Okracast

Welcome to OKRACAST, the podcast of the Southern Foodways Alliance! Our first stop this week: the Farmers' Market Store in Oxford, Mississippi. Short on local buttermilk or first-of-the-season corn? How about fresh goat meat or fermented black bean paste? Liz Stagg and Frank Coppola have served a diverse clientele since 2004, making the Farmers' Market Store a fixture in the town.

Next, we serve up a sample of Rien Fertel's interview with Sylvester Collins, owner of Collins Dream Kitchen in Jackson, Mississippi. After countless years cooking in several Jackson-area restaurant kitchens—at times working as many shifts as two or three people—the mother of four saved enough to finance her own establishment, a small takeout joint. Twenty-seven years later, she’s in a bigger space, one with a buffet counter, dining room, and enough wall space to fill with Christian devotionals and the portraits of the men and women who guided her here. Hungry patrons will find smothered turkey necks, ham hocks, and meaty spaghetti; fried chicken, baked chicken, and cracklin’ cornbread. Now 74 years old, Ms. Collins doesn’t do much of the cooking, but she still seasons each and every plate that comes out of her Dream Kitchen.

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On this week's Okracast, chef Kelly English of Memphis, Tennessee talks about the upcoming Big Gay Mississippi Welcome Table. The dinner celebrates Mississippi’s LGBTQ community, and is a peaceful protest of the state’s recently signed Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Also, our weekly oral history sample comes from an interview with Greta Brown Bully. Greta met her future husband when her job required her to pay a visit to Bully’s Restaurant. The year was 1992, a decade after Bully’s Restaurant first opened its doors. She worked at a car dealership at the time and was following up on a payment owed by one of Tyrone Bully’s employees. Tyrone paid the balance on the spot. Greta started eating there regularly. First, she fell in love with the meatloaf. Her love for Tyrone grew from there. Together, they pursued a new vision for the restaurant. Today, Greta and Tyrone work together, serving up plates of seasoned-to-perfection chitterlings, tender oxtails, golden fried catfish, smothered pork chops, and fresh greens to their loyal customers. After over 20 years together, the duo is holding strong to their titles of “queen and king of Soul Food” in Jackson.

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The Mayflower. A story of beginnings. An iconic American symbol of voyage, striving, and survival. It is befitting that George Kountouris and John Gouras chose the name the Mayflower Café for the small eatery they opened in down Jackson in 1935. The Mayflower began as a hamburger stand, started by a pair of Greek immigrants and friends from the deeply-Orthodox island of Patmos.

Some years later — the history is cloudy — the Mayflower expanded into the neighboring beer garden to become a full-service restaurant. The original menu showcased the diversity of American foodways. There were sandwiches, some Greek items, Chinese dishes (including chop suey), and plates of soul food. But gradually, over time, and especially with the help of George’s grandson Jerry Kountouris, who took over ownership in 1990, the menu was streamlined to spotlight the now classic standards: broiled redfish, stuffed flounder, and the Mayflower Greek Salad (with fresh lump crabmeat). As the Mayflower nears its 80th year, it has become a part of the fabric of the American story.

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Cliff Collins started working in a local meat market when he was still in high school. After five years behind the counter, he decided to open a place of his own. The year was 1973. Thousands of pork chops and chicken breasts later, Cliff’s Meat Market, the last of the family-owned markets in the area, is still going strong. Cliff has built his reputation on quality, variety, and, above all, hospitality. Most all of his customers have been buying from him for years. Some stop in just to chat. Part of his secret, though, is that he isn’t afraid to change with the times. When his customers requested organic meats, he got them. When Latinos came to the Carrboro community, he hired them. Cliff’s is one of the only butcher shops where you’ll find beef sirloin next to marinated pork for tacos al pastor. And it’s certainly the only place you’ll find Cliff.

Visit www.southernfoodways.org for more.