GREENVILLE — Hot dogs are like short stories, says writer John T. Edge . They're quick and concise.
Six bites, 10 minutes and you're done. There's a whole story stuffed into those six bites of meat, slaw and chili. Beef and pork meat that has been used since 1953 like at Holmes Hot Dogs .
Homemade slaw " made with love " like at Saxon's Hot Dogs , established in 1956. Chili cooked for hours in the slow cooker behind the gas station counter. Hot dogs share a slice of South Carolina history — the cheap and accessible food in mill villages that still lives on decades later.
The SEC Network, a station dedicated to Southeastern Conference sports, came to the Upstate to tell that story — and much more. Edge, a James Beard Award-winning food writer, hosts the SEC Network series " TrueSouth ," which explores the South through food and culture. Each episode in the seven-season series highlights a different place, from Athens to Jasper, Ala.
, to Oklahoma City to Memphis to Lake Village, Ark. On Nov. 4, the Emmy-winning show aired an episode based in the Upstate , where Edge follows Spartanburg-based fiction writer George Singleton as he gives a tour of the region by eating hot dogs and visiting the Pickens County Flea Market.
The episode is part history of the Upstate, part food sociology and part ode to Singleton. Singleton met Edge more than 20 years ago on book tour at Square Books in Oxford, Miss. They've been friends ever since.
Singleton, a Guggenheim Fellowship awardee, ha.
