They sprang up on the outskirts of town as places where you could do what you wanted without the prying eyes of your neighbors. Some of these places had motor courts behind them, so you could have the assignation, the beer and the barbecue. It's a part of Southern culture, and it's eccentric, but not in a quaint way. At last, knowing the where and why and what of this sandwich, we eat it. And it tastes all the better for knowing.
Edge believes that food reveals as much about a culture as pottery shards or sermons.
Particularly Southern culture. Many of his regular articles for John Grisham's Oxford American magazine and his speaking engagements postulate that food can heal, enlighten and empower. Whites discreetly channeled contributions through her. And Martin Luther King Jr. was fond of her pineapple upside-down cake. That led to him becoming director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, whose mission is to preach the gospel of Southern food to the public.