Houston. The most diverse city in the United States.
And because of that diversity, we find some of the best and most varied food in the world.
Our unique geographic location and relation to multiple points of food production, distribution, and consumption afford us an ideal laboratory for teaching, researching and producing projects on foodways. Texas ranks second nationally for total agricultural output, is the leader in cattle production, and produces 68 percent of the nation’s shrimp—more than Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida combined. Houston is also the fourth most populous city in the nation and is now the most diverse large metropolitan area in the United States with immigrants from all over the world continuing to bring their food to the growing region. As John T. Edge, Director of the Southern Foodways Alliance recently wrote in the Oxford American, Houston has “emerge[d] as the South’s twenty-first century Creole capitol, where Vietnamese pho is as beloved as Cajun gumbo and tandoor-cooked naan smeared with chutney rivals skillet cooked corn bread smeared with butter.” He celebrates a dynamism that flows from the region’s history of race, migration, economy, and culture, identifying a rich field of study and area for creative endeavors.
This website will explore some of the stories of the food of Houston. It is created by students at the University of Houston, for the city of Houston and all those who love it.
Our unique geographic location and relation to multiple points of food production, distribution, and consumption afford us an ideal laboratory for teaching, researching and producing projects on foodways. Texas ranks second nationally for total agricultural output, is the leader in cattle production, and produces 68 percent of the nation’s shrimp—more than Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida combined. Houston is also the fourth most populous city in the nation and is now the most diverse large metropolitan area in the United States with immigrants from all over the world continuing to bring their food to the growing region. As John T. Edge, Director of the Southern Foodways Alliance recently wrote in the Oxford American, Houston has “emerge[d] as the South’s twenty-first century Creole capitol, where Vietnamese pho is as beloved as Cajun gumbo and tandoor-cooked naan smeared with chutney rivals skillet cooked corn bread smeared with butter.” He celebrates a dynamism that flows from the region’s history of race, migration, economy, and culture, identifying a rich field of study and area for creative endeavors.
This website will explore some of the stories of the food of Houston. It is created by students at the University of Houston, for the city of Houston and all those who love it.