Appalachian cuisine is a style of cuisine located in the central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern United States. It is an amalgam of the diverse foodways, specifically among the British, German and Italian immigrant populations, Native Americans including the Cherokee people, and African-Americans, as well as their descendants in the Appalachia region.[1][2]
The cuisine of Appalachia focuses on seasonal local ingredients and practices like pickling, foraging, canning and food preserving.[1][3][4][2] Appalachian cuisine is a subset of Southern cuisine, and is specifically different because of the cold winters and the mountainous landscape.[3][5][6][7][8] Promoters of Appalachian foodways include Eliot Wigginton,[9][10] Ronni Lundy,[8] John Fleer,[11] Lora Smith,[11] Kendra Bailey Morris,[11] Travis Milton,[11] Ashleigh Shanti,[12] and Sean Brock.[11]
History
British immigrants to Appalachia brought buttermilk, biscuits, dumplings, and moonshine.[2] Chefs from the region have noted other European-originated foods like Italian sausage, and borscht.[13] The Cherokee in Appalachia have contributed to the cuisine with dishes and ingredients such as boiled chestnut bread, fried creasy greens, ramps, pokeweed, corn, and fiddlehead greens.[2][4][14] Poet Frank X Walker coined the term "Affrilachian" to signify the importance of the African-American presence in Appalachia, including in the cuisine.[15] The African-Americans in Appalachia have contributed to the regional food history with ingredients such as kale, collard greens, peanut beans, foods infused with bourbon (baked goods, and vegetables), spoonbread, and the use of molasses and sorghum as a meat glaze.[15][14]
Staples of Appalachian cuisine that are common in other regional cuisines of the south and in soul food include peanut brittle, sweet potato pie, pork chops, biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, collard greens, cracklings, and ham hocks.[2] Appalachia has a wide variety of wild game, with venison, rabbit, raccoon, and squirrel particularly common, thus helping to compensate for distance from major cities and transportation networks (this was particularly true in the 19th century). Many aspects of the diet came from economic necessity.[16][17] Subsistence farming was the backbone of the Appalachian economy throughout much of the 19th century, and is still a practice in the present-day in some areas through farming revitalization efforts.[18]
Traditionally most Appalachia homes used a fireplace and a dutch oven for cooking, which cooks hotter than a wood-burning stove.[19] However some households preferred using a wood-burning stove.[19] Sunday dinners are a tradition for many in the region.[20]
List of foods
Breads
- ash cake[21]
- biscuits[22]
- boiled chestnut bread[2]
- buckwheat cakes[23]
- corn bread[21]
- corn pones[21]
- cracklin' bread[21]
- hoecake
- hush puppies[21]
- molasses sweet bread[21]
- pan-fried bread[19]
- pepperoni roll[24]
- light bread[21]
- rye bread[21]
- spoonbread[22]
- syrup bread[21]
Beans
- field beans
- Greasy beans
- kidney beans
- Soup beans
- Shucky beans, or "leather britches"
Pickles
Meat dishes
- chicken fried steak
- country ham
- cured meats[28]
- deer jerky
- pan-fried liver[19]
- gravy, including squirrel gravy[2]
- roadkill cuisine[29]
- slaw dog[30]
- smoked pulled pork[31]
Other dishes
- apple butter[25]
- apple sauce[25]
- Bibb salad[14]
- buttermilk cucumber salad[27][32]
- chestnuts[33]
- creamed potato soup[19]
- dumplings
- fried crease greens[2]
- grits[23]
- jams and jellies[25]
- parched peanuts[25]
- potato salad[25]
- roasted candy roaster squash[27]
- skillet corn[27][28]
- sorghum syrup[25]
- sour corn[13]
- stews
Desserts
Pies and cobblers
- blackberry cobbler[21]
- boysenberry pie[21]
- chess pie[14]
- dried apple pie[21]
- dutch oven apple pie[23]
- mincemeat pie
- rhubarb pie
- tame gooseberry pie[21]
- sweet potato pie[21]
- lemon cushaw pie[19]
- sawdust pie[34]
- transparent pie[14]
- vinegar pie[35]
Cakes
- apple stack cake
- carrot cake[21]
- fruitcake
- pumpkin cake[21]
- million-dollar pound cake[19]
Candy
- Goo Goo Clusters[2]
