Appalachian Home Cooking: History, Culture, and Recipes
""The 80 recipes are important, but really, this is a food-studies book written for those who feel some nostalgia for, or connection to, Appalachia." --Lexington Herald-Leader" --""In addition to the wealth of recipes, the new book is an excellent resource for putting together cohesive meals at different times of the year." --Avery Journal-Times" --""This cookbook is an interesting read as well as a wonderful sou"rce for hard-to-find traditional Appalachian recipes." --Back Home in Kentucky" --""Pull up a chair and take your place at the table. Dinner is about to be served, and a hearty feast it is. The legends and lore shared by Mark Sohn in Appalachian Home Cooking are as satisfying to the soul as the recipes are to the palate. Sohn has explored the foodways of Appalachia for years, and his passion for the subject shines through in every chapter of this classic tome. For armchair cooks who like to read cookbooks, this book is for you." --Barbara Gibbs Ostmann, co-author of The Recipe Writer's Handbook and 12 cookbo" --""Documents the history of the region's distinctive, multi-ethnic cuisine." --Black Issues Book Review" --""Examines the staple foods and ingredients of this distinct culinary heritage, outlining food preparation procedures and comparing and contrasting recipes and methods found outside the region." --Carolina Country" --""Destined to become a regional favorite to be handed down through generations to come." --Floyd County Times" --""Mark Sohn avoids the mistake of so many who write about Appalachia: he knows it is not a 'Land of the Past' but a living, evolving region. He writes about food as a social, cultural, and spiritual matter that transcends time, creates community, and binds families together. The recipes are clearly written and they work! With Mark as your guide, you can visit an Appalachia where everything is delicious." --Jan Davidson" --""As a serious student of American cultures, Mark Sohn has always paid close attention to what the people around him liked to eat. And, as a serious cook since boyhood in Oregon, he has learned to prepare and enjoy the regional foods of whatever culture he shares. All of us who love the mountains, the South, regional culture, and this food will be forever in his debt." --John Egerton, author of Southern Food: At Home, on the Road, in History" --""Sohn uncovers the romantic secrets of Appalachian food, provides more than 80 recipes, offers information on food festivals, and includes a glossary of Appalachian and cooking terms." --Kentucky Monthly" --""Sohn'snarrative exploration of the rituals, rites, and recipes of the hillsreally took me home. What a pleasure!" --Linda Scott DeRosier, author of Creeker" --""Mark Sohn has a lean and hungry look, and thus he can handle his obsession with food better than most of us. He has invited himself to dinner pretty much throughout the region and made off with recipes, and then he has cooked them all himself and dined generously. Without his lean genes he'd be two ax handles wide. When you read these recipes for chicken and dumplings, country ham, fried trout, crackling bread, shuck beans, cheese grits casseroles, bean patties, and sweet potato pie your mouth will begins to water whether or not you have a connection to Appalachia." --Loyal Jones, author of Faith and Meaning in the Southern Uplands" --""Tells how mountain people have taken what they had to work with, from livestock to produce, and provides more than recipes, but the stories behind the preparing of the food.... The reading is almost as much fun as the eating, with fewer calories." --Modern Mountain Magazine" --""Offers everything you ever wanted to know about culinary mysteries like shucky beans, pawpaws, cushaw squash, and how to season cast-iron cookware." --Our State" --""A mixture of the history of Appalachian food and the culture of the region's people, containing historic facts concerning when different cultures began occupying Appalachia and what they brought with them." --Paintsville Herald" --""For those unacquainted with the basics of Appalachian cooking, the book serves as a valuable introduction." --Southern Historian" --""Reminds us that food is one of the most lovingly crafted and joyfully experienced creations of culture." --Studies in American Culture" --""I can imagine this book being used in classrooms as well as in kitchens. It is simultaneously informative and thought provoking, and I fully intend to use many of the recipes Sohn has provided here." --Resa Crane Bizzaro, Appalachian Journal" --""Mark Sohn's book will make you hungry." --Journal of Appalachian Studies" --