You never know what a trip really has in store for you, or who you will cross paths with, right? Thus, when I went to Italy this past summer and met Evan McCommon, a fellow Slow Food representative from North Louisiana, I had no idea that we would become such fast friends. I attribute our quick bond to our Southern roots and similar age, but who knows what really draws folks together. I spent a lot of time attending events with him and his wife. The Slow Food New Orleans and North Louisiana chapters threw such mind-blowing events when I was across the pond. One in particular immediately comes to mind... They teamed up with Slow Food Vietnam and threw one heck of a po' boy and banh mi combination pop up. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. It was such a cool experience to celebrate these two food traditions as one... at first glance, they seem so different yet really are so similar.

Evan runs Mahaffey Farms, a 1200 acre ranch outside of Shreveport, Louisiana. It's a big farm, but he is a relatively small-time producer. The property was used primarily for timber production, conservation efforts, and wildlife management with in the '90s, until they decided to undertake a revival of the family farm in the 2010s. He has different kinds of animals on his farm, but what really stood out to me was the Red Wattle Hogs, a super rare heritage breed thriving on their farm. This breed is recognized by the Ark of Taste (AoT), a program that catalogs our outstanding and intricate global heritage of food, bringing attention to traditions from all walks of life that are bordering on extinction. Dedicated to safeguarding heirloom produce, artisanal products, endangered breeds of animals, and an amalgam of many other food genres, the AoT receives nominations from people who are determined to save the tastes, sights, and smells of their hometowns from disappearing forever.

Red Wattle Hogs at Boxcar Farm.

When I returned from Italy in October, I got a phone call from Evan, saying that he was coming through Austin. He wanted to tour some farmers' markets and familiarize himself with some local producers, one in particular: Dewberry Farms. A family-owned pasture-raised chicken farm that prides themselves on compassionately handling their chicken, and doing all the processing right on their farm. Their processing facility is federally inspected, meaning they adhere to government specifications, which is a big deal! Two things that differentiate a federally inspected facility from a state inspected one is that you can sell across state lines (something that Evan was interested in because his ranch is on the Texas/Louisiana border), and the amount of chickens you can sell are either less or more depending on the level of inspection. After a whirlwind tour of a handful of different farmers' markets introducing Evan to hordes of Austin's finest artisanal producers, we decided to meet up with Jonny, co-owner of Black Star Co-op and friend of Evan's, for a late afternoon bite.

After touring our Garfield farm, we decided to head out to Boxcar Farm & Garden in Maxwell, TX and meet up with Leah Gibson, who is the owner of the farm and also served on the panel at The Seer screening this past year. Being at her farm and seeing the animals really sparked a serious interest in potentially diversifying our farm. When we first moved out to Hergotz in 2006, we had three Black Angus cows and since then, my interest in animals has remained semi-dormant. I was so inspired by her farm, that I went home and called my dad, to converse with him about it. He earned a degree in Animal and Dairy science from Auburn, so the topic was right up his alley.

Photo courtesy of Boxcar Farm.

Boxcar's flock. Photo courtesy of Boxcar Farm.

A beautiful turkey at Boxcar Farm & Garden.

After that weekend, Evan invited me to a Slow Food Shreveport event that they were throwing on his property at the end of January, a bona fide traditional pig roast (or a couchon de lait, as they would call it in South Louisiana). I was overjoyed at the invitation, and when the weekend arrived, Johannes and I packed up the car with tons of fruit and veggies, and promptly headed East! The pig roasting master, Dr. Howard Conyers, was invited from New Orleans to conduct the roast. He started around 9 pm the night before and continued toiling until we ate the following day at 2 pm. Fun fact: I got to talking to this guy, and he nonchalantly disclosed to me that he was a NASA scientist! He has just acquired a PhD in mechanical engineering, and like me, had a bachelors in agricultural engineering! Crazy, eh?!



A pig roast is HARD work. It entails digging a 4 foot hole in the ground, then after getting the pig on the skewer and placed correctly, they place a wooden box over the hole covered by tin sheets, and digs holes into the pit to carefully control the airflow. Simultaneously, in a metal bin, they place a metal grate inside that keeps the wood from sitting directly on the bottom of the bin. This is done so that big chunks of charcoal fall to the bottom of the bin, and they scoop out what has fallen to add to the pig roast pit. The temperature is kept low and the pig roasts for a long time. It was a feast of cornbread, collard greens, mustard greens, black eyed peas, and sweet potatoes. Local brewers joined the festivities and I had a Cajun Rice Lager from Great Raft Brewery! I didn't even know that that existed. We met tons of interesting folks and had a grand ole time. That Red Wattle Hog meat is heavenly. Something about those heritage hogs!

Pig roasting experts discussing their craft. Photo by Brittney Maddox.

Dr. Howard Conyers at work. Photo by Brittney Maddox.

The roasting pit. Photo by Brittney Maddox.

Photo by Brittney Maddox.

Photo by Brittney Maddox.

Photo by Brittney Maddox.

Photo by Brittney Maddox.

Textbook Southern cooking. Photo by Brittney Maddox.

Dr. Conyers serving up his masterpiece. Photo by Brittney Maddox.

Bon appetit! Photo by Brittney Maddox.

Evan bringing food to the hungry mob. Photo by Brittney Maddox.

Photo by Brittney Maddox.

Brenton enjoying the party. Photo by Brittney Maddox.

Hot tamales! Photo by Brittney Maddox.

Speaking of heritage flavors, this year we are growing 20 Ark of Taste varieties of vegetables, thanks to awesome seed companies like Baker Creek Heirlooms and Seed Saver Exchange. These will all be available for purchase at this year's Spring Transplant Sale which will be held the first 3 Saturdays of March at our Garfield Farm. In addition, there will be over 50 different varieties of heirloom tomatoes, massive amounts of fruit transplants, and 20 different kind of herbs. You won't want to miss this event!

As the Slow Food New Orleans chapter says, 'geaux slow' y'all! Until next time!