Draft:SoFAB Research Center

The SoFAB Research Center is a culinary archive located on the second floor of the library at Nunez Community College in Chalmette, Louisiana. It contains a wide variety of texts relating to food culture such as culinary books, menus, pamphlets, and restaurant advertisements. Although no archival materials may be removed from the premises, it is open to researchers, students, and the general public.

Mission
The goal of the research center is to be a repository for culinary texts and ephemera from all over the world. The hope is for its presence to foster a food community in the area and provide research material for chefs, scholars, students, journalists, and the interested public.

It currently contains over 40,000 culinary resources from around the globe in a range of different languages, and it continues to receive donations to add to the growing collection. Such donations can range from cookbooks and other culinary books, menus, restaurant advertisements, to recipe cards and photographs.

History
Through a partnership between Nunez Community College and the Southern Food & Beverage Museum (The National Food & Beverage Foundation), the research center was opened on October 6th, 2022 with a ceremonial breaking of a six-foot loaf of French bread. The research center partnered with the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of the Philippines as well as the Philippine-Louisiana Historical Society for their opening exhibit focusing on the impact of the Filipino community on Louisiana's food culture and economy. As such, the opening ceremony was attended by a delegation of Filipino guests.

SoFAB co-founder Liz Williams has collected and donated a large number of the works in the Center's collection. The museum collected many culinary works over the years through donations, and the research center offers a proper repository for them. Many others have donated ephemera, artifacts and books over the years such as New York food columnist Bonnie Tandy Leblang, Paul Prudhomme, Mildred Covert, Poppy Tooker, Norman Van Aken, Louis Osteen, among others.

Exhibits
"The First Settlement: Filipinos in Louisiana" was the inaugural exhibit of the research center. It shone a light on Louisiana's historic Filipino community and its contributions to the region's culture, which had long been overlooked. It is unknown when Filipinos first settled in Louisiana, with estimated dates ranging from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. However, it is understood why they were drawn to the area. With a similar climate as their home country and abundant fishing opportunities, skilled Filipino fishermen created a prosperous fishing village along Lake Borgne in St. Bernard Parish. It was known as St. Malo. This community introduced dried shrimp to the local and national culture. Created by boiling, brining, and sun-drying the shrimp, this helped preserve the shrimp for longer periods of time. It could be eaten as a snack or used to add flavor to dishes.

“The Sweetest Crop” is the Center’s current exhibit, dedicated to the history of sugar in Louisiana and more specifically Chalmette. It details the impact of sugar on Louisiana's economy and culture from the 18th century- when Jesuit missionaries planted sugarcane in New Orleans in 1751- to the 21st century- when Hurricane Katrina flooded the Domino sugar refinery in Chalmette in 2005. The exhibit includes images and paraphernalia related to sugar and sugar production.