The Ark of Taste is an online catalogue developed and maintained by the Slow Food Foundation.
The catalogue records small-scale quality productions that belong to the cultures, history and traditions of our world, an extraordinary heritage of fruits, vegetables, animal breeds, cheeses, breads, sweets and cured meats. The Ark is growing day by day, gathering alerts from people who see the flavors of their childhood disappear, taking with them a piece of their culture and history.
Here are a selection of foods in the catalogue that most Mississippians will find familiar and some surprising. As a Calhoun County native, I’m of course including the two heirloom sweet potato varieties listed.
American Native Pecan
American Paddlefish
American Persimmon
Bradford Watermelon
Cotton Patch Goose
Hayman Sweet Potato
Louisiana Mirlitron
Mississippi Silver Hull Bean
Moon and Stars Watermelon
Nancy Hall Sweet Potato
New Orleans French Bread
Pawpaw
Piney Woods Cattle
Shagbark Hickory
Southern Field Peas
Traditional Sorghum Syrup
Tupelo Honey
Watermelon Pickles
White African Sorghum
White Velvet Okra
Wild Gulf Coast Shrimp
Yellow-Meated Watermelon
Greetings! I’m a community farmer and gardener from Chicago who’s doing his very best to restore his family’s ancestry in Mississippi and I’ve grown some Choctaw white corn, Choctaw tobacco, Choctaw pumpkins, Choctaw Lipstick beans and Traveler Lima beans this year. Also grown some sunchokes and Choctaw Smith white peas. I’m looking for more help in finding more Native American, early settler and former black slave varieties to improve my gardens next year. I’ll show y’all someday in the future. Please shoot back. Thanks!
Blake, you should contact Mississippi State University Extension (https://extension.msstate.edu/) They should have some information for you. JLY