Charlotte LATIN • Fall Semester 2013

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Charlotte LATIN
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Fall Semester 2013
TRUE BLUE
&
By Judy Mayer
Fans, Food Fun
Taylor Mathis ’04 writes a cookbook about
the traditions of tailgating in the South.
Rain or shine, they come as regular as clockwork each
fall. Neither stifling heat nor frigid cold can keep them
away. They come in caravans of RVs, flotillas of boats,
and even on motorized coolers. Through their creativity
and tenacity, they turn empty spaces into colorful
settlements with lifespans that endure mere hours, yet
whose stories linger for generations.
They are the college football tailgaters; a distinct breed of
football fan that has evolved over successive generations into
an American phenomenon. From the catered formality of The
Grove at Ole Miss to the Vol Navy that floats on the Tennessee
River adjacent to the University of Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium,
tailgates reflect the rich variety of the country’s college life.
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TRUE BLUE
Continued.
It was the diversity
of cuisine
served at colleges across the country that first attracted Taylor Mathis ’04 to the tailgate scene. Little
did he know, however, when he began visiting friends’ campuses after graduating from the University of
Wisconsin with a B.S. in personal finance in 2008, that this interest in food would turn into a two-andhalf year odyssey that has covered 20,000 miles and turned the Academic Big 10 swimmer into a...
...published cookbook author.
College cuisine often revolves around athletic competitions, so the evolution to tailgating was natural for
Taylor. He was so impressed with the food and the logistics of preparing and serving it in spaces that are
typically parking lots and rolling green lawns that he decided to write a cookbook that would reflect the
flavor of his tailgating odyssey. The Southern Tailgating Cookbook, A Game Day Guide for Lovers of Food,
Football, & the South was published in 2013 by the University of North Carolina Press.
Tailgates are all about food and fellowship juxtaposed with dedicated and enthusiastic support for one’s
team. Fans set up their own tailgate location, then visit others in a continuous parade during the hours
leading to the game’s kick-off. As Taylor visited college campuses, he was particularly drawn to the
mouth-watering menus served at individual tailgates, especially in his native South.
The result is a collection of recipes from beverages to desserts, all designed to be eaten while
standing up and many to be prepared onsite without running water and often without
electricity. Some dishes, such as “Doughnut French Toast with Raspberry Syrup,”
which begins with day-old Krispy Kreme doughnuts and harkens from Wake Forest
University, celebrate local favorites (see page 20). Others feature local ingredients,
such as Louisiana's Cajun cuisine.
“At an LSU game, I ate seven types of animal in one day,” says Taylor. The
From the
sampling of cow, chicken, pig, alligator, shrimp, crab, and frog did not
beginning, Taylor
include crayfish, only because the commonly-called “mudbugs” were
out of season. As Taylor writes in the cookbook, “I came across
turned to his family and the
one tailgater (at LSU) by the name of Dynamite who was
Charlotte Latin community to act
frying up frog legs and alligator tail. While sampling his
as his collaborators on the project. His
dishes, I learned that Dynamite had caught both of
mom, former Parents’ Council President
the items himself.”
Sally James Mathis, who previously owned a
catering business, served as the book’s chief recipe
Hospitality is a cornerstone of the
developer and tester. “Some of the recipes were inspired by
tailgating experience, and Taylor
a special school and others were food that I saw over and over at
generally discovered that the
the tailgates, but all of the recipes are my mom’s,” says Taylor.
tailgaters welcomed him. “I
always dressed in a t-shirt
the color of the home
team with my blogsite,
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One of Taylor's blogsites, www.taylortakesataste.com, is a collaboration of
talents: his mom and former CLS Parents' Council President Sally James Mathis'
mouthwatering recipes (Sally Makes), and Taylor's jump-off-the-screen, tempting
photos (Taylor Takes), and a story line for each dish.
taylortailgates.com, printed on it, and I was carrying all of my
photography equipment, so people were pretty open. I could tell
within five seconds if someone wanted to talk to me, and ninetyfive percent did.”
His first tailgate was at Ole Miss in 2010. “I drove 10 hours from
Charlotte and when I arrived at The Grove, I thought to myself,
‘What am I doing here?’” With each visit, Taylor’s interviewing
skills improved, and as his blog gained attention and word spread
about his book project, he began receiving invitations to tailgates.
Taylor’s personal experiences are reflected in the cookbook’s first
person narrative, which features the flavor of the tailgate culture as
well as delicious recipes. He shares, “UNC Press shared our vision
for telling the story of the tailgate experience, which is highlighted
in fifteen sidebars that explain what makes tailgating special in the
South, such as the traditional greetings on game day like ‘Roll Tide’
at the University of Alabama. Every campus has traditions that are
special to them.”
