112000 Thu Jan 02 23:09:01 -0800 2003 5 7 Chicago Area 0 607500 In an earlier thread I mentioned a book containing an essay on Chicago Soul Food with some specific mentions of Soul Queen and H&H Café. The book is "Food in the USA: A Reader" edited by Carole M Counihan (ISBN 0-415-93232-7) and the chapter is "The Origins of Soul Food in Black Urban Identity: Chicago 1915-1947" by Tracy N Poe. It’s a fairly interesting book, though quite diverse and scattered. There are some good essays but I’m not sure it’s worth its cover price of $30. Very recently there was a copy on the shelf at Borders (Washington & Randolph; Cooking – Essays) if anyone wants to have a look. While checking a few things using Google, I was surprised to find a slightly different version of Tracy Poe’s article, published in American Studies International. A link to a pdf version follows. Link: http://www.gwu.edu/~asi/articles/37-1-1.pdf Thu Jan 02 23:09:01 -0800 2003 0 Rene G 1 607505 Hi! At Tracey Poe's urging, Culinary Historians of Chicago did two symposiums: Grits & Greens and Everything In Between in 2001 and 2002. Last I heard, Tracey is now teaching at Barat College in Lake Forest (it may be at Lake Forest College - I get the two confused). She obtained her Ph.D. on her research of soul food ... Regards, CAthy2 Thu Jan 02 23:45:44 -0800 2003 607500 0 Cathy2 1 607507 Rene, The article was most interesting at the top, before it became too academic. The essential point was that in many communities "title" doesn't dictate status. Sometimes it's the woman taking orders that is as powerful as the titular head. Just ask my Aunt Soph. Thanks for another great post. Fri Jan 03 00:01:10 -0800 2003 607500 0 annieb 1 607536 Rene, thanks for the link. Below is a link to a quite long, but somewhat interesting article by Ray Hanania (also in pdf format) to the history of Arab immigration (with quite a bit about restaurants including steve adawi of steve's shish kabab house) Link: http://www.hanania.com/arabchi.pdf Fri Jan 03 09:40:52 -0800 2003 607500 0 zim 1 607721 Thanks, Rene, absolutely fascinating. Dee Mon Jan 06 05:02:42 -0800 2003 607500 0 dee 2 607732 Yes, it was really fascinating. I read through it and through Zim's Hanania link last night. Now, I'll have to make my way down to Soul Queen. BTW, did you guys catch that bit about "West Indian" immigration? (see note #60). I am assuming Tracy means Jamaican, Trinidadian etc by the catch-all "West Indian". I didn't know that West Indian immigration to Chicago started as early as mid-century (and perhaps beyond). On the other hand, it doesn't sound like she is really aware that "West Indians" are still a very vibrant part of the southside business-scape. What was the path of immigration? Through Florida? But then that should leave us with a trail of "West Indian" businesses (ex jerk chicken) from Florida to here. Is there such a trail out there? Interesting about the main states/sources of migration: Mississippi, Tennessee, and then to a lesser degree Louisiana and Florida and so on. I think that Yourpalwill might have a hard time find examples of low country cooking in this city. It doesn't seem like there was much migration coming from those states. RST Mon Jan 06 11:38:11 -0800 2003 607721 0 RST