Southern Travels and Viet Beef in Red Wine Sauce
Hello friend!
There is so much beauty in this country and I've missed exploring it during the past three years. For that reason, we recently took a road trip through Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina! Six states in ten days. We told friends we were going to the South and they mistook it for one of my regular trips to Southern California. No, the DEEP SOUTH. We went to attend the annual symposium of the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) in Oxford, MS. I've long been a supporter and member of the organization and now serve on the advisory board.
This year, SFA focused on barbecue but not in the regular ways that you think of barbecue. There were presentations about Mexican Americans in Tennessee making traditional barbacoa by killing a goat and cooking it in a pit with maguey (agave) leaves, as well as Mexican Americans in California practicing the art of Central Texas barbecue beef brisket alongside grilling carne asada. There was poetry on why you shouldn't bring your own sauce to a storied Alabama barbecue joint as well as a performance by a Grammy-award winning blues musician and singer. A Vietnamese-American chef and her Italian husband flew in from San Francisco to grill up chao tom (shrimp on sugar cane skewers) for 200 people and share their story. You may not consider that barbecue but to Viet people, it may be considered as so. Barbecue is more than food; it's history and personality. A few hours after landing in Memphis, I found myself y'alling. The South charms that way.
Outstanding Food Notes
During our time in the South, we had memorable food prepared by chefs at Snack Bar (Indian-inflected Southern food in Oxford, MS); Heirloom Market BBQ (Korean meet Texas in Atlanta, GA); Automatic Seafood (super fresh seafood in Birmingham, AL); Brown Sugar Bakery (homey deliciousness in Chicago, IL); Salt Box Seafood Joint (wonderful seafood in Durham, NC); Sam Jones Whole Hog BBQ, St. Roche Oyster and Seafood Bar, Boulted Bread (eastern NC 'cue, fun seafood, and locally milled grains baked goods in Raleigh, NC); and Mixiote, Reem's, Nyum Bai, Noodle Girl, plus other chefs related to La Cocina (Oaxacan, Palestinian, Cambodian, and Vietnamese in the Bay Area, CA).
The fried snapper collar in the above photo was one of the best things I've eaten in a long time. Chef Adam Evans (2022 Beard Award for Best Chef of the South) of Automatic Seafood in Birmingham came in on his day off to cook dinner for us. We traded cooking know-how and recent insights from the kitchen. Before I left, he asked me to autograph his copy of Vietnamese Food Any Day. Such an honor. Chef Sunny Gerhardt of St. Roche in Raleigh had me sign his book too. It's such a thrill to know that home cooks and professional chefs find value in my books and recipes.
Grocery Shopping: From Walmart to Wegmans
Our road trip afforded us the luxury of shopping for food wherever we went. I can't eat out everyday so we stay at Airbnbs to make sure some meals are homemade. Along the way, we stopped Walmart Supercenters (I don't live near one so shopping there was exotic); Walmart is one of the nation's biggest buyers of organic produce. Overall, it has decent food options and very fair prices ($3.97 for a ginormous head of napa cabbage; people in Georgia make a lot of kimchi!). More upscale is Wegmans, which offers an outstanding range of prepared and packed foods at reasonable prices. I'd never been to a Wegmans and the Raleigh one didn't disappoint. In Raleigh I was happy to peruse Grand Asia market and the North Carolina State Farmers Market, which is open nearly everyday.
Deals Shopping: Gasoline
Check out that per gallon gasoline price we paid in Commerce, GA! My goodness. Gasoline prices in California are around $6 per gallon, due to clean gasoline blends and refinery issues (people are upset and the Governor is looking into it and sending some folks gas rebates). The Commerce, GA, price was the lowest I saw. Otherwise, we paid between $3.19 and $3.49 per gallon. We filled up whenever and wherever. If you're not in California, you're likely enjoying lower gas prices. Lucky you!
Seasonal Viet Beef in Red Wine Stew
When we got home, the weather in Santa Cruz had turned dreary and cold. It's stew season and I decided to make bo sot vang – Vietnamese beef stew in red wine sauce. I pumped up the stew with lots of vegetables for flavor and health. Enjoy the new stew recipe and how to video on the blog!
If you’re up for more stewy ideas, consider cooking up the Viet chicken ragout from the Red Boat Fish Sauce cookbook, a not too hot Kashmiri lamb with chili sauce, or a shortcut Thai beef massamam curry.