One of the cookbook’s sidebars is titled, “Eating Your
Competition.” “Whenever you play one of these schools you will
design your menu toward them,” says Taylor. Opponents of the
University of Florida Gators often serve alligator strips, while
hot dogs can easily be modified when playing the Georgia or
Mississippi State Bulldogs.
“At LSU, an entire pig was cooking on an open spit that was
modified with elephant ears to resemble Bama’s Crimson Tide
mascot,” Taylor recalls from his visit to this arch-rivalry game,
another sidebar topic featured in the cookbook. Longstanding
rivalries last generations and sometimes require families to call
a truce. Taylor recalls one such tailgate: “I visited one tailgate
that was decorated half in Clemson colors and half for the South
Carolina Gamecocks,” he says. The family agreed on rules of
engagement for game day.
In all, Taylor visited 35 campuses, traveling from Texas A&M
University to East Carolina University, including traditional black
colleges like Alabama A&M University and small colleges like
Davidson and Emory & Henry. “Tailgating at smaller schools is
scaled down in size, but the fans are just as dedicated,” he states.
From the beginning, Taylor turned to his family and the Charlotte
Latin community to act as his collaborators on the project. His
mom, former Parents’ Council President Sally James Mathis, who
previously owned a catering business, served as the book’s chief
recipe developer and tester. “Some of the recipes were inspired by a
special school and others were food that I saw over and over at the
tailgates, but all of the recipes are my mom’s,” says Taylor.
“We tested every recipe three or four times, including packing the
ingredients up in the kitchen and transporting them to my mom’s
backyard,” Taylor explains. The idea was to simulate an outdoor
tailgating environment where food preparation requires portability
and extra precautions to prevent the food from perishing during
day-long tailgates in often extreme weather conditions. Each recipe
includes careful instructions to promote food safety.
Drawing inspiration from her own experiences as an undergrad
at Duke University and a law student at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, Sally also incorporated a sampling of her
family’s favorite dishes into the cookbook. “Harry’s Hot Balls” is
the favorite sausage ball treat of Taylor’s brother, Harrison ’09,
and “Clifton’s Tenders with Peach-Bourbon Dipping Sauce” even
shows up at the family’s Thanksgiving table to please his brother,
Clifton ’15. “Sally’s Boneless Barbecue Chicken” is described in the
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TRUE BLUE
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cookbook as a “cornerstone of many family meals.” Taylor even shared his personal
barbecue sauce, which he claims is the perfect complement to his favorite chicken
leg quarters.
Sally and Harrison, as well as Taylor’s wife, Sara, even served as hand models during
the photo shoot for each recipe, which was staged in the family’s backyard. Sara,
whom Taylor married in April of 2013, previously worked for ESPN College, so she
shares an interest in collegiate athletics, as does Sally, whose late father, Carl James,
served as Athletic Director of Duke University and the University of Maryland,
Director of the Sugar Bowl, and Director of the Big 8 before it transitioned to the
Big 12.
DOUGHNUT FRENCH TOAST
WITH RASPBERRY SYRUP
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is home to Wake
Forest University and is also the birthplace of Krispy
Kreme Doughnuts. When sliced in half, dunked in
an egg wash, and cooked until golden brown, this
hot, sweet, and sticky doughnut is the best French
toast you could imagine! Serves 6.
DOUGHNUT FRENCH TOAST
1/2 dozen day-old Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup 2% milk
To navigate the daunting world of publishing, Taylor turned to fellow Latin
classmate Mac Mackie ’04. Mac, who attends Washington and Lee University’s
School of Law and previously worked in New York City for HarperCollins
Publishers, acted as Taylor’s agent to secure the deal with UNC Press.
“We just happened to run into each other at Qdoba (in 2010) and I began talking
about this idea that I had for a tailgating cookbook,” Taylor says. “We decided ‘let’s
do it.’ It often seemed like we working on a high school project, but with dollar
signs. It was fun,” Taylor remembers with a laugh.
The photography featured in the cookbook is all credited to Taylor, who is
building a reputation as a food photographer and the publisher of Photography Food
Magazine. “I like to shoot food because I don’t have to talk to my subjects while I
work,” Taylor says with a chuckle. He also wrote the text, which he thinks might
surprise Upper School English teacher Maria Klein. “English wasn’t my strongest
subject in high school,” he remembers.
