Praise Song for the Kitchen Ghosts

October 6, 2020 7:49 AM

Remembering her grandmother’s jam cake, biscuits, and sweet black tea, Crystal Wilkinson evokes a legacy of joy, love, and plenty in the culinary traditions of Black Appalachia. [Available as audio at the link]
posted by ellieBOA (6 comments total)

A wonderful - and beautifully illustrated - essay. Thank you for sharing!
posted by Bob Regular at 7:59 AM on October 6, 2020 [4 favorites]

A familiar place with a lovely story. Thank you. :)
posted by introp at 8:04 AM on October 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

Listen to this one, her voice is also a gift.
posted by Lookinguppy at 8:28 AM on October 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

Wonderful article. I cried.

It reminded me of my grandmother who looked to cook and put up jam.
posted by msjen at 9:54 AM on October 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

Beautiful.
posted by evilmomlady at 10:01 AM on October 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

I love reading stories of food and generations, but it also tears my heart out. I’ve gotten to the point where I can cook, having taken all of the things I’ve been taught by a family where everyone cooks, and I’m not afraid to say I’ve taken that and become even better, but I don’t have kids. I’m not going to have kids. What I make, how I make it, I’ve got no one to pass it down to, and the things I know to make, they’ll be gone when I am.

There’s something beautiful about family calling each other to remember recipes, and the idea that no one whose recipe you use is ever really gone.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:46 AM on October 7, 2020 [4 favorites]