Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread & Scuppernong Wine: The Folklore and Art of Southern Appalachian Cooking'

588 Pages·2010·6.76 MB·English

by  Dabney

Copyright © 1998, 2008, 2010 by Joseph E. Dabney
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Cover design by Bruce Gore/Gore Studio
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FrankvandenBergh/iStockphoto.com
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dabney, Joseph Earl.
Smokehouse ham, spoon bread & scuppernong wine : the folklore and art of
Southern Appalachian cooking / by Joseph Dabney.—1st pbk. ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Cookery, American—Southern style. 2. Cookery—Appalachian Region,
Southern. 3. Cookery—Appalachian Region, Southern—History. 4. Appalachian
Region, Southern—Social life and customs. I. Title.
TX715.2.S68D43 2010
641.5975—dc22
2009050313

Printed and bound in the United States of America.
VP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Dedicated to the Memory of Martha Berry

whose motto, “Not to be ministered unto, but to
minister,” has been a great inspiration to me over
the years since graduating from Berry College in 1949.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from
whence cometh my help. My help cometh
from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

—121:1–2 Psalm KJV
(Martha Berry’s favorite Bible passage)
Contents

Foreword to the Tenth-Anniversary Edition
Foreword
Preface to the Tenth-Anniversary Edition
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Folklore
The People: America’s Great Melting Pot
The Seasons: “To Everything There Is a Season”
The Social Life: From Work Frolics to “Bran Dances,” a Spirit of Joy
The Art
The Art of Growing: God’s Chosen People Tackle the Good Earth
The Art of Reading Signs: Tracking the Moon from Hog Killing to
Moonshining
The Art of Mountain Cooking: From the Fireplace to the Microwave
The Art of Preserving: Smoking, Salting, Drying, Burying, and Canning
The Foods
Introduction
BREADS
Corn Bread: Mountain Staff of Life
Biscuits: And Butter ’Um While They’re Hot!
MOUNTAIN BEVERAGES
From Buttermilk to Bourbon and Spring Water Galore
Moonshine: Mountain Water of Life
Eggnogging and Syllabubing
Wines, Beers, and Ciders: Maude Thacker’s Elderberry Magic
Sassafras Tea: Spring Tonic Supreme
Cool, Tangy Buttermilk: With Corn Bread Crumbled In, Elvis-Style
MEATS & GRAVIES
Hog-Killing Day: Fresh Meat Frenzy
Smokehouse Ham: Ah, the Succulent Glory of It All!
Barbecue: As Old As Fire
Mountain Gravies: Soppin’ Good
Brunswick Stew: It Began with the Indians
Burgoo: The Kentucky Wonder
Wild Game: Marvelous Meat of the Mountains
FRESH, FRESH VEGETABLES
And the Tradition Continues
Corn: From Soup to Dessert, an Appalachian Favorite
Greens: Plus Pot Likker and Corn Bread
Ramps (“Tennessee Truffles”): Wild Leek of the Mountains
Irish Potatoes: A Slow Start But Soon a Hero
Indian Squash: A Summer Delight
Cabbages, Chestnuts, and High-Proof Moonshine
Sweet Potatoes: The October Delight
Mountain Favorites: Leather-Britches and Other Delectable Beans
Big Hominy, Little Hominy (Grits), and Mush
Soup: The Everlasting Meal
Tangy Mountain Magic: Relishes, Pickles, Krauts, Chutneys, and Chow-
Chows
A CORNUCOPIA OF FRUITS & NUTS
A Table Constantly Spread
Apple Time in Appalachia
Peaches: A Joyous Time When They Hit
Berries: A-berryin’ on the Blue Ridge
Persimmons: The Sugarplum of the Mountains
Wild Grapes, Plums, Pawpaws, and “Mountain Apricots”
Chestnuts, Chinquapins, Walnuts, and Hicker Nuts
Jellies: Sweet Sustenance for the Mountain Winter
Jams, Preserves, and Oh, Glorious Apple Butter
DESSERTS
Fat and Lovable Pies, Puddings, and Cakes
Sorghum Syrup: A Soppin’ Delight
Honey: Bee Gum Robbery in the Mountains
The Blessings: With Thanks to the Almighty
Epilogue
Bibliography
Photo Credits
Permissions
Foreword to the Tenth-Anniversary Edition

M
y first sighting of Joe Dabney’s Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread &
Scuppernong Wine was in a bookstore in Athens, Georgia, and my thought was
this: “Great title, Joe.” Yet I am not sure I would have purchased the book if
Joe’s name—officially, Joseph E. Dabney—had not been emblazoned on the
cover. There are a lot of books with clever, eye-catching titles that splash across
the shelves of bookstores like colorful battle ribbons on the chest of literature.
Few live up to the promise of their name.
But Joe is a longtime friend, and I read the works of longtime friends—not
out of obligation but with affection and appreciation for the friendship.
In this case, I’m truly glad I know the man. If I had left this book on the
shelf, it would have been a grievous omission in my reading experience, and my
understanding of who I am would be far more muddled than it now is.
Simply put, Joe Dabney’s book is, for me, the most magnificent inspection
of life in Southern Appalachia that I have read.
That acknowledged, I will offer this:
Once, a young fellow in a public school class said to me that he thought of
words as having wheels. I asked for an explanation. He replied, “Well, they take
you places, don’t they?”
I like the answer. It is how I consider the words of Smokehouse Ham, Spoon
Bread & Scuppernong Wine. They take me on a tour of memory, traveling at a
reading speed that invites pause and reflection.
By definition and by recognition, this is a cookbook (after all, it won the
prestigious James Beard award), yet my trip on word wheels does not deliver me
exclusively to my mother’s kitchen or to the harvest of my father’s fields; it
takes me to their time and, of course, to my time with them.
It is, then, a history book for me. (In any event, I doubt seriously if I will
include opossum or squirrel pie on the menu of future family gatherings, though
the woods surrounding my home are abundant with the creatures.)
I could get maudlin with this. A book that begins with the arrival of people
to take up permanent residence in a pristine wilderness and then ends with
blessings (mealtime prayers) intoned by those people could be said to cover the
gamut. And with Joe’s book, it comes close.