My mom and dad just recently returned from Montana where my brother and sister-in-law live. They brought me some coffee roasted locally. It was huckleberry flavored. Mom said that it was all the rage up there, i.e., that people were selling preserves, muffins, and other sorts of things flavored with huckleberries. I thought that that was sort of funny. How does a food become "the big thing" in a certain area of the country? I mean, what was it before? And what is next? A fruit is a trend??
Down here there are constants. Food is one of them. Good ol' fried chicken and okra, cornbread, greens, grits, blackeyed peas and buttermilk, just to name a few standards. Now, a lot of folks up north call that "soul food". Down here it's just dinner. I was thinking the other day about my Mammaw's cooking (I miss it-she died when I was 17). It never failed. Going over to her house for supper was an event. She cooked more food than all of us, meaning all the brothers, sisters, spouses, cousins, and grandkids, could ever consume. We all sat around the dining room table, elbow to elbow, passing around platters and bowls of deliciousness. All of the food I mentioned above and then some was normal fare. Then came dessert. Pies, banana pudding, and cobbler. Sometimes one, sometimes more than one. It is not a wonder that my mom's family liked getting together so much, often on Sundays after church. I always looked forward to that time.
Food trends that are "all the rage"? Not in my experience. I have not seen any kind of southern cooking become trendy and then go out of style. It is part of our lifestyle and culture.
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