque had always been another meal to me, and I

never really understood why it was so important to some people. Reading about its history made

me aware of the impact it has had in the south. I started to understand why people take it so

seriously due to its roots and then getting to try it after helped make the realness come alive.

Having the food, now with the understanding of its importance, made the concepts hit home with

tasting the flavors and connecting them to the long time it took to make the food.

__________________

1
Wilson, Charles Reagan. The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Foodways. Edited by

John T. Edge, vol. 7 (University of North Carolina Press, 2007), 25

2
Wilson, Charles Reagan. The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Foodways. Edited by

John T. Edge, vol. 7 (University of North Carolina Press, 2007), 131

3
Wilson, Charles Reagan. The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Foodways. Edited by

John T. Edge, vol. 7 (University of North Carolina Press, 2007), 22