Historical Appalachian Dinner
Tickets are now available for purchase! (through 3/19)
https://aimsbbis.vt.edu/appalachiadinner
Thursday, March 26 - 6pm
The Maroon Door, 418 N Main St, Blacksburg, VA 24060
Join us for a fun evening exploring the rich flavors and stories of Appalachia. Whether you're curious about old traditions or want to taste some modern twists, this event is perfect for food lovers and history buffs alike.
Chefs Travis Milton (James Beard Award Finalist), Justin Bailey, Stephen Doyle, and Brittany Mehrkens Cooper (Maroon Door) have created a meal that highlights mid-twentieth-century ingredients, exploring how locally sourced, seasonally appropriate, and historically rooted recipes have joined industrially produced foods in Appalachian kitchens. Guests will be treated to personal and historical contextualizations of dishes served, with a souvenir menu that celebrates this combination of memory and innovation/creativity. With commentary from Virginia Tech food studies scholars, folklorists, and archivists, and in collaboration with the American Historical Review. There will also be opportunities through a raffle and beer sales to support Feeding Southwest Virginia and Holler to Holler.
The chefs have carried out historical research to create the menu, including in the Culinary History Archives at Virginia Tech's Special Collections and University Archives, in collaboration with VT Food Studies faculty. This dinner is also part of a larger project called Chefs Doing History--click here to learn more!
We are grateful for generous support from the Department of History, the Food Studies Program, the Center for Humanities, the Appalachian Studies program, the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, the Department of Religion and Culture, and the Academy of Transdisciplinary Studies.
Planned menu*
Tasting Menu
- Kentucky rolled oyster with bay sauce aioli, celery, and sherry
- Country ham and fried apple in fennel aspic on a fried cracker over peashoot salad with honeysuckle vinaigrette
- Duck with black walnut demi-glace, potato puree, spiced pickled blackberries, Meadow Creek Appalachian espuma, and nasturtium
Family Meal
- Buttermilk fried rabbit, Hasenpfeffer gravy, Soup beans, Curried fried apples
- Salmon cakes on stone-ground grits
- Sour corn with Allan Benton’s bacon
- Killed lettuce with house-made ramp vinegar
- Pepperoni-roll biscuits with dill pickle salt
- Apple-rhubarb cobbler with Golden Glow ice cream
*Please note: some substitutions might be necessary if circumstances require