"Part history, part travelogue, and part cookbook, Emily Blejwas's The Story of Alabama in Fourteen Foods celebrates and pays homage to fourteen emblematic foods, dishes, and beverages as a lens for exploring the history, diverse cultures, and traditions of the state. Throughout Alabama's history, food traditions have been fundamental to its customs, cultures, regions, social and political movements, and events. Each featured food is deeply rooted in Alabama identity and has a story with both local and national resonance. Blejwas focuses on lesser-known food stories from around the state, illuminating the lives of a diverse populace: Poarch Creeks, Creoles of color, wild turkey hunters, civil rights activists, Alabama club women, frontier squatters, Mardi Gras revelers, sharecroppers, and Vietnamese American shrimpers, among others. A number of Alabama figures noted for their special contributions to the state's foodways, such as George Washington Carver and Georgia Gilmore, are profiled as well. Alabama's rich food history also unfolds through accounts of community events and a food-based economy. Highlights include Sumter County barbecue clubs, Mobile's banana docks, Appalachian Decoration Days, cane syrup making, peanut boils, and eggnog parties. Drawing on historical research and interviews with home cooks, chefs, and community members cooking at local gatherings and for holidays, Blejwas details the myth, legends, and truths underlying Alabama's beloved foodways. With nearly 50 color illustrations and 15 recipes, The Story of Alabama in Fourteen Foods will provide Alabamians in Fourteen Foods will provide Alabamians and foodway enthusiasts the opportunity to understand more fully Alabama's rich cultural heritage." -- From publisher's description.

Roasted Corn: The Creek Nation in Alabama -- Gumbo: Africans and Creoles on the Gulf Coast -- Chicken Stew: Frontier Life in the Tennessee Valley -- Fried Green Tomatoes: Emblem of the Alabama Rural Table -- Lane Cake: Alabama Women in the Progressive Era -- Banana Pudding: The Banana Docks at the Port of Mobile -- Fried Chicken: Decoration Day on Sand Mountain -- Boiled Peanuts: George Washington Carver, the Wiregrass, and Macon County Farmers -- Wild Turkey: Hunting and Wildlife Conservation in Alabama -- Sweet Tea: Birmingham in the Great Depression and the Second World War -- Sweet Potato Pie: Civil Rights and Soul Food in Montgomery -- Barbecue: Black History in the Black Belt -- MoonPies: Mardi Gras in Mobile -- Shrimp: Seafood in Bayou La Batre.