Edible Blue Ridge Fall 2022

Complimentary

Issue 49 Fall 2022

BLUE RIDGE edible Celebrating the Food Culture of Central & Southwest Virginia ®

Preserve Food Traditions of Highland County Putting Up & Passing Along WildManDan Brewery

Member of Edible Communities

edible blue ridge fall 2022 | 1

CONTENTS FALL 2022

4 FOOD FOR THOUGHT Editor’s Letter 8 SHARING THE BOUNTY

Features 20 SALTED, SNITZED, STIRRED, AND SAVED Food Traditions of Highland County

16 MOVERS AND SHAKERS

On the Block, Yard Bull Meats

24 CHEFS TABLE Umma’s 27 EDIBLE EXCURSIONS Staunton 32 LIQUID ASSETS WildManDan Brewery & Beer Centric B&B 35 WHAT’S IN SEASON 36 LIVING LOCAL 42 FARMERS MARKET LISTINGS 43 LAST BITE

Poem by Michelle Acker Recipes In This Issue 18 Rustic Pork Rillettes 21 Sauerkraut 21 Yellow Transparent Applesauce 21 Apple Butter 22 Pon Hoss 38 Fermented Dill Pickles 39 Tomato Basil Bisque 40 Franklin County “Flu Shot”

On the cover: Fermented Dill Pickles (pg. 38), photo by Lisa Archer This page: Oysters from BLU Point Seafood Co., photo by Shenandoah Imagery

EDIBLE BLUE RIDGE FALL 2022 | 3

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Editor’s Letter

PUBLISHER+EDITOR Lisa Archer lisa@edibleblueridge.com BLUE RIDGE edible ®

Pumpkin-Sage Sourdough have shown me yet again the value of choosing my food carefully; what I will purchase from the market and prepare for the upcoming week, so that nothing goes to waste. Even the kitchen scraps go straight into the compost and then into the soil for next year’s plantings. In Copper Hill, one couple is working toward helping others build healthy soils, while both preserving an ancient process and discovering new, innovative ways to put it into practice. Preservation can be cyclical, especially where food is involved. It involves many persons all upholding the same ideal: to honor the land, animals and hands that feed us. In Roanoke, Yard Bull Meats has just opened their doors, intent on bringing the Valley the best animal products in Appalachia, honoring both the time-old tradition of whole-animal butchery and the farmers and processors who care for the animals we consume. In Nelson County, Dan and Terri Tatarka have tirelessly worked toward fulfilling a dream, and have found it housed in a 19th-century feed & seed store. ey completed most of the renovations to the property themselves and now welcome guests to share a part in the buildings’ story and converse over a pint. I didn’t grow up canning food, but I might just show up at the New London Cannery — one of eleven remaining community canneries in Virginia — with my early autumn harvest. To me, autumn means apples, and reminds me of time spent picking Idareds with my siblings on crisp afternoons, then helping my mom core, cut and cook the fruit for her special pink applesauce, served alongside pork chops. Now, I can further preserve that memory as I give Highland County’s Transparent Applesauce and Pon Hoss a try — recipes passed down for generations in my new home state. To the east of Highland County lies Staunton. One of the best small cities in Virginia, its historic downtown has been long-lauded, but now it is becoming known for its creative draw, too, attracting chefs, artists and producers to make up a diverse and vibrant community. Next time you are planning a weekend away, be sure to explore this magical city. As this issue marks my first full year as the publisher and editor, I’ve reflected on what it means to preserve a business. For over a decade, this publication has been championing the farmers, winemakers, chefs and artisans that make this region unlike any other. We are honored to share their stories and their recipes and will continue to do so for many seasons to come. ank you for your continued support and we hope you enjoy our fall issue. Eat Well, Lisa BLUE RIDGE edible Celebrating the food culture of Central Virginia Number 37 Winter 2018 free BLUE RIDGE edible Celebrating the food culture of Central Virginia Number 36 Fall 2017 FREE I T WAS an expensive summer for most of us, even those who didn’t travel. I’m not saying anything new. We all watched gas and flight prices soar as we tried to plan family getaways or see friends we’ve missed these last few pandemic years. Grocery staples and school supplies are more expensive than they used to be and sometimes it feels as if that savings account is just dwindling on an almost-daily basis. Inflation has coincided with our first truly prolific garden, and it has taught me the joy, and reward, of saving those delights of summer and autumn for the coming cold months. Gardening and the economy

DESIGNER Jeremy Cohen

COPY EDITOR Michelle Acker

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Jesse Feldberg ads@edibleblueridge.com CONTACT US: Have a story you’d like to see featured in Edible Blue Ridge? Send us your ideas! info@edibleblueridge.com Edible Blue Ridge P.O. Box 3089 Roanoke, VA 24015

SUBSCRIBE Subscribe online at edibleblueridge.com or pay by check to the address above. Annual subscription rate (4 issues) is $28.

No part of this publication may be used without written permission by the publisher. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our sincere apologies and notify us. Thank you.

© 2022 Edible Blue Ridge LLC. All rights reserved.

