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

~ Joseph Dabney (Author) "During the early 1930s-when the soul of the nation was drooping low and the Great Depression was beginning to take its economic and spiritual toll-my..." (more)
Key Phrases: smokehouse ham, shuck beans, scuppernong wine, North Carolina, South Carolina, Gilmer County (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Winner of the James Beard Foundation Cookbook of the Year Award!

Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread, & Scuppernong Wine is a scrumptious slice of Smoky Mountain and Blue Ridge hill country foodlore handed down from Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, and the Cherokee Nation. In addition to generous helpings of folklore, the text highlights and embraces the art of Appalachian cuisine from pioneer days to the present, providing insights that will fascinate readers everywhere.

Divided into four sections - The Folklore, The Art, The Foods, The Blessings - the book is packed with authoritative folklore and authentic Appalachian recipes, as well as old-timey photographs in the Foxfire fashion: fireplace and wood-stove cooking, hog killing, bear hunting, shuck-bean strining, apple-butter partying, dinner on the grounds, and much more.

The Folklore includes chapters on the people, seasons, and social life as it pertains to food. The Art includes chapters on growing, gardening, farming by the signs, food preparation, and food preservation. The more than 200 recipes are accompanied with stories of how the foods have been passed from generation to generation. And the Blessings include numerous hill country invocations.

All in all, the book contains 61 fascinating chapters and almost one hundred sidebars on special topics. Among the 23 chapters of recipes:

• Corn Bread: Mountain Staff of Life
• From Catheads to Angel Biscuits
• Moonshine: Mountain Water of Life
• Hog-Killing Day: Mountain Celebration
• Smokehouse Ham and Red-Eye Gravy.

The result of years of research and interviews, Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread, & Scuppernong Wine will remind readers of the Foxfire series of an earlier generation.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Cumberland House (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888952938
• ISBN-13: 978-1888952933
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #486,781 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gem of a Book, April 20, 2000

By	Liz (Basking Ridge, NJ) - See all my reviews

Great recipies and great stories. Truly reflects the relatinship between food, culture and the heritage of the region. Even if I do not want to make a particular dish, I enjoy reading about its local historical importance. I read this book to imerse myself in the "feeling" of the region. I have about 200 cookbooks, but this is one of my favorities -- I sent it to my cousin in West Virginia so that she can better understand the background of her neighbors. To summarize: I just love this book.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recording the Past, January 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread, & Scuppernong Wine: The Folklore and Art of Southern Appalachian Cooking (Paperback)

One of my true regrets in life is that I did not write down the treasured "old timey" way of doing things before my grandparents passed away. Things like making homemade apple butter and planting by the signs are now, sadly, a thing of the past. I want to thank the author for recording these things from others in my grandparent's generation. I am truly indebted.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely country -- true country! -- recipes & folklore, June 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread, & Scuppernong Wine: The Folklore and Art of Southern Appalachian Cooking (Paperback)

Years ago I lived in Virginia, and this cookbook brings back a lot of memories of something rooted to the land. It's about the people, the hills, and the lifestyle -- all intertwined inseparably from the food. There's something rich going on here -- and I don't mean in dollars. The author's done a fine job. The recipes presented are not abundant (the first recipe doesn't appear until page 103), but they are as "American" as you can imagine, if not exactly contemporary. Included are country recipes with names that will intrigue many of us now: elderberry wine, pot likker dumplings, Cherokee hominy, Blue Ridge fried corn, cherrylog scuppernong pie, sorghum taffy, and mule ears. I don't know how many of these recipes I'll make, but boy do I love reading this book!