A Taste of Appalachia serves up history on every plate

Tonight is A Taste of Appalachia, which is part of a broader project we're calling "Chefs Doing History." It is a chance for us to showcase Appalachian cuisine in historical context. The Special Collections University Archives has this amazing history of food and drink collection, which has been a strong partner for us in the food studies program. And so, one of the really exciting pieces of this has been able to bring the chef's into those collections, to spend time with the materials, to think about the ways that these records that the archives holds, can inform what we think about today, what we eat today. And so, that collaboration has been central to the conception of this project. If you're looking at a book, it's a tangible item in your hand. And you can maybe imagine what something looks like or smells like or tastes like, but until it's actually in front of you, and you're tasting it, you don't get to put all that together. And I think that helps with the going from the book to the food. And the other thing is when you start to eat that food, you might as questions about where it came from and its history, and it feeds back into itself, and the collection that we have supports people who are doing hardcore research, people who have specific projects in mind, but also people who are just curious. Every time I go into one of these special collections and reading through community cookbooks, seeing these recipes that people came up with out of necessity, out of subsistence, the amount of creativity that they use that people don't see is always, just fuels my fire for what I do. This dish is inspired by my experiences growing up in Appalachia. All the recipes come from their research and engagement both with their own histories, their family histories, and then the historical research that they've done to kind of elevate how history can be used in the kitchen and how chefs are doing history in practice. Food is a love language. Food is what sustains. We've all got food memories. They are some of the most vivid that you have. And looking back is a good way to move forward. I love events like this where we get to actually see where we've, where we've come from as a region, so that we can make, you know, a good first step forward and where we want to go.