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CONTRIBUTORS

Michelle Acker is a poet living in Roanoke, Virgina, with an MFA in creative writing from Hollins University. Her work has previously been published in Flock, e Florida Review, Scoundrel Time, Nixes Mate Review, and elsewhere, and in the anthology Rewilding: Poems for the Environment (Flexible Press). Her website is michelleackerwriter.com. Jeremy Angione is originally from Connecticut but came to Lynchburg, Virginia, to study journalism at Liberty University. He set down roots in Lynchburg when he bought his first home, and enjoys doing minor renovations where he can. Perhaps his greatest passion in life is training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which he has been doing for 14 years. He likes the simple things; good food, good company, and connecting with his community through writing. Lisa Archer is a writer, baker, and the editor of edible Blue Ridge . She believes imagination, curiosity and compassion are a person’s greatest assets. She loves a good story. Whether it is ingrained in a loaf of bread, told over a frothy pint, or sprouting from a burgeoning farm, she wants to hear yours. Susanna Byrd has loved the land of central Virginia her whole life, and though she’s spent time on farms from Ohio down to Patagonia, she’s always found her way back home. She was a 2013-14 fellow of the Allegheny Mountain Institute and has an MFA in Creative Writing from Hollins University. She now stewards a small, ecological flower farm west of Charlottesville, Virginia. Jesse Feldberg is a lifelong Roanoker with a penchant for seeking out the best food wherever he finds himself. He is an avid baseball fan (Go O’s!), enjoys making all kinds of fermented foods, and wants to pet your dog. Grant Kitrell is a writer, illustrator, and musician. He serves as the Director of Academic Services and the Writing Program at Randolph College, and his creative work has appeared or is forthcoming in e Common, Terrain.org, Salt Hill, Split Rock Review, and e Carolina Quarterly, among others publications. He lives in Lynchburg, Virginia with his partner Hannah and their bird-crazy pups, Margot and Hap. (more info at grantkittrell.com) Brittany Lauren is the owner of Shenandoah Imagery. Brittany is a local food photographer with a bold and vibrant style. Her favorite restaurants are those that offer stunning dishes with locally-sourced ingredients. Christina Nifong is a gardener and home cook, a mother to three, a writer of essays and articles, and the communications and marketing director for Local Environmental Agriculture Project (LEAP). She loves the amazing flavors captured in a meal made with local food, the satisfaction of finding words that make an idea spark from the page, and sharing those passions with friends and family. Find more of Christina’s writing at: christinanifong.com.

due diligence restaurants www.aquinobaron.com wineries farms craft alcohol start-ups small business

Reason #4 - Why Shop At a Co-op?

Co-ops like to Reduce and Reuse, then Recycle.

150 E Wolfe St . Harrisonburg, VA . 540.801.8882 . friendlycity.coop

pick your own fruit apples, peaches, cider & more!

ftvalleyfarm.com 513 f.t. valley road sperryville, va

SHARING THE BOUNTY Please make a point of supporting these locally owned businesses in our community

Microbial Awakening Kenkashi, “small life doing big things”

dairy). e food waste ferments and then can be dug directly into the soil, where it breaks down at an accelerated rate. is age-old process originated in Korea and Japan and results in rich earth that is diverse in organic matter. Wilson had the idea to inoculate hemp with microbes as opposed to the traditional bran. Hemp is highly absorbent, readily available and less expensive than bran (bran is in high demand due to its use in animal feed), making it the perfect substrate. Although Wilson passed away in 2020, his daughter, Cassie Wilson, and her husband, Jason Anderson, now run the business. HOW ITWORKS Wilson and Anderson harvest the microbes out on the mountain sides of Copper Hill, selecting sites of old-growth tree stands far above any po tential for run-off contaminants. ey plant a “seed culture”: a rice ball contained in a cloth sack. e sugary starch is buried beneath the forest floor and left for ten days, allowing for microbial growth to take place. Wilson and Anderson then take the now-microbe-rich rice ball back to the “brewery,” where the microbes are harvested from the rice ball and fed molasses. e addition of water and heat provide the perfect environ

A healthy gut equals a healthy person. For years we’ve read about gut health in articles and watched TikTok videos on brewing your own kom bucha or making sourdough or pickles. Just as we need microbes for our digestion, the plants and animals we consume need a healthy biome as well, so we must turn our attention to where those microbes are found: the soil.

Kenkashi is here to help with the process.

No matter the size of plot or pot you grow your plants in, the soil must be tended to. At the basic level, microbes feed the earth around us, so let Kenkashi help you feed your earth. Using their products, a composting additive, foliar spray and soil treatments, you can be part of the depleted soil solution, all while using microbes harvested and preserved right here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. HOW IT STARTED Founded by John Wilson in Copper Hill, Virginia, Kenkashi employs the centuries-old process of bokashi in new and innovative ways. Bo kashi composting is an anaerobic fermentation process where bran is inoculated with microbes and applied to food waste (including meat and

