Renee (The B-Roll)'s Reviews > Smoke, Roots, Mountain, Harvest: Recipes and Stories Inspired by My Appalachian Home

So, I requested to review an ARC of a cookbook!  Specifically, one that features parts of my home state and recipes and wisdoms that I had heard by entire life.  This cookbook—Smoke, Roots, Mountain, Harvest—is based on the author’s life in rural Appalachia and the cookery she experienced throughout her life.  Its such a beautiful notion to create a cookbook of your own recipes that are based on the poetic nature of home, especially in a land as magical as the Appalachian Mountains.  When you live in Kentucky, hiking in the Daniel Boone National Forest is an important trip that you need to take at least once.  As you cross the gaps through the mountains and entire into the Virginias and Tennessee there is something so old and profound about the region.  Time seems to stop and the most important things in life become easier to see and appreciate.  The way of life there is slower, the roads are quieter, and the people have a much more melodic and sing-song way of speaking.  These are all things that this cookbook captures so well.  There is a pace in this book, it too has that way of flowing that is more like poetry or music versus a manual for cooking.  The writing is perfect, the photography is exceptional, and content itself is so stunning and inspiring.  It is beautiful.      

As I was reading, the first thing that I noticed was how this cookbook was divided.  It is done in two ways.  First, it is divided by season.  I love this notion because when we eat from the land, we should follow the seasons and cook by what is in season.  Each of these seasonal sections features and really highlights what is in season during that time.  Second, each season is divided by celebration, gathering type, holiday, or general theme.  These also depend on each season; it is as if the best occasions and themes for each season are highlighted.  For fall there is an apple section, winter features Christmas, spring showcases the fresh flowers and green, and summer boasts picnics, berries, and sun tea.  There are so many other smaller themes and sections as well.

I was head of heels excited when I found a tea and tinctures section tucked within the winter division of the book.  Most cookbooks that I have seen forget drinks that aren’t alcoholic drinks or milkshakes/smoothies.  This book, as in the Appalachian folk tradition, incorporates tidbits of wisdom and folklore.  These are things that, although I did not live in the mountains, heard when I was growing up to.  Including a section that focuses on making your own tea, tisane, and tinctures as a way to heal and nourish the body was brilliant.

As a proper Kentucky girl, I was so excited to see an entire themed section based on bourbon.  I grew up with an appreciation of liquor from my home state, and my pride has only grown as I grow older.  I don’t normally pickup bourbon to drink, but I do occasionally enjoy a nice Old Fashioned, a Maker’s and Coke, or a Kentucky Mule.  All of course, must be made with Kentucky Bourbon.  The section that cooks with bourbon stole me away and made me so nostalgic for the smells of home.  It’s a good cookbook when it can invoke those feelings just by reading it.   

A negative aspect that actually really bothered me more once I finished reading it was the ending.  It feels so abrupt to me.  It is as if the last recipe is given and then, it is literally over.  I wish there was just some sort of short, maybe just a partial page and a good photo, that closed the cookbook up and just made a general conclusion.  If feels like maybe I lost the last few pages, or they just got messed up and I missed them while reading.  I think that to complete the book it needs this.  Like family and traditional culture in Appalachia, while things can end abruptly and often do, a loving goodbye and thanks for coming is always a thing. 

I gave this book five stars.  I am probably very bias because so many parts of this cookbook were home for me, but I did love it.  Many thanks to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for this one. I am sure that when this one comes out I will buy it for my collection.  There are so many recipes that I want to try and cannot wait to do so.  I would highly recommend this book if you like to cook, like photography, or like the region in general.  It is a cookbook there is so much more tucked into those pages besides recipes.