Exhibiting an interest in Southern dishes

One of the common misconceptions about The Food Section’s readers is that they live in the South. In fact, people conflate this newsletter’s coverage area and audience location so frequently that a fundraising expert recently proposed a financial strategy built around u-pick farms in York County, South Carolina.

It’s true that the two states with the most TFS subscribers are North and South Carolina. But best as we can tell from billing information, the state in third place is New York.

That makes sense, and not just because New York is home to more people than the Carolinas combined. Northeasterners are relocating to the South in droves, with South Carolina alone absorbing 90,000 new residents annually. Once-quiet towns are seeing double-digit percentage growth from one year to the next, mostly in the form of wealthy retirees and remote workers. In 2023, South Carolina had the nation’s fastest-growing white population.

Presumably, those new residents might want to know where to score a pint of strawberries. Back in New York, though, folks are keeping tabs on the region because they’re contemplating moving here, or they’ve started vacationing here, or they’re sending kids to college here, or they suddenly have more corporate meetings here.

“It’s for tourists, it’s for locals, and it’s for those coming from out of state who’ve made this their home and want to learn what Southern food is,” said Jacqueline Orak, dean of the school’s Culinary & Hospitality Division.

While the exhibit space only occupies 1000 square feet of the shiny new culinary school building, partially funded through an accommodations tax, its scope is impressive. Centered around a white poplar dining table crafted by the local woodworkers’ guild, interactive exhibits include an identification guide acquainting visitors with dishes such as fried okra, chicken bog, and cornbread; an overview of barbecue styles, and maps devoted to the South’s culinary influences and crops.

“It’s funny, because we have that quiz, and I didn’t get a perfect score,” Orak said. “I learned from Johnson & Wales University, not through my personal culture: My parents are from New Jersey.”

While school spokeswoman Leigh Copeland grew up in the South, she said she was also surprised by a few of the facts showcased in the Foodseum.

“I grew up eating boiled peanuts, and I had no idea where they came from,” she said.

In addition to wall text, the exhibit is furnished with various kitchen objects that visitors can handle, including biscuit cutters, oyster knives, and jarred peaches. Copeland credited project advisor Liz Williams of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum with advocating for artifacts.

“We weren’t really thinking along those lines,” Copeland said. “She reminded us that people want to see and touch and feel.”

As of early May, about 200 people had visited the Foodseum since its grand opening, with the count ticking up on rainy days. (Admission is free.) Organizers anticipate more traffic from cooking class attendees and customers at the adjoining student café, where menu items are sometimes themed around museum displays.

Of the dozen distinct sections of the Foodseum, Orak said her favorite is a photo gallery featuring current students.

“They’re the culinarians of the future,” Orak said. “A lot of people have no idea they’re dining in restaurants where our students are working.”

In Orak’s eyes, it’s important for newcomers to grasp Southern food’s past. But alerting them to the contemporary culinary culture of where they live—or where they’ll soon live—is essential.