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ment for the microbes to replicate. As they reproduce, more water and sugar is added, creating a slurry. e slurry is continually fed and diluted with water. is then be comes the base of all their products. For the kenkashi (composting additive), the base is added to the kenaf (ground hemp stalks), and then is dried on racks and packaged. e soft substance smells faint ly of molasses and crumbles at the touch. e rest of the base is used to develop their liquid solutions: soil conditioner, foliar feed, com post activator and liquid microbial concentrate. “We amend the tar geted applications with nutrients that are often lacking in a lot of soil or that all plants, all crops, all houseplants need,” says Wilson. APPLICATION Kenkashi products are perfect for the at-home gardener and cook, espe cially those who garden in raised beds — as the beds lose their nutrients every year — but Wilson and Anderson see the potential for Kenkashi to be used on a larger scale as well. “I’ve heard farmers around here complain about the price of fertilizer and this could be a solution. I mean, you can put $30,000 worth of fertilizer — fertilizer that’s basically all oil —on a farm in one season and it could all fail,” says Anderson, “but farmers are historically conservative when trying new things because they have so much of their money and time — their whole life invested into it.” In order for Wilson and Anderson to sell their product at a commercial scale, they need to have more hard data on the value of their product. ey have completed trials with Virginia Tech, which show a noticeable increase in yields and microbial activity in the soil. “We need to have more targeted studies done. We’re very much in the proving stage straight now. ere’s plenty of people open to using something like this,” says Wilson. Another area they are exploring is odor reduction at the industrial level. eir products cut down on odor and accelerate decomposition, which turns byproducts such as spent grain at a brewery into usable soil. “Wastewater treatment plants, pig farms, breweries, paper mills such as the one in Covington, you’ve got big industrial waste with smells. If you get in on the cycle and introduce a biological response to that, the mi crobes would just start eating the paper pulp and change the odors,” says Anderson. “ at’s our passion,” Wilson adds, “to be out on the ground, talking to people. We see the potential. We’re a scrappy start-up but we have high hopes.”

Opposite: Kenkashi Products.Top Left: Happy Microbes. Top Right: Kenaf.

You can purchase Kenkashi products by visiting their website or the following retailers:

Lichen or Knot, Floyd Roanoke Co+op, Roanoke Seven Springs Farm Supply, Check Virginia Mercantile, Clifton https://kenkashi.com/

EDIBLE BLUE RIDGE FALL 2022 | 9

SHARING THE BOUNTY Please make a point of supporting these locally owned businesses in our community

New London Cannery WORDS JEREMY ANGIONE

Today, there are more ways than ever to produce and access food. From online delivery services to increasing fast casual dining options and even meal subscription services, it seems the only obstacle between you and a full meal is your preference. However, New London Cannery of Bedford County is doing its part to preserve both your food and the old fashioned ways of caring for it. The cannery has been in operation for more than 50 years and resides in an unassuming building just behind the New London Academy. Although personal canning is not as prevalent as it once was, the facility is equipped with industrial equipment, from steam tables to floor drainage systems and large pressure cookers, to ensure a safe and efficient canning process. Kenny Palmer, Operations Coordinator of the New London Cannery, says that there has been a definite decline in canning at their facility over the last decade. According to Palmer, their clients consist of “mostly folks with backyard gardens and hunters. People of almost all ages can here, but it is generally the older demographic that enjoys the canning process. It takes a lot of work and time.”

Cannery allows you to process. Fruits and vegetables aremost prominent, but meats, stews, and fish are also able to be canned.

Patricia Frazier is a twelve-year employee of New London Cannery. She makes sure to take advantage of the opportunities the job provides to store vast amounts of food for the winter months. According to Patricia, all her food is grown in her own garden and canned at the cannery. She says the only thing she shops for anymore is bread and milk. During the summer, when New London’s canning season begins, customers mostly come to can various greens and tomatoes. However, in the fall, the cannery sees a plethora of apples and meats, including deer meat, to coincide with hunting season. Customers are responsible for bringing their own food and following guidelines to ensure the right amount is placed in each can without overfilling it. From there, the employees of the cannery will handle the process of cleaning, sealing, pressurizing and cooling the cans. The cannery is not a food storage facility, so customers must take their canned goods with them. New London Cannery begins its season the first week of July. When in season, the cannery is open every Tuesday and Thursday from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m., although closing hours may vary depending on the cannery’s workload. 12430 E Lynchburg Salem Turnpike, Forest, VA 24551.

While you may have some idea of what foods you’d typically be willing to eat from a can, there are so many food items that the New London

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214 5th St SW Roanoke, VA 540-566-3071

Slinging that delicious grub next to Golden Cactus foodhutrke Est. 2022 foodhutrke.com

L E X I N G T O N

SHARING THE BOUNTY Please make a point of supporting these locally owned businesses in our community

Little Hat Creek Farm WORDS LISA ARCHER PHOTOS COURTESY OF HEATHER COINER

Shopping at the farmers market is second nature to many of us. We anx iously await each weekend as peas, corn or squash make their seasonal debut. We bring our emptied egg cartons and exchange them for eggs colorful enough to make even the dye specialists at Paas jealous. We select cuts of beef, whole chickens and sausage. We know that what we purchase is locally grown, locally processed and prepared with skill. And while we may chat with a farmer about where her cows are pastured this week, or where the seafood purveyor gets his fish, how often do we ask where the grain the bakers are using comes from? For Heather Coiner, this wasn’t a question so much as an assump tion. “I didn’t really think about it…I loved having a short food chain between the land and my table — it just seemed natural to seek out local grain,” recalls Coiner. Coiner started baking with sourdough while she was a PhD student in Toronto. An interest quickly became a passion and Coiner started a bread subscription business, delivering loaves via bicycle and procuring local flours from a mill north of Toronto. But a move to Virginia to start Little Hat Creek, an ecological veg etable farm and bakery, with her now-husband, Ben Stowe, posed a problem. Coiner struggled to find locally grown and processed grain. The Shenandoah Valley used to be known as the leading wheat producing region of the South. The numerous creeks and steep terrain of the land led to the development of many water-powered mills (a few of which are still in operation today). Wheat in the area was so abundant, the Valley was dubbed “the breadbasket of the Confederacy” during the

