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July 6th, 2011
04:15 PM ET
Food says so much about where you’ve come from, where you’ve decided to go, and the lessons you’ve learned. It’s geography, politics, tradition, belief and so much more and this week, we invite you to dig in and discover the rich, ever-evolving taste of America in 2011. The week will culminate with a Secret Supper in New York City, and Eatocracy invites you to participate online starting Monday July 11th at 6:30 p.m. E.T. Douglas Jones works at CNN International We were at a lake in east Tennessee on U.S. Independence Day weekend when someone’s grandfather brought out three glass jars and started passing around the flavored moonshine. In these parts, it wasn’t a surprise. We had just returned to camp and already the barbecue grills were sizzling. The coolers were open and you could hear that crisp rush of ice falling as hands pulled out more cold beers. We were three Americans from CNN who went to Tennessee to show a group of international journalists a bit of Americana on the most American time of the year: 4th of July weekend. Fresh out of the lake water and still drying off, our group was exhausted after a trip on the Tennessee River catching catfish with our hands. It’s a practice called catfish “noodling” or “grabbling”. As the burgers and chicken wings cooked on the grill, grandmothers appeared with banana pudding and coconut pies. Before we knew it there were tables full of food. Then an older gentleman brought out the moonshine. Immediately a circle formed around the clear liquid in glass jars. There were three flavors: watermelon, peach and “original”. Each brave soul made a child-like cringe and giggled a little as they took a sip. It was all about sharing and the group watched, to see if you could handle the tough stuff. The men explained how it was made and how it was a part of the culture in Tennessee. We had some laughs and sat back down with plates of fried, grilled and baked southern goodness. Everyone told stories about where they were from and the group of journalists from all over the world told the southerners about different idiosyncrasies in their countries. It was a great experience to take something so American and share it with a group that was so international. The experience reminded me of something I’ve known for a while. Food brings people together, no matter who they are. Food reminds us all that we all share many ideas about friendship and family. It was an appropriate way to celebrate the birthday of the melting pot of cultures that is the U.S. Read more about catfish noodling on CNNI Back|Story Previously - Shine on, you crazy distiller |
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I'm an East TN native, and occasional 'shine drinker. I just "discovered" Midnight Moon for myself; their Apple Pie version is delish, and the Cherries variation is powerful, but delicious (especially when you bite into the fruit – that gush of PGA is swoon-worthy). Wonder if you were up near my neck of the woods, Douglas? I live just outside of Knoxville. Y'all come back soon now, ya hear?
Tried moonshine once – just a sip, and it made my lips go numb for an hour! (And I prefer my scotch neat, so it's not that I can't handle straight liquor.)
That stuff's not for me. I like something I can sip and enjoy without getting stupid.
Ann, you darlin' little thang, sometimes the point is to get stoopid for a short while...
try some grappa - It is a little smoother than moonshine
Purchased some "AppleJack" here in Kentucky last fall. Brought it out at Thanksgiving after dinner, everyone had some in a Brandy snifter and it was pretty much unanimous that it was very smooth and very drinkable – we polished off those two jars fairly quick. Even my mother had a taste and enjoyed it, bear in mind she is more of a Dubonnet sipper. It was way smoother than "White Dog" which is a legal version distilled by Buffalo Trace. In my experience the better quality (insert your preferred moniker for illegal spirits here) is not terribly inexpensive either, comparable to the bonded stuff anyway. I can't wait till October – I will get more than two jars this time.
Home distillation should be legalized, just like making beer and wine.
potcheen comes in second place.
Moonshine is 4 wimps. Slivovitz (balkan plum booze) or tuica fatata (extremely strong romanian plum booze) is the quickest way to not remember last night :)
Eurotrash, .go bang yourself
Played flip-cup with the stuff when we ran out of beer on Sunday and went through two mason jars. Whoo, I'll tell ya, I think my liver will hate me forever.
