U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish a highlight at SFA Film Festival

JACKSON, Miss.---U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish was a highlight recently at the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) Potlikker Film Festival in Birmingham, Ala., on February 23, 2008. The dish, “Scorch Your Tongue Catfish,” was featured by Hot and Hot Fish Club, a popular Birmingham-area restaurant owned by acclaimed chef Chris Hastings.

  • View another recipe by Chef Hastings:
    Peanut Crusted Catfish with Spicy Fennel Slaw

    • The Southern Foodways Alliance, (SFA), is a nationally renowned food organization which recognizes and celebrates the diverse food cultures of the South. In Birmingham, the film festival “showcased the diversity of Southern cookery, as practiced in Birmingham and beyond,” according to SFA director and author John T. Edge.

    Featured alongside U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish were recipes such as Oxtail-Goosed Potlikker Shots, Flattop-Fried Pimento Cheese Sandwiches, a Greek Chili Dog Buffet, a Deep South Artisanal Cheese Tray and Mable’s Coconut Cream Pie.

    “Being involved with the SFA is always a great opportunity for U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish,” said Roger Barlow, president of The Catfish Institute. “We are able to reach an influential food crowd with our product, and we feel they understand the unique tie U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish has to the South and to Southern cuisine.”

    Food enthusiasts from around the country feasted their eyes on films from Alabama native, and SFA filmmaker, Joe York. Some specific films viewed at the festival were:

    • Chicken Stew, a portrait of community feeds in and around Florence, Ala.
    • Something Better than Barbecue, about Chuck’s in Opelika, Ala.
    • The Rise of Southern Cheese, featuring Belle Chevre in Elkmont, Ala.

    Recipes and information about one of the South’s most celebrated fish, U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish, can be found on www.UScatfish.com anytime.

    The Catfish Institute was founded in 1986 by catfish feed mills and their producer members with the goal of raising consumer awareness about the benefits of U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish. Today TCI, which represents catfish feed mills and their producer customers in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana, conducts promotional programs throughout the United States and Canada.