Civil War. At the turn of the 20th century, however, farmers started to diversify and shifted their land to orchard and dairy production. By the 1940s, wheat production had declined dramatically, causing the closure of many of the area’s mills. As Coiner familiarized herself with her new home, she started to no tice that there were plenty of farmers still growing grain, but much of it was devoted to seed, feed or export. She connected with Michael Grantz of Great Day Gardens (Lynchburg), and as they were baking together one winter — using North Carolina grown and ground grain — they lamented the lack of local flours available, despite the infrastructures in place. An idea formed. “We decided to start Common Grain Alliance,” says Coiner. Their intuition was correct; there were farmers in the area grow ing grain, but they were struggling to connect to processors (millers) that could produce products that met commercial baking standards. In four short years, the Common Grain Alliance (CGA) has helped solve this problem, creating a networking powerhouse and resource for growers, millers, bakers and eaters throughout the Mid-Atlantic. (to find more about CGA and producers or processors near you visit www.commongrainalliance.org/) Although Coiner stepped down from the CGA board last year, she is still involved both on the back end, and loaves (or crackers) to the ground — so to speak. Committed to championing local grains, Coiner en sures all of her products contain 50% or more locally grown and milled flours. For her new packaged goods line, crackers, chocolate chip cookies

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and granola, she uses 100% locally grown and milled flour. “By putting that miller, that farmer on the front of the package, I really want to draw attention to, yes, this is something that is grown locally, milled locally and then baked locally and, yes, there is a taste ben efit. It’s not your average flour,” Coiner says. “ To do that I wanted to make simple, familiar products that really feature the grain. The cookie — it’s an ordinary chocolate chip cookie but it’s made with local rye flour and it’s good. It’s really good, there’s just some thing different you can’t quite put your finger on. The taste and texture, it’s special. I believe that what you’re tasting is the grain, the quality of the grain.” Coiner is always experimenting and looking to ward how she can better educate her customers all while serving a delicious product. An example of this is her Cover Crop Sourdough. The loaf is gluten-free, using grains that are grown as cover crops: buckwheat, millet and sorghum. Farmers often grow these grains between their cash crops (wheat, rye, etc.). Cover crops offer not only an alternative to using herbicides, but are an important part of building up carbon-rich organic matter in the soil. Coiner sought to develop a loaf that celebrated these crops and their vital role in sustainable farm ing methods. All of these grains also happen to be gluten-free. Also containing rice flour and corn and potato starches, this rich loaf has a distinctive flavor, something that Coiner says all loaves made with local flours possess. “I feel that every flour has something to of fer. It’s up to the baker and the processor to figure it out. That’s a departure from the conventional way of thinking that flour is ‘All-Purpose’ (don’t get me wrong, there are really great local all-purpose flours!). But with local flour it helps to switch that and say, here is an ingredient that will really shine in a certain context and it’s up to me to figure it out. There’s so much beauty in the process, turning this flour into this amazing food that sustains us.”

Opposite: LHC loaves. Clockwise from top left: Cover Crop Sourdough, Little Hat Creek Farm Crackers, Heather Coiner loads loaves into her wood-fired oven

You can find Little Hat Creek at the following farmers markets: IX Art Park Market: Saturdays 9a.m.-1p.m. until Christmas Lexington Farmers Market: Wednesdays 8a.m.-12p.m. until Thanksgiving Nelson Farmers Market Cooperative: Saturdays 8 a.m.-12 p.m. until Nov. 1 Richmond Markets: This winter - follow @littlehatcreek for more info To purchase their dry goods line visit the following retailers: Feast! (Charlottesville) Greenwood Grocery (Crozet) In Vino Veritas (Keswick) Wade’s Mill (Raphine)

edible blue ridge fall 2022 | 13

SHARING THE BOUNTY Please make a point of supporting these locally owned businesses in our community

FromMetal to Market, From Stone to Spice WORDS GRANT KITTRELL PHOTOS COURTESY OF STONE SPICE COMPANY

“What is the recipe for a productive show?” When Josh Stone of Stone Spice Company posed this question, he wasn’t talking about his spices, though he very well could have been. Likewise, he could have been ex amining his passion for music, particularly the live concert–all of the show’s ingredients coming together to create a more powerful whole–but no, at this point in our interview, Stone was describing his reverence for the local farmer’s market: the vendors, with their unique stories and talents, all coming together to support and serve each other and the lo cal community. A “productive show,” according to Stone, relies on the insight and kindness of others. The learn-as-you-go method is nothing new to this entrepreneur, who never had any formal culinary training before starting down this peppered path–just a keen taste for BBQ wings and an itch to make a deserving dry rub. And that’s what he did in 2014, tossing together the “sweetness of garlic with the feisty orange habanero” to create what eventually would be called “Kiss of Fire.” After some support from a lo cal BBQ kitchen, who let Stone put his first experiment to the test (on wings, of course!), and with some encouragement from his wife, Deidre, a Lynchburg designer who wasted no time creating the company’s logo, Stone has since dedicated his time to imagining (and reimagining) a wide selection of uniquely flavorful blends. Learning curve? Sure, but Stone’s lack of formal training has allowed him to work beyond some of the limits a culinary education might have otherwise imposed. “I’ve been allowed to think outside the box,” he added. Indeed, from his often-unorthodox spice pairings to their equally energetic titles, Stone’s creative choices have been very much…his own. Try “Black ‘n Roll,” for instance, a blackening seasoning named, in part, after Stone’s love of the genre (black metal + rock ‘n roll); try his popu

