Join Tusk & Trotter and Special Collections for The Homestead Series

Photo by Cat Wallack

Participants enjoying dinner at Tusk & Trotter during the first Homestead Series event.

"The Homestead Series: Celebrating and Preserving the Culinary History of the Natural State" continues March 30 at 6 p.m. with Susan Young, outreach coordinator at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History.

Next Monday's theme is "Food Culture of the Ozarks and the River Valley," and the tasting menu includes small plates like pickled Petit Jean pork belly salad, a main course featuring grilled Arkansas catfish, and even possum pie.

Young is lifelong resident of Fayetteville and a fifth-generation Ozarker. She is the author of "So Big, This Little Place": The Founding of Tontitown, Arkansas, 1898-1917, and the editor of Memories I Can't Let Go Of: Life Stories from Tontitown, Arkansas. Young serves on the boards of the Arkansas Historical Association and the Ozark Folk Cultural Center Commission.

Earlier this year, the University of Arkansas Libraries' Special Collections Department teamed up with the award winning Bentonville restaurant, Tusk & Trotter, for this special series. Each event features a presentation on the extensive role food plays in shaping Arkansas culture, followed by a themed dinner, complementing the topic and prepared by Chef Rob Nelson. The events, all held at Tusk & Trotter restaurant, benefit Special Collections' publication Arkansauce: The Journal of Arkansas Foodways.

Arkansauce is published once a year by Special Collections and each issue features a special guest editor. Last year's issue was edited by Kat Robinson, the communications manager for the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism's tourism division and a popular food and travel writer. Kane Webb of Little Rock is the guest editor for the forthcoming 2015 issue. To learn more about Special Collections or Arkansauce, contact Tim Nutt at 479-575-8443 or email specoll@uark.edu.

Tickets to the events are $50 each and $10 from each ticket purchased will be donated to Arkansauce. Seating is limited, so contact Tusk & Trotter at 479-269-4494 or lindsey@tuskandtrotter.com to make your reservation. And check out Tusk & Trotter's facebook page and events page for their latest updates.

Still upcoming in The Homestead Series: May 18, "Food Culture of the Delta" with Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist, creator of the Southern Fried Blog, and President of Arkansas' Independent Colleges and Universities, Rex Nelson; July 27, "Exploring Arkansas Orchards and Vineyards"; Sept. 28, "Tracing the Roots of Arkansas' Restaurant Culture" with food blogger Kat Robinson; and Nov. 23, "Snout to Tail."