Nestled in the foothills of America’s Appalachian Mountains, Chattanooga is the charmingly-named city Beth Kirby calls home. The stylist, photographer, writer and recipe developer embodies the patchwork maxim “Home is where the heart is” with joyous verse on the virtues of vegetables, magazine-quality food snaps and an appreciation for slow, sustainable living. In her blog, Local Milk, Beth shares memories, life lessons and a catalogue of honest, home-spun recipes frequently honouring the flavours, textures and sweet comforts of her Tennessean childhood. From easy, adaptable cake batters and a classic “Southern pizza” (tomato galette), to earthy, wholegrain salads, Beth cooks with the seasons to gratifying results.
Having led a series of intriguing and irreconcilable lives – Southern belle in her grandmother’s kitchen, philosophy student soul-searching abroad, dissatisfied youth swayed by ceviche and vodka – it seems Beth has come full circle. Today, she travels the globe presenting styling, cooking and slow living workshops, between gleeful stays at home. Captivated by the beauty of nature, and even unruly mess, Beth’s poetic prose suggests a gratitude that can only be learned through adversity. It is perhaps for this reason that Local Milk possesses a depth and darkness, both in text and imagery, seldom seen in the surfeit of food blogs today.
Living is a glossy, unctuous thing, and cooking is a divine, ancient art. It is the elevation of biological necessity. It is the beating heart. It is an empire built on grain and cacao. It is selenium and potassium. It is kale and cauliflower. It is sustenance. It is actually the art of living. From patisserie to charcuterie to yeast-leavened breads to molecular gastronomy—there is no facet of food and cooking that does not interest me. I want to meticulously decorate a cake, cook an entire pig, and sous vide an egg. I like sharp knives. I like technique. I like ratios. I like simplicity. I like rustic. I like refined. I like candy. I like food.
I started my blog as a way to… explore the beauty of everyday living, from meals to travel to home, as well as a way to connect with like-minded people.
I describe my blog’s aesthetic as… lyric, dark wabi-sabi mixed with modern cottage cookery.
I learnt to cook from… reading and experimenting relentlessly.
If I was an ingredient I’d be… an egg because they can take a million forms and serve as many functions.
I’d love to go on a culinary adventure to… Tokyo and eat at Noma.
Eating… boiled crawdads (crayfish) takes me back to wild, cheap beer-fuelled nights in New Orleans.
This year, I’d like to master… puff pastry. Sad to say it isn't currently a confident part of my repertoire.
At my ideal dinner party, we’d eat… fresh seafood, either raw or cooked on the barbecue, drink good wine for my guests and my favorite little non-alcoholic drink, Sanbittèr, for me and listen to Edgar Moreau, my now favourite cellist. Preferably live.
Nugget of cooking wisdom… you're only as good as your ingredients. I think Thomas Keller said that once and it stuck with me.
When eating out, my eyes go straight to… anything with tentacles or sugar on the menu.
My most sauce-splattered cookbooks are… Michael Ruhlman's Ratio, The Flavor Thesaurus, The Flavor Bible and On Food and Cooking.
Beyond my own blog, some of my favourites reads are... Manger, Cannelle et Vanille, Hungry Ghost, The Vanilla Bean Blog, Little Upside Down Cake, Sunday Suppers, and From my Dining Table.
1. Quinoa, apple and roasted fennel and parsnip salad with raw honey vinaigrette
2. Herbes de Provence and rose olive oil cake
3. Heirloom tomato galette with lemon balm almond pesto and chevre
4. Peach curd and rosewater tartlets with basil whipped cream
Blog Appétit Writer Siobhan Hegarty
Source: Beth Kirby
Photography by Beth Kirby.
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