- Moon Pie[2]
- molasses candy[21]
- molasses taffy
- potato candy[36]
Other desserts
- black walnut fudge[37]
- egg custard[21]
- carrot pudding[21]
- gingerbread
- scalloped apples[25]
- soft baked apples[25]
List of beverages
- corn liquor[28]
- Ale8 soft drink
- Cheerwine soft drink
- Jack Daniel's whiskey[2]
- moonshine[2]
- Mountain Dew[2]
- sweet milk (whole milk)
- sweet tea
List of common ingredients
Meats
Fruits
- apples, the Golden Delicious apples are the state fruit of West Virginia
- blackberries
- peaches
- pawpaw (asimina triloba)
- plums
- raspberries
Vegetables
- Appalachian truffle (Tuber canaliculatum)
- beans
- branch lettuce[4] (micranthes micranthidifolia)
- canned garden vegetables
- creasy greens (barbarea verna)[2]
- fiddlehead greens[2]
- Jimmy Red corn, local heirloom variety used for moonshine[37]
- lamb's quarters
- morel mushrooms[4]
- peas
- pokeweed, various preparations including poke salad[4]
- potatoes
- purselane[2]
- ramps[4] (allium tricoccum)
- squash, including Candy Roaster squash
- watercress[2]
Other common ingredients
See also
- Appalachian music
- Appalachian studies
- Appalachian Studies Association
- Foxfire (magazine), a student-run magazine about Appalachian culture
References
- ^ a b Black, Jane (2019-09-09). "Long Misunderstood, Appalachian Food Finds the Spotlight". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Sohn, Mark (2005-10-28). Appalachian Home Cooking: History, Culture, and Recipes. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 8–17. ISBN 978-0-8131-9153-9.
- ^ a b "What Exactly Is Appalachian Cuisine?". The Manual. October 9, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hood, Abby Lee (November 1, 2021). "Are Appalachian Foodways at Risk of Being Lost Forever?". Modern Farmer (magazine).
- ^ Balestier, Courtney (2013-05-01). "Of Pepperoni Rolls and Soup BeansOn What it Might Mean to Eat Like a West Virginian". Gastronomica. 13 (2): 52–54. doi:10.1525/gfc.2013.13.2.52. ISSN 1529-3262.
- ^ Engelhardt, Elizabeth S. D. (2015). "Beyond Grits and Gravy: Appalachian Chicken and Waffles: Countering Southern Food Fetishism". Southern Cultures. 21 (1): 72–83. doi:10.1353/scu.2015.0003. JSTOR 26220214. S2CID 144391214 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Black, Jane (2016-03-29). "The next big thing in American regional cooking: Humble Appalachia". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-03-05.
- ^ a b Downs, Jere. "'Victuals' tells stories of Appalachian food". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
difference between Southern food and Appalachian food is that we have winter in the mountains
- ^ Wilkerson, Jessica (2022). "Reading Foxfire". Southern Cultures, Vol. 28. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ Wallace, C. G. (2004-05-09). "Foxfire Tries to Scale Mountain of Misfortune". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ a b c d e Kinsman, Kat (March 8, 2022). "Appalachia Doesn't Need Saving, It Needs Respect". Food & Wine.
- ^ Eligon, John; Moskin, Julia (2019-07-16). "16 Black Chefs Changing Food in America". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ a b Daddio, Jess (May 22, 2017). "Appalachian Food Revolution". Blue Ridge Outdoors.
- ^ a b c d e "Kentucky cuisine a mix of cultures". The Gazette. 1983-06-15. p. 56. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ a b Caldwell, Robin (2019-12-18). "What it Means to Eat "Affrilachian" or Black and Appalachian". Black Southern Belle. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ "Book places focus on cuisine from Appalachian Mountains". The Leaf-Chronicle. 1998-09-27. p. 34. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ Hefling, Kimberly (1998-09-27). "Appalachian cuisine developed from necessity". The Park City Daily News. p. 37. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ Helmer, Jodi (2019-05-27). "Can Farming Save Appalachia?". Modern Farmer. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g Page, Linda Garland; Wigginton, Eliot (1992-09-01). The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Cookery. Univ of North Carolina Press. pp. 1–5. ISBN 978-0-8078-4395-6.