lar line of “BBQT” blends, including the sweet “Buzzin’ BBQT” or its spicier cousins “Kickin’” and “Screamin’”; try “Adobodacious,” an adobo blend that contains, among other spices, Mexican oregano, white pep per, and turmeric–did someone say Taco Tuesday? In several recipes, Stone has also worked to cut out the usual salts and sugars, replacing them with more healthful alternatives: try apple cider vinegar powder; try granulated molasses. He’s also worked to create hot blends (some times very hot) that “actually taste good,” incorporating sumac and tan gerine zest, for instance, in his “Hot Toddy,” to highlight the fruitiness of the Carolina Reaper and amchur (dried unripened mango) to pull together other big flavors and balance the heat. And while his experi ments often start with a specific name and application in mind, Stone is no stranger to feedback–from a microphone or otherwise. His “Heat Tart” blend, for instance, was intended as a dry rub, but found a much clearer calling as a seafood blend. “Growing up, I never had any aspirations,” Stone said. He also didn’t like red sauce on his pasta, a fact that directly inspired his most popular blend, “Sketti Sprinkle” (black pepper, basil, garlic powder, onion pow der, parsley and sea salt). Stone seems to have found his calling in the years since, and that mission seems as tied to a smorgasbord of small, regional businesses as it does to his own recipes, as if each were drawn in herently from the other. Before our interview simmered to a close, Stone proudly lifted one of his black leather high-top boots above the table’s edge. He had purchased them after the suggestion of a fellow vendor, who thought they’d be better-suited for those long Saturdays standing at the Forest Farmer’s Market. Stone beamed with gratitude, seeming ready to take the stage. He let out a modest chuckle as he returned his foot to the floor, adding, “We all flourish when we help each other out.”

http://www.stonespicecompany.com

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Global Tasting Series Compare Virginia to other producers Pinotage tasting Oct 8 11:30

Touriga Nacional - Port and Table wine Dec 3 11:30 Limited Seating, Call or scan QR code for tickets!

540-832-7440 hortonwine.com

V I S I T ChiswellWinery.com for menu, hours, and event info

Enjoy locally crafted vintages, panoramic views, and warm hospitality at Greenwood’s newest winery.

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SILVER MEDALS 2022 MONTICELLO CUP

MOVERS & SHAKERS

On the Block

Lisa Archer

Jesse Feldberg

WORDS

PHOTOS

Yard Bull Meats opens its doors and forges relationships

Above: Tyler Thomas (left) & Elliot Orwick (right), Marbling on Buffalo Creek Beef Denver steaks. Opposite page: Top round, Breakdown.

S Strolling down Crystal Spring Avenue during the lunch hour, linden trees line the sidewalk, the smart facades of businesses beckon, and people bustle into specialty food stores to pick up sandwiches and salads. You’d be forgiven for mistaking this charming block for a street in a busy city — perhaps Richmond or even a neighborhood in Brooklyn. However, this stretch of shops is found in Roanoke, Virginia, and its newest addition, Yard Bull Meats, a nose-to-tail butcher shop, couldn’t be more pleased with their location. “This neighborhood has been great to us. The amount of excitement we’ve received, not just from our neighbors but from Roanoke and even Salem at large, has been very encouraging,” says TylerThomas, Executive

Chef of The River and Rail Restaurant and co-owner of Yard Bull Meats.

ACharlottesville native,Thomas moved to Roanoke in 2016. Having spent years honing the craft of butchery at Stock Provisions (formerly JM Stock), he looked to how he could open his own butcher shop while simultaneously leading the kitchen at The River and Rail Restaurant. “I grew up with gardens, on a farm, eating what the land provides, so that knowledge has always been a big part of me. When I moved here, I was blown away that there were more local farms than restaurants,” recalls Thomas. Long-time Roanoke residents may remember when family-run O’Brien Meats used to supply the Valley with fresh cuts of local meat, once having

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as many as seven locations. But as business seemed to decline, O’Brien’s slowly closed stores until their final shop on Main Street in Salem shuttered in 2019. “I think the Roanoke culture had just slowly moved away from the idea of butcher shops. With O’Brien’s closing, I think people saw that as a sign, rather than the perspective I was coming at it from: there are all these resources, all these farmers looking to sell their product. The infrastructure was there,” says Thomas. Motivated by the potential he saw, Thomas attempted to sign a lease for several years, but kept being met with resistance by landlords unsure of the viability of such a business. Almost simultaneously, Elliot Orwick moved to Roanoke. Having spent over a decade learning the butchery trade and leading various protein programs for establishments such as SierraNevada andHickoryNut Gap in Asheville, Orwick was deterred from opening a shop in the brewery fueled city due to exorbitant rents and already-established businesses. Instead, he widened his search. “I decided to poke around and find an up-and-coming Appalachian town where I could do this and settle in and hopefully become part of the community,” says Orwick. Yard Bull, sandwiched between Crystal Spring Grocery and The River and Rail Restaurant, is an ideal location. When a former jewelry store became available, Thomas immediately started a conversation with Lauren and Whit Ellerman, the owners of the two adjacent businesses. “Already having a relationship, I approached them and said, I love

lends the shop an old-world feel, to the matching hardwood oak floors of the retail space, to the subway-tiled walls and drains positioned in the floor for easy cleaning, everything has been carefully researched and selected.

