Blue Ridge Country May/June 2022 - 71

FLAVORS
FRED SAUCEMAN
BOONE TAVERN SPOONBREAD
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 tablespoon softened,
3 tablespoons melted)
3 cups milk
1 ¼ cups finely ground white cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon fine salt
2 eggs, well beaten
Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with some of the softened
butter. Cut out a parchment paper circle to fit inside the
pan, nestle it into the bottom, and grease the paper with the
remaining softened butter. Set the prepared pan aside.
FRED SAUCEMAN
In a 2-quart saucepan, bring the milk to a boil, whisking
occasionally, over high heat. While whisking, pour in the
cornmeal in a steady stream. Whisk vigorously to incorporate
the cornmeal, for about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the
heat and set aside to let the cornmeal mixture cool to room
temperature.
FROM LEFT: The
Portal is in downtown
Harlan; beaten
biscuits are a 200-year
tradition; Dairy Cheer's
Smashburger; the
Portal's hardwood pizza.
fresh with homemade dough. They're filled with pepperoni,
ham, salami, cheese, banana peppers, and Italian
dressing. And even in these inflationary times, you can
catch them at prices under $3 each.
At Chirico's Ristorante in Pikeville, brothers Frank and
Josh Chirico recreate the Italian recipes of their greatgrandmother
Gracia. Some of the restaurant's sauces take
up to two hours to prepare, including the marinara used
in the Italian classic chicken cacciatore. All the restaurant's
pizza dough is made from scratch, rising for hours
before being topped and baked in a brick oven.
Over in Harlan, we discovered The Portal, where woodfired
pizza is baked at around 600 degrees over seasoned
hardwoods. The region's coal-mining history is well-documented
in photographs throughout the building that
housed the Harlan National Bank for about 80 years.
As for sweets, Kentucky's pride is an all-natural one.
Tennessee and Kentucky are the country's most prolific
sorghum-producing states. Kentucky's climate is perfect
for the growing of sorghum cane, which is planted in late
spring and matures in late summer to early fall, when it
is cut, squeezed, and boiled down into the precious syrup
that sweetens everything from pumpkin muffins to dried
apple stack cakes to bowls of cereal in the morning.
Heat oven to 350°. Transfer the cornmeal mixture to the bowl
of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the
remaining butter, baking powder, salt, and eggs and mix on
medium speed until uniform
and aerated, about 15 minutes.
Pour cornmeal batter into the
prepared pan and bake until
golden brown and puffy and
a toothpick inserted in the
center comes out clean, about
1 hour and 20 minutes. Serve
immediately.
Serves 6-8.
Source: Saveur, July 31, 2013
COURTESY BEREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
And finally, we end our tribute to Eastern Kentucky
with a toast. The central and western parts of the state
are known for the world's best bourbons. But in the eastern
part of the state, green-bottled Ale-8-One captured
our attention about 15 years ago. Despite its name, it's a
non-alcoholic soft drink that has been made in the city of
Winchester since 1926, when a little girl, whose name has
been lost to time, won the naming contest at the Clark
County Fair by submitting " a late one " as the proposed
name of the new drink. That phrase was transformed into
Ale-8-One, and the company that makes the gingery beverage
has been in the hands of the same family ever since.
In Kentucky, tradition matters.
Fred and Jill Sauceman study and celebrate the foodways
of Appalachia and beyond from their home base in Johnson
City, Tennessee.
MAY/JUNE 2022 71
Blue Ridge Country May/June 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country May/June 2022
