Walk around any pop-up farmer stand or permanent site like the Montgomery Curb Market, and you’ll see the full bounty of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and other plants that Alabama farmers grow. But look closer, and you’ll also find state farmers who raise meat—generally beef, pork, and chicken but also lamb, turkey, and other livestock. Where there’s poultry pecking in pasture, you’ll also find farm eggs.
David Kimani is intrigued by what people order after he parks the Sahani food truck at a Birmingham-area brewery or beer bar and opens for business. Do they stick with something familiar like a Philly cheesesteak or plunge into the Kenyan food that is Sahani’s specialty? And if they go for the latter, is it the grilled lamb called Nyama Choma, or the stewed tripe, Matumbo?
Dozens of breweries across Alabama have taprooms that serve their own products. But a new brewery and bar in Huntsville is a first-of-its-kind in Alabama—a joint effort among five state beer makers that puts collaboration ahead of competition. The Brewers Cooperative recently opened a 40-tap location at the Stovehouse complex in Huntsville. A second, with 20 taps, will follow soon in Guntersville. Currently hiring in advance of its opening, it is in the new City Harbor development that overlooks Lake Guntersville.
Hiking deep into the Alabama woods, the foragers spot orange trumpet-shape mushrooms growing from the damp forest floor near several trees. After confirming the fungi are not a toxic or poisonous look-alike, they start gathering the gourmet goods, which can fetch $30 or more per pound from chefs at high-end restaurants or at nearby farmers markets.
More than two-dozen restaurants in greater Birmingham will donate up to 35 percent of their proceeds on Thursday, April 28, as part of the ongoing Dining Out for Life fundraiser. Part of a national effort to raise money for local service groups helping people with HIV, Birmingham’s Dining Out for Life supports AIDS Alabama, which helps provide housing and other assistance, offers education and outreach programs, and engages in policy advocacy.
Time spent on a relative’s farm in South Carolina started Christian Watson on a culinary journey that’s taken him to top restaurants in Charleston, Birmingham, and Auburn; private yachts on the east and west coasts; and now to the tiny agricultural town of Waverly.
It’s that time of the year again for events that boast delicious food while also offering a chance to soak up some culture, help a good cause, check out some good music, or prove culinary supremacy. From strawberries to tacos, these late April and May food festivals celebrate the diversity of Alabama food and beverages. Here are 8 food-related fêtes set for mid-spring:
Tickets are on sale now for the silver anniversary of Cork and Chefs, where attendees get to sample food and libations served by Birmingham-area restaurants in the atmosphere of an art festival. The 25th celebration of the city’s nationally recognized dining and drink scene is set for Saturday and Sunday, April 23 and 24, in the main casting shed at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark.
Although it’s only been open roughly three months, Oak House Restaurant is quickly becoming a clubhouse for residents of the Mt Laurel planned community in north Shelby County.
In our household, we love to celebrate Alabama’s strawberry season. I taught my children early in life that one of life’s great joys is eating a fully ripened strawberry that’s been freshly picked nearby. Supermarket strawberries, with their flavorless ghost-white ends and cores, cannot compete. And the longer strawberries must travel from farm to store, the less likely it is they’ll ever properly ripen.