The Taste of Country Cooking

5:30 PM (Today)•eastfork

I knew nothing about pottery when I met Alex in 2009, but I made him three kinds of pot pie the second time he visited me on the goat farm where I worked. My mom—and her parents before her—are legends of the San Fernando Valley for their unparalleled parties and their skill and generosity in the kitchen; I’ve been their lifelong good student. And so, when  I worked at East Fork, many of the stories we told  to showcase our pots began with the food I served  on them.

I moved to Western North Carolina at twenty-four carrying the knapsack of moral superiority they give you when you’re raised somewhere “progressive” and “coastal.” Edna Lewis’ The Taste of Country Cooking helped clean the mud out of my eyes. With her warm voice like potato rolls covered in a clean, cotton cloth resting near an open window, she drew me in close, like she’d done so many others, and said: Slow down. Look here. Do you see what I see? This summer, we’ve opened a few doors through which you might encounter Miss Lewis and welcome her work into your own kitchen. I hope you’ll start with my essay, "Potatoes Needing Peeling,” about how Miss Lewis helped me find my

footing on new ground, then try your hand at a dish from her “Prepared-Ahead Summer Dinner.” I cooked the full menu a few weeks ago and shared recipes for her savory steamed chicken, cucumbers marinated in very sweet vinegar, and blueberry cake.

What you need may be growing in your garden—or  a neighbor’s—right now, and the East Fork team has gathered a few beautiful versions of ingredients you’ll need for a well-stocked Southern pantry. You might

also join me for an online writing workshop inspired  by the shape of The Taste of Country Cooking. And,

of course, you could simply buy the book and get to work.

East Fork is a Southern company, started by three people who weren’t born Southern but have become so by choice. John, Alex, and I were drawn to Appalachia from the Midwest, New England, and Los Angeles, and each of us has put down firm roots here. We love the South. It is our home. And it bums me  out when people I know are hungry for a more just  and life-affirming future point at it and say: Them. There. That’s the problem. But here’s what I think: blaming the South is a lazy cop-out, useful only for allowing the rest of the country to imagine its own hands are clean. Slow down. Look closer. Do you see what I see? Whether you were born and raised in the South or  are looking toward it from somewhere else, I hope  this conversation helps render the place in finer brushstrokes. Its history—and its present—hold violence and care, grief and joy, right and wrong action, shit and sunflowers. Here, the compost pile sits out in the open sun and asks to be turned. With love, Connie

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East Fork Pottery, LLC 531 Short McDowell Street Asheville, North Carolina 28803

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