This includes the shop’s cooling system. Five large condensers circulate cool air throughout the entire space, ensuring the product stays in pristine condition. “The idea is, we’re working with such a great product, and the farmers work so hard, we want to ensure when it arrives at the shop it gets the life it deserves,” says Thomas. The extensive cooling system means the internal temperature of the shop should never rise above 60-65 °F — so you may want to plan ahead and dress accordingly (or purchase a YBM shirt while you shop for your next barbecue!).

Lining the cases of the shop are familiar cuts such as dry-aged ribeyes; tenderloins; skirt and flank steaks; a rotating selection of house-made deli meats; five types of sausage; fresh, sustainably-caught seafood (the shop plans to always have fresh Virginia oysters in stock); and accouterments. You’re also able to purchase those hard-to-find items: offal, chicken feet and lesser-known cuts such as Denver and bavette steaks (beef) and coppas and secretos (pork) — cuts referred to as “butcher cuts” for their rich flavor and superb texture. “Our biggest job, perhaps our biggest challenge, is educating the customer. It’s really a fun process when a customer comes in and says, what should I buy? And then we say, well, do you like grilling or braising, do you like lean meat or fatty. From there we can narrow it down, and since we do the whole process, we can say, this beautiful piece just came in, and we can recommend you should get it today because next week it will be a different animal, a different story,” says Thomas. A tenet for both Orwick and Thomas is education: forming a relationship with their customers and encouraging them to try unfamiliar items and recipes. “We both come from chef backgrounds. We love to eat, we love to cook, we’re hoping to teach people how to prepare cuts they might not be otherwise brave enough to go out on a limb and prepare. Why you would rather shop at Yard Bull than at Kroger: we’ll be able to walk you through the whole process,” says Orwick. “We’ve been talking a lot about branding for the business, what’s important, and what we keep coming back to is the idea, ‘know your butcher.’ The story, in a lot of ways, is the most important thing: knowing where your meat comes from and having a butcher that knows you and knows what you like, how thick to cut your bacon,” adds Thomas.

working with you, I’m going to do this, so why don’t I just do it with you. And they were gracious enough to help us with the buildout,” recalls Thomas. A chance encounter with Orwick led to a meeting over coffee, and a partnership soon formed. “I feel really lucky, having moved here at the right time. Tyler and I met and the rest is history,” says Orwick. Three years of regular coffee meetings, planning and amassing a steady following at various meat pop-ups around the city, Orwick’s and Thomas’s dream is finally a reality. Upon entering

the butcher shop, you can tell that chefs designed the interior of the space; much like an expertly-plated dish at a high-end restaurant, the attention to detail in the shop is thorough and — perhaps surprising to some — gorgeous. From the large oak door of the walk-in cooler that

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Forming relationships also extends beyond their customer base. In addition to supplying the neighboring businesses with meat and other packaged goods, Orwick andThomas have partnered with Patrick Riley (formerly the head chef of Lexington favorite, Heliotrope) to bring the community Food Hut RKE, a restaurant located next to Golden Cactus Brewing. Yard Bull will supply Food Hut with all its proteins, and the butcher shop is also in talks with other local restaurants to utilize by products of breaking down whole animals: lard, bones and tallow. “A lot of entrepreneurs like to go it alone; some of us like to have partners. I’m very thankful to be working with partners like Elliott and Patrick. We see a great opportunity for community building,” says Thomas. “When you’re at Golden Cactus, you bump into like-minded people there and most of them are growers, makers … that has been huge for our community and definitely boosted our confidence in the community. There are some great people here in town now that weren’t here five years ago— bloom Restaurant, for example, led by Nate Sloan. At the same time, you see some places that have been here for a long time starting to turn and purchase more local products and forge relationships with farmers. Obviously the joke is often Roanoke is 10 years behind … but we’re catching up.”

Recipe by Elliot Orwick, Yard Bull Meats, Roanoke RUSTIC PORK RILLETTES Great as a gift or to take on a picnic!

INGREDIENTS: 2 pounds pork shoulder (Autumn Olive Farms pork from Yard Bull Meats) cut into 1” cubes 2 pounds pork belly (Autumn Olive Farms pork from Yard Bull Meats) skin-off, cut into 1” cubes 6 sprigs fresh thyme 2 large bay leaves (we suggest Spice Walla brand) 2 quarts Yard Bull Meats pork stock 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

Remove from oven and let rest for 20 minutes. Remove thyme and bay leaf and discard. Remove pork from the pan with a slotted spoon, reserving the cooking liquid for later use. Place warm pork into a stand mixer bowl, and mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until pork is shredded and mixed together, 2-3 minutes (this step can also be done by hand by simply shredding the pork and fully incorporating using your fingers and a fork). Slowly add ½ - 1 cup pork stock into the mixer until the mixture is a spreadable texture but not too loose (pulled pork consistency). Mix in sherry vinegar, lemon juice, hot sauce, pepper, and nutmeg to taste. Spoon mixture into small crocks or jelly jars, tamping out air pockets as you go, and leave at least 1” empty at the top of the container. Cool uncapped jars in the fridge. Cap rillettes with 1/4” rendered lard and seal with lid. Jars will keep in the fridge for several weeks if the lard and seal are not broken. Prior to serving, allow the rillette to come up to room temp, garnish with Maldon sea salt and fresh herbs and serve with pickles and toasted bread. *This recipe can be easily modified for other fun flavor profiles, such as substituting the seasoning for Asian ingredients such as sambal, fish sauce, and lime!

