Fred Sauceman and the Food of Appalachia

 

An Appreciation by Jeanne

 

I can’t remember exactly when I became aware of Fred Sauceman.  My best guess is that it was in 2009, when his video Red Hot Dog Digest was added to the library’s collection.  I had never realized that the red hot dog was unusual: growing up, I thought all hot dogs were red.  In that video, Sauceman introduces the audience to some iconic local hot dog vendors, including Bristol’s Corner Dog House and Marion’s Dip Dog. 

From there I moved on to reading some of his Place Setting books.  There are three volumes, and each one has stories of Appalachian food and its makers. Pepperoni rolls, ham biscuits, pimento cheese, and more foods take center stage in his stories of places and people.  I delighted in reading about the places I knew and enjoyed learning of those new to me. He moved a bit farther afield in the wonderful Buttermilk and Bible Burgers: More Stories from the Kitchens of Appalachia, which includes entries from Alabama and Pennsylvania.

Since then, I’ve also seen two other short films, Beans All the Way (about the Bean Barn in Greeneville) and Smoke in the Holler, about Ridgewood Barbecue.  He has also written a book entitled The Proffitts of Ridgewood which recounts the story of the restaurant and the family behind it.  Inspired by the book, I made my first trip to Ridgewood and took family members who had never heard of the place.  We were wondering if we were lost at first, and then we started seeing cars parked along the road, some almost in the ditch.

If you’re interested in local food and local food traditions, by all means check out a book or watch a video by Fred Sauceman!

The Proffitts of Ridgewood: An Appalachian Family’s Life in Barbecue by Fred Sauceman

Reviewed by Jeanne

In 1948, Grace and Jim Proffitt, a young couple with two small children and deep roots in East Tennessee decided to see if they could earn some extra money by opening a restaurant.  They’d a bit of experience in running a country store, so with two partners they opened an eatery in Bullock’s Hollow.  Named for a hotel in Dayton Beach, the Ridgewood Grill featured steak, country fried chicken, and—somewhat oddly—oysters. The venture was doing fairly well, and then they were dealt a setback:  Sullivan County went dry.  Since beer sales had been a strong source of revenue, they had to re-think their business plan.

Instead of a grill, they decided to specialize in barbecue. The rest, as they say, is history.

Like the Colonel, Ridgewood has its secret recipes.  The barbecue sauce, perfected over time by Jim Proffitt, doesn’t have a written recipe. Instead, at the proper time, a family member is chosen to memorize the ingredients; most recently, Larry Proffitt passed the barbacue recipe to his daughter, Lisa. Also cloaked in secrecy is the recipe for the blue cheese dressing, which is so good that it’s eaten from a bowl with crackers instead of being spread over salad. People purchase it by the quart to take home.  Other famous dishes are the baked beans and coleslaw.

Fred Sauceman, a food historian with a strong interest in the Appalachian region, is the perfect writer to record the history of the legendary Ridgewood.  He knows the region and the people in general, and The Ridgewood in particular. He does an excellent job of describing how the restaurant has fared through the years, being passed from Grace and Jim to their sons, and now the third generation is behind the counter.  While family members have outside jobs –ever practical, they are encouraged to choose professions suitable for making a living--but the restaurant remains a labor of love.

Sauceman discusses how the classic menu came to be, including the design of the pit for smoking the ham (never pork shoulder, which is for sausage) and the creation of the tomato based sauce. Some side dishes warrant their own discussion, coleslaw for one. The emphasis is all on fresh, quality ingredients, without shortcuts.

This attention to detail and quality has won the restaurant nationwide recognition, including a photo in People magazine with a testimonial from the Sterns (“Road Food”) and a visit to “Good Morning America.” NASCAR drivers, professional football players, TV personalities, and other celebrities have made their way to Ridgewood, but it’s the local customers who have supported the restaurant over the decades with a fierce loyalty. 

The book is as much about the family and the region as it is about the food.  To Sauceman, the Proffitt family epitomizes Appalachian regional values.  Besides quality, frugality, generosity, and pride in one’s work, the emphasis is on family and relationships.  Most of the employees have worked there for decades, sometimes with three generations of one family working together. 

When I confessed that I had never been to Ridgewood, my admission drew gasps from the audience.  I have been told that I simply must  make the trip.  After reading The Proffitts of Ridgewood, I am inclined to agree.  But whether you are a regular customer or neophyte like me, I think anyone with an interest in our region would enjoy this book.

Fred Sauceman & Southern Food

Mention country ham, sawmill gravy, soup beans or fried apple pies and Appalachian natives will snap to attention. Food is an important part of Appalachian culture, as distinctive as the region’s music, and born of the same blending process.

Fred Sauceman has spent much of his life exploring the wonders of Appalachian food and the people who create it.He’s produced two wonderful documentaries that highlight local delicacies.“Red Hot Dog Digest” (DVD 647.95755 Main) takes the viewer down Lee Highway, stopping at locations such as The Corner Dog House to talk about this regional treat. People in this area love their red hot dogs.  (I have to say I was a bit taken aback the first time I saw a hot dog that was NOT red! I thought there was something wrong with it.) Now I want to go visit the Dip Dog, too.


The second film highlights a Greeneville treasure, “Beans All the Way” (DVD 647.95768 BEA).  In 1946, Romie and Zella Mae Britt opened a little eatery serving good down-home food. The film tells their story, including the invention of their signature pinto bean dish.

We’re VERY pleased to say that Fred Sauceman will be at the Main this Sunday, November 21, at 3 pm to show “Beans All the Way.”  There will also be a food tasting!  This is a free event.  Fred will have a selection of books for sale that he has written, edited, or otherwise contributed to.  Some of his works include:

The Place Setting: Timeless Tastes of the Mountain South, from Bright Hope to Frog Level (641.5 SAU Avoca) is a wonderful collection of essays about regional foods. Most of the essays are interviews about one eatery or cook, letting him or her tell the story with minimal interference from the author. Places include The Burger Bar, Ridgewood Barbecue, and the Snappy Lunch. The essays are warm and informal, like chatting over a kitchen table. Some recipes are included as well. There are actually three volumes in the series and, like potato chips, it’s hard to stop at just reading one.


Cornbread Nation 5 (394.12 COR Main & Avoca) is a wonderful compilation of essays about Southern food, from Barbara Kingsolver’s thoughts on being a locavore to the joys of country ham as discovered by a Yankee.


The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook is brand new! In it you’ll find sections devoted to all the foods dear to a Southerner’s heart: gravy, chess pie, chicken and dumplings. It would make a fine gift for anyone, even yourself.


We hope you’ll join us on Sunday! (And did we mention a food tasting?)