Georgia Magazine - October 2016 - 38

Southern sweetness Chefs turning to sorghum again in cooking A warm, freshly baked biscuit with its layers of buttery goodness becomes something magical when daubed with sorghum. Sorghum also is amazing drizzled on a plate with some room-temperature Green Hill cheese from Sweet Grass Dairy in Thomasville or thinned with a bit of apple juice to baste pork belly or pork tenderloin while it's roasting. Not long ago, you could find sorghum on just about any grocery store shelf. Today, asking for sorghum in a chain grocery store usually draws blank stares. But chefs are beginning to rediscover it. At South City Kitchen Buckhead in Atlanta, Executive Chef James Starnes uses sorghum in a vinaigrette on a super-tender pork chop. At Drift Fish House & Oyster Bar in Marietta, Pastry Chef Addison Dudek makes a splendid sorghum-bourbon ice cream that tops a Pearson Farm peach crisp. You'll hear some people refer to sorghum syrup as molasses, but it's not. Molasses is a sugar product. Sorghum comes from a grass that originated in Africa and likely came to the United States with the slaves. It's grown here and in other Southern states for syrup, but only one- Sorghum bicolor-of 30 species of sorghum is appropriate for human consumption. When crushed, the stalks yield a liquid that is then boiled down to achieve syrup consistency. You can find sorghum at small stores that specialize in Southern products or at farmers markets. You can also buy it straight from some of the producers in the North Georgia mountains, such as Terry Hughes, a second-generation sorghum producer at Hughes Sorghum Syrup Mill, founded by his father, Olin, in 1954. 38 It's just off U.S. Highway 76 between Blairsville and Young Harris. Z.W. Seabolt's three sons-Ray, John and Jerrell-continue their father's sorghum business in Blairsville, both growing the plant and producing the syrup. In Tiger, Robert and Patsy Mitchum from Hillside Orchard Farms, a large producer of traditional Georgia products, grow sorghum and make the syrup, which is sold at their stores as well as at other outlets. Celebrating Georgia sorghum PHOTO BY JOHN ROTT / REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF FLORIDA BY JANE F. GARVEY Sorghum is inextricably linked to the culture as well as the culinary traditions of Appalachia. And it's celebrated in Blairsville. This year marks the 47th annual Blairsville Sorghum Festival, set for Oct. 8-9 and 15-16. Besides sorghum-making, the experience includes a Ronni Lundy's Curried Pumpkin Soup gets a touch of parade, square dancing, sweetness from sorghum. contests, arts and crafts and music by several bands. stew, for instance. Locals have worked with this If you plan to attend, get there event for many years. Kim Bridges, early, as traffic can be heavy and who works in the information tech- make it difficult to get a good parking nology department at United Com- spot. The family-friendly event showmunity Bank in Blairsville, serves as cases the famous product and offers the festival's treasurer and works as a the opportunity to purchase sorghum team with Allen Dills, who serves as and lots of treats made with it. Don't its president. miss the sorghum cookies! Bridges' husband, Alan, comes Jane F. Garvey is a food, wine from a family with sorghum tradition. and travel writer from Decatur. His grandfather used to make the syrup, and his father co-founded the fesRonni Lundy's book, "Sorghum's tival, she says. She loves to cook with Savor," is replete with remembrances sorghum-adding it to her Brunswick of personal encounters with sorghum More online at www.georgiamagazine.org GEORGIA MAGAZINE http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - October 2016