The cookbook’s layout was designed by UNC Press, which sparked an intense
discussion of the colors that would be used on the cover. “We didn’t want to offend
any fan base,” says Taylor, “so we chose to go with red, white, and blue as American
colors that would be acceptable to everyone.”
The cookbook, which is attracting national attention with articles so far in People
Country, USA Today Weekend, Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News and Observer, New
Orleans Times Picayune, Chicago Tribune, and UNC’s Daily Tar Heel, celebrates
innovation as well as great food and cherished traditions.
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar
Pinch of salt
RASPBERRY SYRUP
1 pound frozen raspberries, thawed
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
The night before the tailgate, cut the doughnuts
in half, creating 12 discs. Store in a sealed, airtight
bag. Add the half-and-half, milk, eggs vanilla
extract, confectioners' sugar, and salt to a sealable
container. Store in the refrigerator overnight. To
make the Raspberry Syrup, add the berries, sugar,
lemon juice and salt to a medium-sized pot. Heat
over low, stirring occasionally until the berries have
thawed and the sugar has dissolved. Increase heat
to medium and simmer, stirring frequently, for 10
minutes.
Remove from heat. Run the syrup through a fine
mesh strainer to remove all large pieces of berry
and the seeds. Add the butter and stir until the
syrup and butter are blended. Let cool and transfer
to a plastic squeeze bottle. At the tailgate, stir the
“I selected a photo of a keg that was transformed into a grill for the opening spread
of the cookbook,” says Taylor, who was as impressed by the logistics of tailgating as
by the food served. “ I was also surprised at how early tailgaters arrive on campus. At
LSU, I thought I would be early if I showed up at 6:30 a.m. for an afternoon game.
People were already setting up tailgates who had arrived at 4:30 a.m.!”
He also enjoyed the bands and often elaborate entrances made by the school’s
football players, such as the arrival of the Clemson Tigers team. “I really liked going
to games where thousands of people congregate in one area in what I call ‘tent cities,’
like The Grove at Ole Miss or The Tiger Walk at Auburn University.”
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egg and milk mixture. Grease a pan or griddle with
butter or nonstick cooking spray and place over a
burner on medium heat. Place the doughnut halves
in the egg-wash mixture, cut-side down. Soak the
doughnuts in the mixture for a few seconds. Turn
them over and lightly wet the other side. Place each
doughnut half, cut-side down, on the hot cooking
surface. Cook for a minute or two until light brown.
Using a spatula, flip it and briefly cook the other
side. Serve with Raspberry Syrup.
On game days, many college towns swell to many times their normal
population as fans drive to campus in all manner of rolling stock
including customized RVs sporting the team’s colors and mascots.
Although it’s impossible to calculate precisely, tailgaters often number
in the thousands on gameday. With generators running big screen
televisions and satellite hook-ups, many fans watch the game under the
canopy of their tailgate, fully participating in the fun and excitement of
gameday.
1
2
With the exception of one University of Texas versus Oklahoma
University game, which is played annually at the Texas State
Fairground in Dallas, Taylor’s tailgating was exclusively experienced
outside the football stadium. “I drove to most of the games and often
got home at two or three in the morning,” he recalls. However, Taylor
believes that he not only observed the hoopla of college football, but
also came to appreciate the foundation of its fan base.
Say Taylor, “Tailgating is a family affair. The college students have their
own part of campus where they primarily hang out. At the tailgates, it
was cool to see multiple generations, with someone who is in school
and their mom and dad or grandmom and granddad who also went
there.” Many tailgates are formed by former college classmates, whose
friendships have endured for years and draw the alumni many miles
back to their alma maters.
As much as it is a cookbook, The Southern Tailgating Cookbook is a
chronicle of American life that celebrates the traditions as well as the
cuisine cherished by many families. “I was always treated with respect
at tailgates, and I witnessed people helping each other regardless of
their allegiances,” Taylor states.
His book opens with an open invitation that reflects the spirit of this
cherished tradition:
“Do you enjoy a mouthwatering buffet of your favorite foods?
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Is your ideal Saturday one spent with your friends and family?
Is there a college or university you feel a loyalty toward?
Congratulations! You could become a tailgater.”
1. Taylor addresses guests at the 2013 Book Fair
Luncheon sponsored by CLS Parents' Council.
2. Tailgating at Wake Forest University.
3. Taylor photographed the birthday cake featured
on the cover of Charlotte Latin to celebrate the
School's 40th Anniversary in 2010.
4. Alumni Director Sally Gray Smith ’82 with Taylor,
Fall 2013.
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