Roots and Gravy

Face it fellow Appalachians, our roots are here in the U.K.. I see it all the time. My own maiden name is Elswick, you don’t get any more Anglo-Saxon than that. When walking down the streets of Cambridge you can hear the Scottish and Irish music ringing out by the street performers, and it reminds me of home. So for all the differences in our cultures there are similarities as well. I am sure this is a great deal more comfort to me than to my British friends.

One British trait that I see in the generation of my Appalachian grandparents is the ‘stiff upper lip’ thing. OK, so it is a stereo type, but stereo types usually exist for a reason. The idea is that feelings are private, and that letting someone know what you really think gives them an advantage they don’t deserve. Play all things close to the vest. Be observant, but don’t ask too many questions. Be proud quietly, don’t brag. And by all means, if you are hurting, suck it in, buck up, and keep going. In my observation this is still very much the way of life for proper English folks, but it has been loosing ground fast in America in my parents generation and has only gotten worse with my generation on down.

It must be very disconcerting for people here that we Americans constantly bleed our emotions all over everyone. We lay it all out on the table, our joys and sorrows, our victories and defeats and angst. And talk, talk, talk, talk, talk….Brashness and unbridled enthusiasm are viewed as unseemly. I have tried to be sensitive to this notion, but it is a challenge. My grandparents, while they both sported a great sense of humor, held very a very similar attitude. There is a certain type of nobility there that is worth aspiring to.

All seriousness aside, another important link between the Britain and Appalachia is pork products. Rarely have two cultures had such a mutual affinity for sausage, bacon, lard and pan drippings. This must indeed be a direct link to our roots. Gravy is the child of this affinity. In Appalachia the gravy tends to be milk based, with flour and bacon drippings, and here is it stock based. We like ours over buttermilk biscuits, and they prefer to pour theirs over meat and vegetables and bake it in a pie, but the principle is the same: waste not, want not and don’t let that tasty stuff in the bottom of the pan get away.

Recently I have begun substitute teaching here in and around Cambridge. If I want to get a big reaction out of the kids all I have to say is that I love to eat ‘biscuits and gravy.’ Here biscuits are cookies. You can’t find anything to equal our good old buttermilk biscuits here, the closest thing they have is cheese scones. I tell the children our biscuits are like dinner rolls, but more like cheese scones without the cheese. The description doesn’t do the real thing justice, but it is as close as I can get.