- ^ Pressley, Tipper; Casada, Jim (May 2023). Celebrating Southern Appalachian Food: Recipes and Stories from Mountain Kitchens. History Press. ISBN 978-1-4671-5277-8.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Traditional Baking: The Foxfire Americana Library (2). Foxfire Fund, Inc. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. 2011-09-06. ISBN 978-0-307-94821-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b Netherland, Robert G. (May 2016). Southern Appalachian Farm Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Family. University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-1-62190-223-2.
- ^ a b c Ferrell, Justin (2016-11-11). "3 camping recipes with an Appalachian touch". Almost Heaven - West Virginia. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ Edge, John T. (September 29, 2009). "Fast Food Even Before Fast Food". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Pickling and Preserving: The Foxfire Americana Library (3). Foxfire Fund, Inc. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. 2011-09-06. ISBN 978-0-307-94822-9.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Noffsinger, Cody (June 5, 2019). "Try some icebox green strawberry pickles". Kentucky New Era. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ a b c d "Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes by Ronni Lundy". Publishers Weekly. July 4, 2016. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ a b c Lundy, Ronni (2016-08-30). Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes. Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed. ISBN 978-0-8041-8674-2.
- ^ a b c d e f Meats and Small Game: The Foxfire Americana Library (4). Foxfire Fund, Inc. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. 2011-09-06. ISBN 978-0-307-94823-6.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "The Art of Bun, Chili + Slaw, West Virginia Style". thelocalpalate.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-15.
- ^ Evans-Hylton, Patrick (2023-03-09). "A Labor of Love". VirginiaLiving.com. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ Black, Jane (2016-08-30). "'Victuals,' reviewed: A love letter to Appalachia, with recipes". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ "Appalachian history: Chestnuts were once used as currency". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2023-05-18.
- ^ Miss Patti's Cook Book. McClanahan Pub House. 1997. ISBN 9780913383513.
- ^ "Recipe: Old fashion vinegar pie". Explore Parts Unknown. 2018-04-26. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ "Appalachian Handmade Potato Candy - Circa 1800s. A Christmas favorite! Loved by Appalachian, Irish, Greman people. Depression Era "Cake"". True Treats Historic Candy. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ a b c West, Kay (22 December 2022). "My Dinner With Audrey: Sean Brock's Elevated Appalachian Cuisine". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ Jr, Ralph Berrier (2023-02-28). "Rural Film Festival in Blacksburg showcases stories from rural America". Cardinal News. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
Further reading
- Hillbilly Cookin Mountaineer Style. The Tates. Thorn Hill, TN: Clinch Mountain Lookout, Inc. 1968.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - The Foxfire Book: Hog Dressing, Log Cabin Building, Mountain Crafts and Foods, Planting by the Signs, Snake Lore, Hunting Tales, Faith Healing, Moonshining. Foxfire Fund, Inc. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. 1972. ISBN 9780385073530.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - Page, Linda Garland; Wigginton, Eliot, eds. (1984). The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Cookery. Dutton. ISBN 9780525481089.
- Sohn, Mark F. (2005). Appalachian Home Cooking: History, Culture, and Recipes. William G. Lockwood and Yvonne R. Lockwood Collection of National, Ethnic and Regional Foodways. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813191539.
- Lundy, Ronni (August 30, 2016). Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes. Johnny Autry (photographs). Clarkson Potter. ISBN 9780804186759.
- Talbott, Jason (December 28, 2022). Modern Appalachian Cuisine. Christian Faith Publishing, Inc. ISBN 979-8886855708.
- Abrams Locklear, Erica (April 15, 2023). Appalachia on the Table: Representing Mountain Food and People. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0820363370.
External links
Media related to Appalachian cuisine at Wikimedia Commons
| Historical | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional |
| ||||||||||||
| Ethnic | |||||||||||||
| List articles | |||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous | |||||||||||||
| Drinks | |||||||||||||