Ah multiculturalism...CNN gets to promote American-made illegal booze with merely a wink and a giggle and all is right with the world.
i seriously doubt it will "further" corrupt society...
but maybe we can tune into one of the travel
shows next time, and watch some idiot eat a foreign
bug or some unidentifiable raw meat, yes!!
sign me up for that :)
ew red neck food
Troll. No one named Jake would post this.
LOL !
took the words right out of my mouth
Legalize everything + cut all foreign aide = Universal health care for not a dime more in taxes than we're paying now!
Mighty,mighty pleasin',
Pappy's corn squeezin's,
Chooweee!
White lightnin'!
My great grand dad, Charlie Sibert was a justice of the peace and sometime deputy in Iowa in the twenties and thirties. One of his jobs was to shut down any illegal stills or "moonshiners". Well, one night he drank the still dry before he shut it down and the still owners were so mad at him they put him in a shop window to sleep it off. His daughter, my grandma never forgave him, but she always told the story with a giggle, and a sip of moonshine.
Great story Ava ! !
typical reaction from his family, lol...
makes me think of my moms family and
how everyone was expected to behave in
such a "proper" manner, back in the day
thanks for the smile, i needed that today :)
i banged my cousin.. so what? she's hot!
tis true...
however!
i would "strongly" advise against trying to
verify that little fact whilst in some parts of Kentucky, no.
:D
The repugs seem to like capitalism so much, but try to outlaw everything the little guy does to have a piece of it. Figure it out.
Nowadays many folks have turned to growing pot instead of distilling. Providing for a need, pure capitalism at it's finest.
yep and they can grow pot just as good as they can make moonshine
Moonshine is a word that some Yankee came up with. Folks in the south call it white eye, corn likker, white whiskey, panther piss and some other names that are not decent to print. Where I was brought up, it was common practice to place a half gallon of white eye on the kitchen table for anyone that wanted it that were over sixteen. Most kids quit school at sixteen and went to work in the cotton mills or marble mill or helped make likker. I am seventy four and I believe when the government repealed prohibition they should have legalized making likker and would have created more jobs and revenue than they gained by paying huge salaries for the reveneurs to hunt and arrest folks for manufacturing non tax paid likker. My Uncle made better likker than most of the bonded stuff, and never was caught. He bought a large farm, and a new pick-up truck every year. Then as now the cost of enforcing the law was much greater than just letting the folks alone and they would have made as good a likker as the legal distillers do. The jails were full of good honest folks that made a living the only way they could. Today those same folks are on welfare and food stamps which cost the government out the yazoo. As long as there are customers for a product, the suppliers will find a way to produce it. I happen to be from North Georgia.
M.K., Prohibition was a corporate-sponsored regulation of alcohol for the purpose of driving small competitors out of business and opening up the market share to the major alcohol producers once it was re-legalized. Allowing people to distill their own liquor (while I agree with you) would negate the entire reason for prohibition in the first place, and will thus never happen under the current system.
Thanks, MK. I used the term 'shine because most of the readers here would be more comfortable with that. We use '"corn likker" as a common usage around here. My "Mountain William" friends are partial to the various nomenclatures using "white", for the white corn origins, ( higher sugar content, you know). BATF = waste of our tax money. Support free enterprise!!!!
Just drive through the hills of GA – NC – KY – TN in the mornin more so & take a good whiff. That isn't pine trees & honeysuckle you're a smellin.
Rye, not rey. If you are only in it for the money, then why would you pay a premium for SS? Old radiators, used gas tubing, and potatoes or rotten fruit will do. In a city, the distinctive smell of distilling will give you away, the mountainmen didn't/don't cook up in some isolated holler because it is convenient. Bathtub gin and skullache alcohol is a curse on man. Quality 'shine is an art, any a$$wipe can follow a recipe in an old magazine article...
Hell yeah Aunt Matilda!
So wine or beer has between 4 and 20 percent alchohol. You take it and remove some of the water, and by doing so you're breaking the law? Hmmmm.
