IN PLACE AND HISTORY
Appalachian food culture is tied to the land, learns from cookbook author.
Where some see stereotypes, author Ronni Lundy sees wisdom and resourcefulness. She views her connections to the southern Appalachian Mountains as a “beautiful and remarkable gift.”
In Victuals (Clarkson Potter, 2016), she explores the ties between the land and the people who rely on its bounty.
As it turns out, Lundy writes, her people were right about victuals all along — in pronunciation (viddles), practice and sentiment.
Lundy drove nearly 6,500 kilometres meeting farmers, seed savers, chefs, home cooks and shop owners throughout Kentucky, West Virginia, southern Ohio, northern Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina.
In 2008, she began to see evidence of an exciting food movement and spent the next six years “testing her assumptions.”
In researching and writing Victuals, her fourth book, Lundy found that “those beliefs were indeed valid”— something special was happening.
“I saw potential for this movement very early on. And what was gratifying to me was to discover that it was far deeper than I had even realized at the outset. It’s gotten broader and fuller,” she says.
“What I discovered is that underneath the chef and restaurant stories, there are still these very powerful farm, community, and family stories going on. And that was wonderful.”
Born in Corbin, a railroad town in Kentucky, Lundy grew up in Louisville. Although her family moved away from the mountains, she says they never fully left. Like many who were forced to leave to find work in the 20th century’s “many hillbilly diasporas,” they returned whenever they could.
Besides representing varied cultural influences, central and southern Appalachia is also North America’s most diverse foodshed. From practices such as canning, seed saving and grafting fruit trees to hunting and foraging, human activity in the area has contributed to the retention of agrobiodiversity.
“People are still growing foods from seeds that their family has kept through generations. …
“The people of the southern Appalachians have continued farming, hunting and foraging practices that they learned from Native Americans. And some of which they brought here from Europe, that were traditions of not just exhausting a food source. But nurturing the crops or nurturing the forest and not killing off all of the animals.” Recipes reprinted from Victuals by Ronni Lundy. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers.
Colin Perry’s Sorghum & Apple Sticky Pudding
Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C). Grease a 10-inch (25-cm) round cake pan. Place the lard and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to combine and then increase the speed to high to cream them together. Mix until the mixture becomes smooth and a very light brown, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed; this takes about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a large bowl. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the apple butter, buttermilk and bourbon. Once the lard-sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, until incorporated. Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the apple butter mixture, mixing only until the batter is smooth each time. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out dry. Turn out of pan onto a rack to cool while you make the syrup. Combine the sorghum and cream in a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Whisk until well blended. Transfer the cake to a serving plate. Poke holes throughout the top of the cake with a fork and slowly pour the syrup all over the cake until it has been absorbed. Serve slightly warm.
If you can’t get real lard, Lundy recommends using butter. “Shortening and grocery store lard aren’t worth it,” she writes.
Sorghum syrup is available online and at specialty markets. As a substitute, Perry recommends using maple syrup. “That’s actually what I use at (Dinette Triple Crown) as I try to keep everything as local as possible,” he said in an email.
Spring Ham, Peas & New Potatoes
Separate as much meat as possible from the fat and bones. Set the meat aside for later and put the rest in a wide soup pot or Dutch oven. Add water to cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat down to a low and steady simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes. When the broth is ready, remove the pot from the heat and spoon the solid matter into a strainer set over the pot. Press down gently to return the juices to the pot; then discard the solids. Taste the broth and add salt as needed. (Hams vary in their saltiness, so the broth will also.) Add the potatoes and onions to the broth, return it to medium heat and cook at a lively simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes are just becoming tender. Add the peas and cook for 5 minutes longer. While the peas are cooking, break the reserved meat into bite-sized chunks. When the peas are tender, add the meat to the pot. Very slowly add the half-and-half cream to the pot, stir well and then bring the heat up until the liquid boils. Boil for about 1 minute, until the broth thickens to a light sauce consistency, and then remove from the heat. Finish with salt to taste and a few grinds of black pepper.
If you don’t have leftovers, “buy a chunk of ham and start from scratch.”