In a message dated 1/13/07 2:22:58 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:


> As an archaeologist, anthropologist, and history teacher I assure
> that foodways are an important subject of study. What people ate
> reveals a great deal about who they are- where they were from, how
> assimilated, socio-economic class, etc.
>
> James Brothers, RPA
> [log in to unmask]
>

Dear James:

I heartily agree.   I enjoy going to the local Amish market and getting their
"BBQ" chicken which is actually a rotisserie chicken.   It is quite delicious
having cooked in its' own drippings.   On a medical conference trip to Munich
15 years ago, we took some time out to go to Octoberfest where to my pleasant
surprise the I ate chicken prepared in exactly the same way.   Knowing the
Amish are descended from both German and Swiss ancestry, one can see the foodway
connection immediately.   I grew up in Chicago descended from black parents
and grandparents with Southern roots.    I didn't go South until I spent a
summer in Nashville attending a medical school prep program.   It was like
stepping into a   pair of well worn slippers I never knew I had.   I had been exposed
to language, foodways and customs that I realized that were quite Southern in
spite of never having been there.   Definitely another "Aha" moment.

Anita L. Henderson

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