Is the fermented beer or mash used to make moonshine in itself illegal?
Anyone?
I doubt it. I believe it's the distilling process, the product, and the selling of that product which is illegal. That wont stop the southerners though, it's part of the heritage.
The lack of paying the tax on it is what's illegal. Where I live (in east Tennessee), there are many legal versions sold in stores; the difference is simply that the legal version is sold by a registered business that charges & pays tax on the product.
There is more moonshine made in Chicago and New York than in Southern states. Any abandoned building will do and you can buy stainless steel parts for a still from a lot of good metal salvage yards. The rest is good water a LP gas burner Rey or wheat sprouts, corn and sugar. Very easy to do big profit in sales, slap on the hand for first time seller.
A good still should be made out of copper
Copper rocked in the day, now, SS is readily available now and preferable. The people will make alcohol, because they can, and want to. Big Daddy knows this, and has hate in his heart because he can't control/tax it as he would wish. Learn to brew, inbibe, and piss on the world that says you can't.
looks more like a bottle of urine than liquor. You sure he didn't just sleep in his pickup truck?
Pretty sure thats the whole sliced peach brining in it...I'll take that over artificial flavorings any day
If you want to taste corn whiskey you can buy Georgia Moon at many liquor stores.
If you want to drink corn whiskey you can drink bourbon. Shine is a different beast altogether.
Please fix the caption on picture 5. The plural of turkey is turkeys, not turkey's (which is the posessive form).
Ohhh, possessive form...bustin' out the fancy grammar
In many countries it is perfectly acceptable and normal for people to distill wine and such and make cordials and shnapps and all sorts of drinks for personal consumption. Nothing crazy or scary or Hillbilly – just another part of Food and Drink.
I've never heard of moonshine and read this article to find out what it is. Didn't explain what it comes from, I'm assuming its a type of homegrown alcohol.
You just lay there by the junipers,
While the moon is bright
Watch them jugs a fillin'
In the pale moonlight.
in this case...
yes it is :)
and contrary to some of the post
here, it's not the devil, lol
although, you may feel like a 100
little evil pixies are doing a tap dance
on your forehead the next morning
:D
Moonshine is a dangerous drug that can kill you. Did someone discuss with you and those international journalists exactly how and under what conditions that moonshine was made? And did you tell them they were breaking the law and risking their lives and/or their freedom? Moonshine is also not a food.
Distilled and condensed through the radiator of a '56 Rambler scavenged at the junk...er, recycling center.
Little lead solder never hurt anyone. Least not in my family.
Maybe not where YOU come from.
Junk food is a dangerous habit that will put you in the ground too Elle. The only reason moonshine is illegal is that it is easy to make so some corporation is losing profits by not being able to sell it to you. LIGHTEN UP!
your Soap Box is sagging a bit
there Elle, you may want to jump
off that thing before you bump your
head again...
unless you grew up in a plastic bubble,
i'm sure you've inhaled, ingested, or touched
something much_much worse than Moonshine, lol
Actually Elle, homemade moonshine can be much more pure than the stuff at the store. Also, you know just what goes into it. Id rather drink something I made myself rather than something that a) doesn't list ingredients and b) says on the label that it can kill you and c) profits corporations instead of local economies.
That said, alcohol of all kinds is poisonous, and shouldn't be consumed.
You are a wise soul. Ignore the lost ones.
Why is it that articles about noodling never mention snapping turtles? And why so many catfish noodlers are missing fingers?
I met a young woman on a new job, sweet young thing, very religious, read her bible every night, she brought moonshine with her. She was from Tennessee and thought nothing of drinking moonshine, never tried it myself but I'm not much of a drinker. Always remembered that.
I grew up in Ohio and have lived in KY so yeah.....that stuff"ll take paint off the walls!!
My family has been making 'shine for over 200 years. I knew I had come of age when the jar was first offered.
