Subsistence farming was the backbone of the Appalachian economy throughout much of the 19th century, and is still a practice in the present-day in some areas through farming revitalization efforts. ![]() Many aspects of the diet came from economic necessity. Appalachia has a wide variety of wild game, with venison, rabbit, raccoon, and squirrel particularly common, thus helping to compensate for distance from major cities and transportation networks (this was particularly true in the 19th-century). Staples of Appalachian cuisine that are common in other regional cuisines of the south and in soul food include peanut brittle, sweet potato pie, pork chops, biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, collard greens, cracklings, and ham hocks. The African-Americans in Appalachia have contributed to the regional food history with ingredients such as kale, collard greens, peanut beans, foods infused with bourbon (baked goods, and vegetables), spoonbread, and the use of molasses and sorghum as a meat glaze. Poet Frank X Walker has coined the term "Affrilachian" to signify the importance of the African-American presence in Appalachia, including in the cuisine. The Cherokee in Appalachia have contributed to the cuisine with dishes and ingredients such as boiled chestnut bread, fried creasy greens, ramps, pokeweed, corn, and fiddlehead greens. ![]() Chefs from the region have noted other European-originated foods like Italian sausage, and borscht. ![]() British immigrants to Appalachia brought buttermilk, biscuits, dumplings, and moonshine. History Īppalachian cuisine is an amalgam of the diverse foodways, specifically among the British, German and Italian immigrant population, the Cherokee people, and African-Americans, as well as their descendants in the Appalachia region. Promoters of Appalachian foodways include Eliot Wigginton, Ronni Lundy, John Fleer, Lora Smith, Kendra Bailey Morris, Travis Milton, Ashleigh Shanti, and Sean Brock. It is a subset of Southern cuisine, and is specifically different because of the cold winters and the mountainous landscape. ![]() The cuisine of Appalachia focuses on seasonal local ingredients and practices like pickling, foraging, canning and food preserving.
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