White trash cooking photographs

Leaned against a tawny pine, an oversized grave marker in the shape of a tombstone read: Here lies Palm Valley, Choked to death on a golf ball. While rigging it up, the spark happened. Laura pointed out an ability Ernie had. There was a simple elegance about everything he did, without a need for much money to live pleasantly. In October , just a few weeks before he died, Ernie was interviewed by his friend Cal Yeomans.

This is it. Then, Ernie met Robert Somerlott , and they set off on the road together. There, he literally ran into the author Edward Swift turning a corner. With 1, recipes brimming out of sacks and shoe boxes, he explained the idea to Swift — a Texan — and he agreed to help Ernie type it up and draft the introduction.

White trash cooking photographs

The final introduction was their collaboration. Over four years in San Miguel, Ernie honed the material. In , just as Key West was turning from a sleepy, war-time remnant into a destination resort, Ernie arrived. He began cooking for all-male guesthouses and drank the place in. Mickler drawing at home in Key West, Florida. Woolcott asked Ernie to make six copies of his manuscript, and he offered to send it around.

Publishers in the Northeast immediately fell head over heels for the thing. The title, though, just plain terrified many of them. Ernie received a letter from David Godine, the head of Godine Publishing in Boston, that said he could never publish such a title, because it would offend three-quarters of the United States. Of that kernel, Roy Blount Jr.

The rest is history. Ernie was staying down the block, and when word reached him, he ran over like a bat out of hell to take the call. Joe gave me your book, and we want to print it. After Jargon took the book on, they began raising the money to print the thing. Mickler and Woolcott arrived as Jargon was hosting an art opening. Ernie felt out of place among the art snobs.

From there, he took off on tour, touting the book at conventions and bookstores from Ocala to Atlanta. Walking around the booths, he recognized David Godine, introduced himself, and presented him with the Times review. Ernie waited for Godine to read through it. Food sections clamored to cover the book, photography outlets too. Augustine into a little shoebox of an apartment.

They were looking to buy something more comfortable, but they were still living on piddling amounts. Of course, nothing was on paper — just an agreement incised in emulsion. Soon enough, the Junior League of Charleston followed suit, claiming that 23 recipes were plagiarized. And in the end, it was a delicate dance that cost Ernie immensely.

They just had me up there on a stick. A trash-can erupted with roiling grease, and Ernie presented the dish to Letterman, who found it laughable — asking if chicken feet were just pure gristle, then refusing to eat it. He had also collected more confidence in the value of his work. When the offer was accepted, Ernie persuaded Ten Speed to mortgage the house with his royalties as collateral.

And there, Ernie worked like mad to put together the next book, all the while hemming the place in with his charm, naturally. He said of their Moccasin Branch home, "I don't think I've ever lived in a place that's just so gentle on your head. Ernie worked with graphic designer Jonathan Greene on both books. She set him up with a rangefinder, showing him the nuts and bolts, and then he took off.

Photos courtesy of the Mickler estate. Ernie, like Christenberry or Eggleston, is one of the few Southerners who have represented the region with such acuity. And in , he attracted the attention of prominent collectors. One wrote to him to let him know his work would be in good company next to the Christenberry and Eggleston prints in his home. The intimacy in his photographs spills off the page into the stories and then the recipes, and it all amounts to something home-grown and poignant.

It empowered him. People either reject or embrace their upbringing, but he elevated it. Both books were ahead of their time, and both books still hold a strange, unmistakable relevance today as anthropological records of the South. And with each passing day, they accrue meanings. He ushered me into a set of study rooms and recounted his memory of meeting Ernie at a book signing in St.

A collection of albums, press, and ephemera that Helen "Petie" Pickette has amassed over the past 30 years. Photograph by Michael Adno. After spending so much time with his papers, it gave me a deeper, more genuine understanding of Ernie Mickler; it was the covalent bond for this story ultimately. Inside, Holleran sat on a bench, and when he looked up, his smile seemed to broaden from his eyes down to his chest.

Did you enjoy this piece? We are member-supported, so your donation is critical to KCRW's music programming, news reporting, and cultural coverage. Help support the DJs, journalists, and staff of the station you love. Good Food. Written by Good Food Apr. Written by Michael Adno. Photo by Michael Adno. Parboil the potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes Assemble porkettes: Place each chop between two slices of pineapple.

Here's how: Sign-up for our newsletters. Become a KCRW member. Subscribe to our Podcasts. Mama Two's Pralines sound seriously yummy. Sloppy Joe's on Cornbread? And I definitely want to try this Jail-House Chili. My current recipe uses one. White Trash cooking is a "kissin' cousin" to Soul Food, but what sets it apart from other kinds of cooking are three ingredients - saltmeat, cornmeal and molasses.

An iron skillet is as important to these recipes as a wok to Chinese cooking. And even the vegetables are fried in fatback. I learned the difference between Hoppin' John and Limpin' Susan - the former uses cowpeas, the latter okra - and both use 4 strips of bacon. Many of the recipes are written in a folksy manner with comments by the creators included.

Put on with the wash water about six in the morning, with bacon, or ham. Let cook uncovered on low burner. Clock between loads of wash. Add 1 large, finely minced onion at eight when you're blueing the overalls. Serve at noon with soda crackers and slaw you made the night before. For washday this is a pretty good deal. Then there's Grand Canyon Cake , which features sedimentary layers.

The writer describes the cake as being a wonderful treat for someone that's going to, or just got back from vacationing at the Grand Canyon. It's also very educational for children. The centerpiece of the book features National Geographic quality photographs of homes, food, folk art, and some of the Southern residents who make, serve and eat these recipes.

Gnaw on 'em. Cooter Pie Which is the grossest part? Tossing a live turtle in boiling water, or cleaning its shell to use as a bowl? My mother had a "pet" possum. It's not that I was overly crazy about the thing, but as Han Solo once said, "I thought they smelled bad I read this cookbook back when it first came out in the late '80s.

It caused a minor sensation because of the derogatory title. But you know what? It's an homage to southern home cooking surprisingly without the snark. The recipes are common but tasty, the shotgun shacks are welcoming, and the faces in the photographs seem like old friends to this longtime southerner. Isn't there a little white trash in all of us?

There are so many things I didn't know. Like that the food I ate as a child was not too far from most of the recipes. Very interesting combination of recipes with straight instructional directions and general guidelines. Cooking in this book is meant to be enjoyable and not overdone. Make it how you like it and don't apologize if it won't be eaten or if you have to serve it straight from the can.

Found at an antique shop and was an impulse buy from the cover alone! I picked this gem up at on the discount shelf. I was drawn to it like a bear to honey. I just had to buy it, not because I wanted to make Midnight Crunchy Crumb Tuna Casserole or Peanut Butter Bacon Bread which by the way isn't half bad if you replace the bacon with chocolate chips , but because it's anthropological sampling of these people's lives.

Besides the recipes, there are pictures and stories. Plus the instructions are often written in the vernacular of the person who submitted it. For instance the recipe of Fried Cooter turtle begins with "When the cooter sticks it's head out, cut it off with a hatchet. This is probably the funniest cook book I have ever read. But, as I read it I came to the realization that I am white trash.

Through and through. Or at least I grew up eating white trash food. Except cooter. Don't think I've ever heard of cooter, much less eaten it.