Celebrating Appalachian Food

Videos by the blog writer of "The Blind Pig and the Acorn"

Yesterday I posted a link to a blog called “The Blind Pig and the Acorn”. The writer, Tipper, has been writing this blog since about 2008, so it would take you awhile to read everything she’s written. She lives in western North Carolina, so I’m sure that many of the customs she writes about would be similar to what our West Virginia ancestors knew. She covers different aspects of Appalachian life—music, food, gardening, family, traditions, holidays, superstitions, language, and more. Her love for her culture and ancestry is obvious.

Last night, I found her YouTube cooking videos, Celebrating Appalachia, and watched several of them. I’d like to share my thoughts on those.

The first video I watched was “A Traditional Appalachian Breakfast”. I was particularly drawn to it because of the gravy and biscuits. I have spent most of my life in Texas and only lived in West Virginia from ages eight to eleven. I love gravy and biscuits, but I don’t think I’ve ever had biscuits and gravy for breakfast. (Well, maybe once—from a leftover roast.) My dad, however, often talked about eating biscuits and gravy for breakfast when he was growing up in Fayette County. Apparently, he ate biscuits and gravy on a daily basis. His mother was widowed before my dad was even born, so life was not easy for them. I know my grandma was a fantastic cook, so I’m sure she knew how to make the best of what she had. I think Daddy liked biscuits and gravy more than anything. Grandma’s biscuits were divine, but I don’t know what kind of gravy she made. In this video, Tipper makes gravy from sausage. Have you ever made gravy from sausage? I have not. I was particularly interested in Tipper’s recipe for biscuits. I have made a lot of biscuits— all terrible—so I have long searched for a biscuit recipe that might turn out well. Tipper used self-rising flour and whipping cream to make her biscuits. That’s all. I plan to try this recipe. She stressed the importance of not twisting the biscuit cutter. I hope I can remember not to do that. Another thing that caught my attention was her fried apples. I don’t remember eating fried apples, but there were sure plenty of apples in West Virginia, and my grandma always had applesauce, apple butter, and apple jelly that she had canned herself. One thing I wondered about was whether this meal was “heart healthy”; I decided I really don’t want to know.

The second video I watched was “A Traditional Appalachian Meal and How to Make Fried Corn”. One thing that caught my attention was her inclusion of sliced tomatoes for dinner. I distinctly remember my grandma serving huge slices of tomatoes she had grown herself. I thought it was a little weird to have sliced tomatoes on my dinner plate, but they were delicious. Another dinner item shown in this video was fried corn. Now, that sounds interesting. I don’t remember ever eating fried corn, but Grandma did serve corn she had grown herself. Fried squash was also mentioned. I love fried squash, and I must say I am pretty good at making it, but I don’t remember my grandma ever making fried squash. I don’t know if that was typical in West Virginia or not. Tipper also showed how to make fat back. I’ve never had fat back as far as I know, and I don’t remember my grandma ever mentioning it. I had to look up what it is. According to Wikipedia, fat back is “a cut of meat from a domestic pig. It consists of the layer of adipose tissue under the skin of the back, with or without the skin.” If it tastes like bacon, I would most definitely like it. The rest of Tipper’s meal included cornbread, home-canned pickles, and soup beans. Grandma could make all of that, but I don’t have any special memories to share. I do wish I had learned canning. Both my West Virginia grandma and my Texas grandma were excellent canners, and I intend to learn how to can also.

I’d like to invite you to share some of your own memories of West Virginia meals. Feel free to post a recipe or share a link.

Now I’m hungry.