1 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon hot sauce 2 teaspoons Maldon sea salt Small crock or jelly jars Rendered Yard Bull Meats lard

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 300°F. While the oven heats, place all the pork into a large pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then drain liquid (to remove impurities). Place drained pork into a deep baking pan with thyme, bay leaf, and pork stock. Cook in oven until the meat is fork tender (4-5 hours).

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Salted, Snitzed,

Stirred, and Saved

Food traditions of Highland County

I I’m pounding the kraut. With a closed fist, I punch the salted, shredded cabbage until my knuckles turn red. The mixture squelches, but the water has not yet fully expunged. My part ner takes over, punching, punching, asking the cabbage to let go its squeaky-crisp struc ture, to create its own brine. When the cab bage is as tightly packed as we can manage, we push it down in the crock with a couple of leftover outer cabbage leaves until they are fully submerged under the brine, and weigh these down with a big bag of rice. It’s magical, really, that with only salt and some effort, a perishable vegetable can be pre served, given a much longer life in a new form. Preservation, though the word implies an act of keeping sameness or purity of form, is of ten actually about transformation: the story of how a thing that was once present becomes simultaneously of the past and of the future. Jars on the shelf for the winter. Processing ap-

WORDS & ILLUSTRATIONS

Susanna Byrd

that surrounded them. In a modern world that values fast food and efficiency, we too often forget about the intangible benefits of gather ing to prepare, preserve, and enjoy real food. In my interviews, the strongest themes that emerged were self-sufficiency and com munity gathering. Perhaps these seem incom patible –– “do it yourself ” at the same time as “help your neighbor”? But in the food tra ditions here, these two salient attitudes work in tandem to define the daily life and unique traditions of Highland County. All my inter viewees recounted memories of large gardens, fruit trees, raising hogs and chickens, smoke houses, root cellars and other mainstays of a self-sufficient, homesteading lifestyle. Gardens held enough produce not only to enjoy during the season, but also to “put up” in one way or another for eating through the long months of winter and spring. The gathering of friends and family

plesauce in the midst of the season of bounty, anticipating the coming of the cold. You often find food preservation practices at the heart of a community. They are a way of celebrating life, history, tradition and love. People take pride in family recipes and unique ways of eating food taught by their parents and grandparents. In Highland County, Vir ginia, this is as true as anywhere else in the world. History and community hold strong in the folds and ridges of the mountains there, and food memories and traditions remain es sential to the fabric of the shared experience of living in that place. When I lived in Highland County for a season, I was fortunate to be able to talk to a number of Highland residents and “old timers” about foods that have been special to them throughout their lives. These folks are sages –– full of wisdom and colorful, crisp memories of special foods and the meanings

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also featured highly in the stories I heard. Raising and preparing close-to-home foods requires many hands pitching in to accom plish the task. Picking and peeling apples, stirring the kettle, butchering the hog –– all these activities would be near-impossible with only one set of hands. So folks gather to make the work light, and of course to eat the food in good company. People rely on each other in a way that doesn’t happen in the easy-prep meal aisle. The following are a few of the recipes and traditions long time Highland County residents were kind enough to share with me: Use about 3 Tbsp. salt for every 5 lbs cab bage. Slice the cabbage thinly with a knife or use a cabbage cutter or mandolin (with care for your fingertips!). In a large bowl, mix the cabbage and salt, then “bruise” the cabbage by massaging it thoroughly with your hands. This begins the brining process as the juices from the cabbage emerge. Let the cabbage sit and produce its own brine for a spell, perhaps half an hour. Transfer it to a crock or large receptacle suitable for long term storage. With a wooden kraut stomper (any heavy, club-like tool will work), pound the cabbage thoroughly, until it is well submerged in its own brine. Use a plate and a heavy weight on top of it to push the cabbage down to ensure it will stay com pletely under the brine as it ferments. Store in root cellar or other cool place. Sample after two weeks and frequently afterward to determine the stage of fermentation that you like best. Once it is in this state, transfer to the refrigerator, or make sure it stays very cold. Don’t be afraid of grayish kahm yeast that may form on the top of the brine. Scrape the brine and the top inch or two off of the kraut and what is underneath will be delicious! Sauerkraut Recipe provided by Nancy White, Jim and Loraine White

Yellow Transparent Applesauce Recipe provided by Nancy White, Donna Hooke Yellow Transparents are an early variety of apple, usually harvested in late July and early August. Almost everyone I spoke with mentioned Yellow Transparent Applesauce as a unique food of Highland County. In the warm, lifelong home of Nancy White, I sampled my first-ever taste of Yellow Trans parent sauce, still warm from boiling. It has a texture smoother than any applesauce I have ever eaten and just the perfect balance of tart and sweet. Even unsweetened it is a heavenly treat –– in fact, many people I spoke to prefer it this way. Quarter and boil the apples, with the skins on, until soft. Run the boiled apples through a “Squeeze-O” or “Victoria Strainer.” Add sugar, if desired, to taste. Eat, store in the fridge for up to two weeks, freeze for up to six months, or preserve in jars according to a safe canning procedure (or follow the apple butter canning instructions below). Apple Butter Recipe provided by Fern and Glenn Heatwole “Once around the outside, twice across the middle / That’s how you stir the apple butter kettle” ––Glenn Heatwole The traditional preparation of apple butter is community-oriented, and a serious time investment. Help is needed to “snitz” the apples the night before (see below). At least two must trade off the arduous job of stirring the cookpot, and then a few more are needed to efficiently pour the final product into jars and seal them.

