Customer Reviews

Appalachian Home Cooking: History, Culture, and Recipes

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While most cook books just have recipes for the reader, most people never know where the recipe came from or what the history of the dish is. Maybe it is because I was a history major in college, but I found it so much more interesting knowing why some foods are prepared the way the are, where the dish originated, and why some of these foods are only prepared in Appalachia. Mark does a great job of explaining the background, economic forces, and reasons behind the foods widely eaten in Appalachia.

From frequenting Eastern Kentucky, I have a whole new appreciated for why vegetables are pickled, beacon is on so much food, and the corn bread in Eastern Kentucky is the best in the world.

After giving you a great background of the foods eaten in Appalachia, Mark has the other half of the book devoted to how one prepares the famous dishes and delicious staple foods of the mountains.

This is a great book for those who used to live in the mountains and forgot how to make their granny's food or for those who have only heard how good the eating is in the mountains. This book makes me miss Kay Ross's warm kitchen and the soup beans and the cornbread she always made for me when I used to live in Pikeville, Kentucky.

Andrew Dinsmore
Washington, D.C.

Being from West Virginia, this book brought back memories of my mothers kitchen. The recipes appear like old friends we haven't seen in years and my wife and I are once again enjoying the foods we grew up with. I am from a large family and I gave this book as a Christmas gift to each of my 8 siblings. They were as delighted as I was at the many illustrations and easy to follow recipes, and were particularly happy to find their own forgotten favorites among it's pages.

I am not at all surprised to find this book already in it's second printing. If you are from Appalachia, or want to experience the flavor of Appalachian cooking, this is the book for you.

I am sure I will enjoy some of these dishes at our family reunion this year and I hope you enjoy some at yours too.

Luckily for twenty-first century cooks, the trend in cookbooks is to contextualize. Where is the recipe from? How has it been adapted for the American cook? What is the history of this food? As a fan of Mark Sohn's food writing, I can attest to the fact that he's been doing this for fifteen years. His most recent book takes contextualization to a whole new level. By the end of the first section you feel like you've walked up the hollers of Central Appalachia and tasted the food made over the years.

In addition to the food culture and history, the book is packed with signature Sohn recipes-easy to follow and concise. There are no extra steps in the Chocolate Gravy recipe and you know just how long it is going to take from start to finish.

As an avid cookbook reader and lover of Appalachian culture, Appalachian Home Cooking adds a whole new layer to my understanding of the region.

Culinary histories like this one don't come along every day. I have read this book several times, and I never cease to enjoy it. It is well written and is both informative and entertaining.

My older sister, who is a very good Appalachian cook from eastern Kentucky, received a copy for Christmas and she said it has helped her reminisce about her childhood days. She still cooks many of the basics but she had forgotten about some of the foods we used to eat when we were growing up, so she is happy to have this collection of recipes on her shelf.

Mark doesn't leave out anything. He tells us everything we could possibly want to know about the foods he shares. If you have any connection to the Appalachian area, whether you were born here and have lived here all your life or you left early in life and have only a grandmother still residing here, this book is a must-have. It doesn't even matter whether you want to cook (though, believe me, you will want to try many of these recipes), you will want this book for the food descriptions themselves.

If you have no connection at all to Appalachia, then you will want to buy the book because you can learn a great deal about our foods and our culture--as well as enjoy the recipes. Vegetables, side dishes, school lunches, herbs and game, chicken, lamb, breakfast foods, sauces, salads and soups, and sweet treats--they're all here, waiting for you to get into the kitchen, alone or with your family and friends, and whip up something delightful.

The book is wonderfully indexed and has gorgeous pictures of tantalizing foods. You will find mail-order sources and a glossary of terms to help you understand anything that is new or different to you.

This book is a treasure. I would suggest you click on "Add to cart" now! And for further information about the book, click on Sohn's web page at www.marksohn.com .

This book is a treasure trove of authentic recipes, stories, music and folklore that celebrate the Appalachian region. The book makes the food and the people who cook it come alive. It's as though someone's grandmother opened her recipe box, her home and her heart to us. Anyone who appreciates a heartfelt study of how history, culture and cuisine come together to define a region will love Appalachian Home Cooking.

Appalachian Home Cooking is a great book if you've always wondered where families originated in their enjoyment of cushaw pie and (flat) chicken and dumplings. The book is very useful for reference, but it reads awkwardly and is sometimes unclear in correlations between foods and ethnicity. In addition, there doesn't appear to be much new information in the book; mostly its conjecture and reciting of other book sources. I recommend this book if you are looking for an old appalachian recipe and are interested in the correlation between land, people, climate, culture, and food.

This is a wonderful book not just for the recipes but also for its informative material on Appalachian cuisine. I like it not only because it's the food my grandmother cooked and my mother still does but also because I work for a non-profit agency in Appalachian and know how little attention is given to the wonderful cultural aspects of the area. If you like good cooking and enjoy learning something new, I highly recommend this book.

It's a great book, I recommend it for yourself or to give as a gift.

Each area of Appalachia has its own specialities. The food of this region is absolutely wonderful; especially Kentucky and West Virginia. Overall, I can think of no culture that has better food than that of the Appalachian mountain people. Mark Sohn has does his research and it appears to be most accurate as he tells the history behind the many dishes and now they were and are now prepared. Some of the dishes seem heavy on the fat and calories, but many men and women have lived to advanced age eating this comforting food everyday of their lives. Still to this day, when we gather for holidays and celebrations, Appalachian dishes are high on the request list by family members.

I have not been able to read the entire book yet, but what I have read is very interesting. Some of the foods I have never heard of or seen. The food that the mountaineers have prepared seem very comforting. Will review more when I finish the book.