More Than a White Trash Cook
January 22, 2018 9:13 PM   Subscribe

Ernest Matthew Mickler embodies a certain kind of Southerner, and we can all relate in some way. This is a fascinating story of serendipity and family and queerness and food. I couldn't get the photos to show up for me so there are big empty spots, but just keep scrolling. If the photos do show up for you, great.
posted by MovableBookLady (10 comments total) 31 users marked this as a favorite
 
Thank you, that was lovely. I love the White Trash Cookbooks; even though I'm not southern by birth or heritage, there's a lot that I recognize in them. I even got a recipe for tater tot casserole out of one of them that I loved as a kid but wasn't able to make for myself because I didn't get along with the aunt who knew it.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:30 PM on January 22, 2018 [2 favorites]


Pretty sure that White Trash Cooking was the only cookbook my mom ever bought brand-new. The family loved it, passed it around, and talked and laughed about the recipes with a positivity never matched by any other book they shared. No one made the recipes, but I'm actually not sure that was the point. The text was so funny and exuberant. In my experience, those qualities are a big part of southern-ness, although the media rarely captures that bit.

I enjoyed learning about the author. Thank you.
posted by heatvision at 3:36 AM on January 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


Thank you for sharing this lovely piece. I can't wait to read the book now.
posted by doornoise at 5:39 AM on January 23, 2018


Gorgeous and difficult reminsence, I always respected Mickler, because of the seriousness he took his project.
posted by PinkMoose at 6:55 AM on January 23, 2018


Damn, that's good stuff:
In an interview in November 1986, on a local San Diego TV news show, an anchor asked Ernie what the essence of Southern people was. Without a skipping a beat, he told her in his honeyed voice, “Eating, laughing, and telling stories. They love that. They like life more than they like money,” and that incomparable gleam stretched across his face, just as contagious today as it was three decades ago.
I remember when the Jargon Society published the book; I almost bought a copy, because they put out such gorgeous editions, and I wish I had. Thanks for the post (and I had no problem seeing the photos in Firefox).
posted by languagehat at 8:37 AM on January 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


That was wonderful and had me tearing up a little at work. I'll have to ask my mother if she remembers these and then try to track down some copies!
posted by friendlyjuan at 9:17 AM on January 23, 2018


But did he have a nice smile?

"Ernest Mickler armed with a copy of "White Trash Cooking," a skillet, and his beguiling grin."

"Ernie as a boy with that same infectious smile"

"His spirit is what I carry with me — his smile."

"Ernie’s grin was strewn across magazines and newspapers. "

"that incomparable gleam stretched across his face, just as contagious today as it was three decades ago."

posted by Grither at 9:41 AM on January 23, 2018


I got a copy of White Trash Cooking as a gift when it first came out and really enjoyed it, both for the writing and the recipes. I didn’t know anything about Mickler, though, and am glad to to learn more about him. Sad to learn that he was another great talent gone too soon. I need to grab the book and go through it again. Might even try the recipes for squirrel or possum, both of which are plentiful in the woods around my house.

I also need to find his other book, whichever title it has.
posted by TedW at 1:15 PM on January 23, 2018


I adore the White Trash cookbooks, as much for the pictures and text as the recipes. I don't know that I ever cooked any of them, mostly because I'm diabetic and not allowed to eat delicious things. But I have drooled over a few. The text is folksy and amusifyin' and the author has a way of taking pictures that makes you nostalgic for a place you've never even been.

I never knew anything about him personally before, this was a lovely tribute to a talented folklorist, unfortunately gone too soon.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 5:48 PM on January 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


Now I’m homesick for a place I’ve never been and lonely for a person I’ve never met.
posted by vorpal bunny at 9:57 PM on January 23, 2018 [3 favorites]


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