edible blue ridge fall 2022 | 21

To make 20 gallons of apple butter, as Fern and Glen Heatwole do, it takes about 8 hours of constant stirring. The apple but ter cooks down in a large copper kettle over a fire, and ideally many folks trade on and off the job of watching over the pot. There is a special paddle for this non-stop stirring. It is wooden and usually has some kind of hole in it to encourage easier flow through the apple butter. It also has a long, horizontal handle to allow the stirrer to stand farther away from the heat and steam. A term that I heard more than once while collecting stories and recipes was “snitz.” The word has German origins, though in High land it is so ubiquitous in the language of apple recipes that no one could tell me where it came from. To “snitz” an apple is essentially to peel, core and slice it –– the initial process that turns it into a product ready for apple sauce, apple butter, apple pies, etc. As a noun, a “snitz” or “snit” is simply a slice (about 1/8th) of an apple. On the night before making apple butter,

snitz the apples and put them in the kettle or another large container to begin browning. The next day, mix the snitzed apples with either apple cider that has been reduced by half or applesauce. The ratio should be 1:1 (half reduced cider, half apple snitz). Stir the mixture for eight hours according to the help ful rhyme, “Once around the outside, twice across the middle / That’s how you stir the apple butter kettle.” Add ground cinnamon, allspice and cloves to taste. To sweeten more, add maple syrup or honey to taste. When the apple butter is done, have your assembly line ready for jarring –– you’ll need sterilized jars and lids (boiled or run through the dishwasher), a ladle and a funnel. Scoop apple butter into the jars, leaving a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of headspace, wipe the jar lip and fit with the flat circle of the lid and then the outer ring. Turn upside down so that the contents touch the underside of the lid. Let these lidded jars sit right-side up and undis turbed until sealed (they will pop and the center of the lid will be sucked downward).

Pon Hoss Recipe provided by Glen and Fern Heatwole

In the self-sufficient days of Highland County, every homestead farm produced almost everything its family needed to eat throughout the year. Most families would have kept two to three hogs each year to be butchered on Thanksgiving Day. The meat, lard and other products from these three hogs would last the family through the winter and until the next butchering day. Without excep tion, every person that I talked to mentioned some pork product or memory of the process of raising and butchering hogs. Butchering and processing day was once as common as having turkey on your Thanksgiving table, and every

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one pitched in to do the considerable amount of work that was required. People spoke fond ly of the resulting foods; their words and the expressions on their faces at the memory of taste and gathering assured me that the work of keeping and butchering the hogs was well worth the effort. In a way, Butchering Day seemed a kind of linchpin that kept the fam ily fed, not just in body, but in spirit as well. The practice of working together to celebrate and make available the energy of the earth –– that, to me, sounds like the best kind of Thanks-giving. Pon hoss is the lesser-known, southern cousin of scrapple –– a Pennsylvania-Dutch delicacy of pork bits and cornmeal. There are very few people who still make pon hoss these days, and in Highland County Fern and Glen Heatwole might be the only ones. So special a food is it that Glen Heatwole told me a story of an old man who called him up at their store (Sugar Tree Country Store & Sugarhouse, McDowell, VA) one day: “I heard you still make a good pon hoss and I want to order some by mail,” he said. “Could you send it to where I live now in Florida?” He was 94 years old and had heard from the doctor that he only had so much longer to live. He said that the only thing he wanted to make sure he had before he died was a taste of good old pon hoss, the real thing. So Heat wole wrapped him up a few precious loaves and sent them off to Florida. The man called back, thoroughly happy and complimentary of the pon hoss. Heatwole heard that he passed away not long after. To make pon hoss is to also butcher a hog. The process cannot really be done in dependently if the product is to be the true thing, worthy of an old Highland County man’s memory-infused taste. The various stages of making pon hoss correspond with the stages of butchering and it is therefore a day-long process. Pon hoss is made in a large copper kettle, like apple butter. As you butcher the hog, all the bones that you remove are tossed into the kettle with water to boil. Throughout the day, bones are added and the pot boils away, extracting the meat, grease and flavor and creating a strong stock. At the end of the day, the bones and bits are strained out.

Any remaining meat is stripped off the bones and set aside for “puddings”* (to make scrap ple, this meat would be put back into the mixture; pon hoss does not include the meat bits, only the leftover stock). In the remaining stock, add a mixture of 2 parts cornmeal and 1 part flour and stir constantly until it thick ens to a cake batter-like consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the mixture into bread pans and freeze. Later, cut the loaves into slices and pan fry them in lard or but ter. Delicious with apple butter, applesauce or maple syrup on top.

My own small home batch of sauerkraut is not ready yet. Soon, we will taste it, and when we do, we’ll be eating the spring, eating the late days of winter in which I seeded the cab bage, eating alongside the spirits of the folks who taught me this recipe. These stories and recipes were originally collected as part of a project completed dur ing a fellowship with the Allegheny Mountain Institute. Thank you to the beautiful, wise folks who shared their traditions with me, and gave me permission to reproduce them for this article. Thanks especially to Cappie Hull, my mentor and community connector in the collection process.

* “Puddings meat” is made with these leftover meat bits, lard and salt and pepper.

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