Victuals

Starred review from July 4, 2016
Lundy (The Festive Table), a founder of the Southern Foodways Alliance and the Appalachian Food Summit, clearly has a deep understanding and appreciation for Southern cooking. Defining Appalachia as an area encompassing Kentucky, the Virginias, Tennessee, southern Ohio, North Carolina, southern Ohio, and northern Georgia, she provides is an elegantly photographed and lovingly narrated appreciation of Appalachian cuisine and the people who grow and prepare it. Drawing from family recipes, her own creations, and dishes from vintage cookbooks, Lundy takes the reader on a virtual tour of the area, stopping to explain the difference between salad and sallet (a specific way of cooking greens), touring regional museums, and talking shop with a handful of small, local producers. She introduces readers to simple dishes such as buttermilk cucumber salad, skillet corn, icebox green strawberry pickles, and roasted candy roaster squash, a regional favorite. Though she has a tendency to meander a bit (the instructions for skillet-fried chicken and milk gravy take up a page and a half), Lundy is a warm and charming guide with a deep-seated love and respect for the region and its approach to cuisine. Fans of locally sourced foods and Southern cooking will find a lot to like here, as Lundy does a terrific job of showcasing Appalachia’s breadth and depth.