There was an essay on Salon.com yesterday about the joys of Appalachian cooking, which is apparently the newest foodie rage in the US. It sounds lovely -- seasonal, local, sustainable, all natural, communal. It also sounds exactly like what we do here -- what every food culture, in fact, always did until about a hundred years ago when the advent of refrigeration changed the world's eating habits. The part about pulling up a chair and wiling away the hours in conversation with your neighbors could describe every night of the week down at the pub. And the part about the keen respect for every part of an animal? Fabulous! Until you find yourself facing a boiled chicken head on a plate, that is...