Mary Margaret Miller
August 25, 2006
Whole Hog — a documentary film by University of Mississippi filmmaker Joe York — was screened on Thursday evening at the esteemed Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.
York along with Commercial Appeal food critic Leslie Kelly presented the film to an audience of over 235 people. Patrons were not only extended a private screening of Whole Hog, but they also participated in an open question and answer session with York and enjoyed a taste of authentic Tennessee whole hog barbeque.
People loved the film and really responded to it,” said Dian Jalfon, director of public relations and public events at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. “It was a barbeque crowd. A lot of Memphis In May barbeque people were present, and they really are an educated barbeque audience.”
Jalfon said that the question and answer session was very successful. Most patrons were interested in the varied parts of the hog which purvey different kinds of meat.
The film is a joint effort between The Southern Foodways Alliance and The Center for Documentary Studies at The University of Mississippi. Whole Hog is a result of three years’ exploration of the people and technique behind whole hog barbeque in the American South.
Whole Hog’s featured pit-master, Ricky Parker of B.E. Scott’s Barbeque in Lexington, Tenn., served barbeque after the screening. Side dishes were provided by Jim ‘N Nick’s Barbeque, also of west-central Tennessee.
That is exactly what the SFA is all about,” said York.
“What Ricky Parker does with a shovel and a pile of coals and a hog is no less than what the best chefs at five-star restaurants are doing.”
Whole Hog debuted last spring at the Culinary Institute of America’s 2005 Worlds of Flavor conference in Napa Valley, California. Since, screenings have been presented in New York City and Oxford, Mississippi.
For more information about Whole Hog, click here to visit the Southern Foodways Alliance website.
