Appalachian Food?
Christy’s working on a lesson about cultural diversity for her class. She thought about discussing Appalachian culture and asked me if I could think of any foods that are specific to that area. I drew a blank.
Can anyone think of specific Appalachian cuisine? I don’t think Pal’s sweet tea counts (although it probably should).
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Howdy. I'm Matt. My wife, Christy, and I have four kids and two dogs, I'm passionate about orphan care. I'm a die-hard fan of the Evansville Aces, the Indiana Hoosiers, and Star Wars. I'm trying to live life by the Todd family motto: "It behooves us to live!"
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i’m of no use to you. i still get yelled at for pronouncing appalachian the way i was taught… “app-uh-lA-shun”
so as for food, i’d name things like fried pickles and buiscuts and gravy since both of those were new to me when i got here!
No biscuits and gravy? Really? Sounds like you led a deprived life. What do they feed you in California, anyway?
🙂
It took me about a year down there to pronounce Appalachian the correct way. Now I say it up here and they say, “Where’s that?” I guess that makes me an evangelist to the Midwest…or something like that.
we ate REAL mexican food, in and out burgers and sushi! 😉 but yea, never had biscuits and gravy ’til i got here. wow. yea, i was deprived! course i’ve gained like 10 pounds since i moved here!! TOTALLY worth it!
Yep. Totally worth it. And they wonder why southern states are the fattest states.
I’ve always been interested in trying sushi, it’s just that I don’t want to try it without someone coaching me through it. It’s one of those things I’d rather not try without knowing what to expect.
I’ve had southwestern food in New Mexico which is absolutely fabulous (and hot), but I don’t think I’ve had real Mexican. Closest I’ve had is those small, independent restaurants that are run by Mexican immigrants. Is that close?
yep, that’ll count!
i could totally tell you what to order at a sushi place. i’d start you off with the easy stuff and if you were good with that, i’d instruct you to continue on getting more and more outlandish and daring. you let me know when you gather up some courage. i LOVE my sushi, and highly recommend it to EVERYONE!
I’ll definitely get in touch with you when I’m feeling a little adventurous! I’m going to try to convince Christy to try it too. Doubt that will happen, though.
Now I’ve got to find out where such a place is in East Central Indiana. That might be the biggest challenge of all!
specific Appalachian cuisine?
How about:
Pawnhaus
Stack Cakes
Succotash
Apple Butter
Sweet Potato pie
Morels
Ramps
Leather britches
Fried Green tomatoes
Chow-Chow
Hush puppies (or corn fritters)
Also have a look at this blog post: http://graylenses.blogspot.com/2007/01/v-files-in-high-places.html#ihp3
Dave Tabler
http://www.appalachianhistory.net
Sufferin’ Succotash!
OK – I lived in upper East Tennessee for seven years and never encountered stack cakes, morels, or ramps. Sounds like I missed out. I didn’t realize apple butter, sweet potato pie, and succotash were indigenous to the region. That’s awesome!
What about sorghum? Is that unique to the area?
Thanks for the help. I’ll pass this along to her. She’ll be happy. I think she was about to give up on using Appalachia for this unit. I think I can persuade her otherwise now.
Re: Sufferin’ Succotash!
morels–are those expensive mushrooms??
How about coleslaw on pulled pork? YUM.
THere is a lot of Appalachian culture in Anderson. And that’s all I’ll say about that since, apparently, this blog is widely read!!
🙂
Re: Sufferin’ Succotash!
As you know, Liz, there’s no escaping the presence of MattDanTodd Land! It’s everywhere – and growing by the day.
🙂