Cooking the Books #1: White Trash Cooking
Cooking the Books will be an ongoing series about books found in our kitchen.
White Trash Cooking by Ernest Matthew Mickler
On the first page of White Trash Cooking, Jonathan Williams writes,
“As Ernie Mickler says: “There is white trash and then there is White Trash…” Those in the lower-case category would never on earth admit to the charge; while just about every honest, uncouth American is eager to become deified with the capital letters in the latter guise.
…
Ernie Mickler is a visual artist by calling, a cook by experience (he caters these days in Key West, Florida), and a person who writes like he talks. He commands a real snapbean prose style; and his color snapshots fill out a picture of Southern living suggested by the photographer William Christenberry.”
Photography is how I found White Trash Cooking. Photographer Alec Soth was talking about various non-photobooks in his photobook collection. He was showing off things like photo-illustrated children’s books, comic books and cookbooks. He spent a moment on White Trash Cooking mostly talking about the color photos of the rural American south sandwiched in the middle of this book. They’re pretty wonderful photos that can aptly be held up to the work of William Christenberry or even the most inimitable Eggleston. This piqued my interest in photos and food so I was happy to discover White Trash Cooking is still in print through Ten Speed Press. My copy is the 25th anniversary edition boasting 650,000 copies sold. It was rightfully a huge success when it was published.
The first thing of note about this book is its physicality. It is a cheap 8x10” spiral-bound book with xerox quality paper and a cover that looks like a strange collage of old food labels as a background to its title portrait of a person presumably sitting in front of a roadside watermelon stand. I have never been failed by a spiral-bound cookbook. They are commonly a local oral history of whatever community they represent. As a kid, our church parish put out an annual cookbook with recipes sourced entirely from contributing parishioners. My parents have several books of this style in their collection. Real recipes by real people.
White Trash Cooking is incredible, yet practical, especially for someone from Philadelphia who has only ever passed through the American south. There are detailed multi-ingredient family recipes that will occupy your Sunday afternoon and then simple poverty recipes such as Potato Chip Sandwich and Pore Folk Soup. The verbiage for these recipes varies but some of them are absolutely gold. One of my favorites;
MRS. ARNOLD’S DAUGHTER MARTHA’S EGGS; OR, “A MARTHA EGG”
Beat an egg with ¼ cup milk, a pinch of salt and pepper. Fry in butter at low heat. Serve with a sweet smile and a kind word. If serving to a kid, pat it on the head. This egg is pure love and heals all wounds.
There are several recipes dog-eared in my copy and I don’t know where to start. From coastal recipes for Perlow to Geraldine’s Green Pepper Jelly there are too many hits. This is likely a book I will revisit multiple times for Cooking the Books. Cookbooks, and books in general, are meant to be used. I love the John Waters quote, “If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't fuck 'em!” I’d like to piggyback on that, if someone tells you their books are a “working library," you should sleep with them and buy them breakfast in the morning.
For the inaugural installment of Cooking the Books, I am going to highlight the second recipe in the Sandwiches ‘n Eggs section of White Trash Cooking.
ANOTHER KISS ME NOT SANDWICH
2 slices of bread (wholewheat)
Peanut butter
Sliced Bermuda onion*
Spread on the peanut butter and place on the slices of onions. Put them together and eat. You’ll need a drink with this.
I know peanut butter and onions are nothing new. I love both of those things individually so why not? It was a pleasant lunch however I am glad I ate this on a day my wife was at the office. The title does not lie. My indigestion is uncontrollable. The yellow onions I used were a bit harsh but being liberal with the peanut butter helped. I would opt for the sweetest onion you can find. Per the directions, I washed it down with a fine urine yellow American economy beer.
Ernie Mickler led a wildly interesting life and was a creative force down to his bones. I can’t even begin to describe such a wonderful human. I encourage you to read up on his life. This article from Bitter Southerner is a great start.