Southern Appalachian Farm Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Family

by Robert G. Netherland

Overview

Part cookbook and part memoir, Southern Appalachian Farm Cooking blends staples of farm-fresh, Appalachian cuisine with stories of life on a large farm in East Tennessee, where homemade biscuits and harvest vegetables were the fruits of hard work and meager earnings. Robert G. Netherland begins with the family farm: a sprawling sixty acres of fertile, rolling hills located in the small town of Surgoinsville, Tennessee, situated between bends in the Holston River. From there, Netherland guides the reader through threshing wheat, churning butter, sharecroppers and country doctors, hunting and hog killing, and all the while sharing updated versions of his family’s recipes for authentic farm-to-table food.

From biscuits to cornbread, freshly shelled beans to red-ripe tomatoes, and savory meats to the sweetest cherry pies, Southern Appalachian Farm Cooking provides the home cook with recipes and historical asides to turn any trip to the farmer’s market into a delicious family affair. In sharing his experiences, Netherland reminds us of a time when prepackaged and plastic-wrapped food didn’t line our counters and fill our cabinets, but in its place were baskets of seasonal fruit, canned vegetables, fresh baked breads, and hot-from-the-oven cobblers. Southern Appalachian Farm Cooking is more than just a nostalgic memoir of farming and food, it’s also filled with healthy, simple, everyday eats for the modern cook.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621902232
Publisher:	University of Tennessee Press
Publication date:	05/01/2016
Edition description:	1st Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

ROBERT G. NETHERLAND, now retired, was a healthcare executive at various hospitals in East Tennessee, Alabama, and Maryland. His interest in cooking stems from being introduced to the tools of the kitchen by his mother and grandmother. 

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction: Life on a Southern Appalachian Farm 1

Chapter 1 Biscuits, Biscuits, Biscuits 11

Threshing Wheat 11

Churning Butter 21

Chapter 2 Cornbread, Hoecakes, and Spoon Bread 29

Iron Skillet Cooking 29

Farm life: sharecropping tobacco 41

Chapter 3 Light Breads 45

Chapter 4 Sides, Soups, and Salads 53

Dinner on the Ground 53

Farm Life: School Days 65

Chapter 5 Beans 71

From Tepees to Leather Britches 71

Farm Life: Prince And Doc 87

Chapter 6 Corn 89

Farm Life: Doc Lyons and the Croup 95

Chapter 7 Summer and Fall Vegetables 97

Farm Life: Learning to Drive 109

Chapter 8 Potatoes 111

The Luck of the Irish 111

Chapter 9 Pork 125

Hog Killing Time 125

Chapter 10 Poultry 139

Acey Banana 139

Farm Life: Squirrel Hunting, Moonshine, And Muscadine Wine 151

Chapter 11 Beef, Game, and Fish 155

Chapter 12 Cakes 163

Country Celebrations 163

Harry Ledbetter and Did'e Bite 169

Farm Life: The 4-H Club And Cherry Pie 175

Chapter 13 Pies and Cobblers 179

Eating Pie at the Opry 186

Chapter 14 Gingerbread, Cookies, and Other Sweets 195

Cooking Sorghum 195

Farm Life: Pickin' Raspberries 209

Chapter 15 Preserves 211

Epilogue: A Funeral 223

Suggested Meals 227

Index of Recipes 231

Editorial Reviews

In Southern Appalachian Farm Cooking, a sixth-generation highlander writes from the heart and captures not only the food and culture of southern Appalachia but also the strength and leadership of highly acclaimed women. With its country biscuits, pear butter, and leather britches, Appalachia enjoys an amazing food tradition that is distinct from that of the wider South.”
—Mark Sohn, author of Appalachian Home Cooking: History, Culture, and Recipes


Robert Netherland has brought readers and cooks a book rooted in strong family ties and authentic Appalachian farm food. Traditions arise from what we eat and how we prepare it, and the Netherland traditions weave a delicious tale of farming, family, and foodways spanning the generations.”
—Chef Walter Lambert, author of Kinfolks and Custard Pie

From the Publisher