How an Appalachian chef unlocks memory through homestyle cooking

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Crystal Wilkinson's praisesong biscuits Felix Cruz hide caption

Crystal Wilkinson's praisesong biscuits

To often, our attempts at nailing the family recipes end up in disaster and disappointment. This week, host Brittany Luse is joined by former Kentucky Poet Laureate Crystal Wilkinson, author of Praisesong for the Kitchenghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks. The two talk about Appalachian food culture, turning oral recipes into written ones, and the emotional relationship between food, family and memory.

Want to be featured on IBAM? Record a voice memo responding to Brittany's question at the end of the episode and send it to ibam@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Corey Antonio Rose and Alexis WIlliams. It was edited by Jessica Placzek. Engineering support came from Kwesi Lee. Our executive producer is Veralyn Williams. Our VP of programming is Yolanda Sangweni.

generations

Black Appalachian culture

Crystal Wilkinson

Homestyle Cooking