Georgann Eubanks
The Month of Their Ripening
Telling the stories of twelve North Carolina heritage foods, each matched to the month of its peak readiness for eating, Georgann Eubanks takes readers on a flavorful journey across the state. She begins in January with the most ephemeral of southern ingredients—snow—to witness Tar Heels making snow cream. In March, she takes a midnight canoe ride on the Trent River in search of shad, a bony fish with a savory history. In November, she visits a Chatham County sawmill where the possums are always first into the persimmon trees.
Talking with farmers, fishmongers, cooks, historians, and scientists, Eubanks looks at how foods are deeply tied to the culture of the Old North State. Some have histories that go back thousands of years. Garlicky green ramps, gathered in April and traditionally savored by many Cherokee people, are now endangered by their popularity in fine restaurants. Oysters, though, are enjoying a comeback, cultivated by entrepreneurs along the coast in December. These foods, and the stories of the people who prepare and eat them, make up the long-standing dialect of North Carolina kitchens. But we have to wait for the right moment to enjoy them, and in that waiting is their treasure.
REVIEWS:
This lovely ode to Tar Heel State heritage captures foods at their peaks–shad in March; ramps in April; persimmons in November–while introducing readers to the growers, hunters, foragers, and fishermen who harvest them.”–Garden & Gun
“The seasons keep the tempo in [this] collection of literary nonfiction essays about 12 North Carolina foods deeply entwined with the state’s cultural histories. . . . Gorgeous botanical paintings by Carol Misner keep company with Eubanks’ story vignettes from mountain ranges to shorelines.”–Triad City Beat
“[Eubanks] does her part to help preserve N.C. heritage foods.”–Winston-Salem Journal
“I devoured this book. Eubanks showed me how much I have to learn when it comes to North Carolina foodways. After following her on this statewide road trip, I want to visit fish houses, apple orchards, and wineries all over North Carolina—and I’m thinking of all the people to whom I’m going to give her book as a gift.”—Andrea Weigl, author of Pickles and Preserves
“Smart, purposeful, charming, illuminating, and entertaining. Using seasonality and its particulars, Georgann Eubanks gives us a beautiful portrait of a place and culture.”—Bland Simpson, author of Little Rivers and Waterway Tales
“Choosing twelve foods exemplary of North Carolina’s culture and history, Georgann Eubanks blends traditions with place, taste, and season, stitching together a quilt of essays that collectively tell the story of North Carolina. About people, folkways, and traditions, this story is as much about where we’ve been as where we’re going.”—Vicky Jarrett, former editor of Our State Magazine