My daddy he made whiskey
His daddy he did too
We ain't paid no whiskey tax since 1792
Oops, sorry, didn't even see you down here.
You were first.
Definitely people should be allowed to make their own, as long as its a small amount.
Yeap....pretty good stuff when ya get the boys together!
Well it looks like our state is going to get a lot more "tourists" now. This secret was not supposed to get out! Thanks CNN...
Yup! See ya soon!
LOL
Moonshine...
the new Stimulus
wooo hooo Tennessee !
Only about 9 percent say no. And people STILL say that white people are becoming endangered in America.
I prefer Uncle Jemima's Corn Mash Liquor
Here in Tennessee as in neighboring states it has always been a rite of passage. I am in my late 50's but remmeber when I was a young boy hearing a siren and seeing a police car with the one red light on the top run another older car into a small rock wall. The older cars rear bumper was almost on the ground because when the trunk was opened it was full og gallon jugs of white lightning.Times have changed and the art has also. It is usually made in someones shop or basement and not near a spring in a "holler" somewhere.But, its still the same but even flavored it still is a lot clearer than the mason jar in the picture. That looks like pickle juice.When you can pour some in the cap of the container and it burns blue then ya'll have got the right stuff.
nooooo ! ! !
put the match down...
and back away slowly
lol
Actually thats the proper way of testing the purity of alcohol back in the day. If it burns, thats "proof" of strong product. Thats why the strength of alcohol is measured in "proof" today
Hahaha, "we are a group of cnn people trying to show journalist how it is done..." I just can't picture liberals being comfortable in that environment (getting down and dirty outdoors), they all seem like big city people to me. In fact, they had to explain what noodling was.
I'm a liberal, from South Carolina, and I do stuff like that all of the time. We just got back from roughing it in PIsgah National Forest. Try to remember that we're the ones who want to SAVE the planet, so it should be understood that we're more likely to do stuff like that because we appreciate the great outdoors.
Amen to that sister. I am a liberal that been all over, tried everything once and lived to tell the tale. Maybe that's why i'm a liberal? Now pass me the moonshine I'd like a snort.
No, Cunion, I've done all that and I'm no liberal.
well said...
live your story, gather the facts
and tell the tale :D
you probably had the time of your
life in the process, lol :))
Picture 6 shows what I can only assume is a dumb-as-dirt redneck frying barefoot.
That's a recipe for fried foot. Moron!
Fried foot is a delicacy in the South.
Like pig's knuckles.
Greg, if you are personally unable to operate a grill unless you are fully clothed, perhaps you should stick to Ronalds' finest and leave the adults alone...
hey, hey, hey...
glass houses Greg
some are products of their
upbringing, we can't "all" be snobs
:)
:)
That's not moonshine, that's a urine sample.
If it's my uncle Eddie's, there's not a lot of difference.
I make Uranushine. It's about the same as moonshine, only it knocks you on your ass way faster.
Started making my own shine this year after many years home brewing mead. It's a fun experience and everyone wants to at least try the taste once. Well worth it.
Break out that banjo!
C'mon Ned, squeal for the nice man.
you lookin' mighty fine in them jeans, boy........
you sure got a purdy mouth!
When growing up in Georgia I used to get some from the locals on camping/fishing trips up in the mountians. Also, they make some mean stuff; "poteen" it's called in rural Ireland where I lived for a summer.
speaking as a Georgian,
and having read about your visit
to our great state...
welcome back ! :)
Man this article hits me right at home. Of course I live in Tennessee so this is nothing new to me.
lol...
i'm from Georgia, need i say more?
i think not :)
but i was "absolutely" a one timer when
it comes to this unholy concoction, lol.
whew! it will light you up...
not to mention, get you drunker than Cooter Brown :))
you'll have to be a Southerner to get that last one
lol @ cooterbrown. I love the stuff especially peach but it absolutely will light you up. Im from South Carolina
lol...
yes, Cooter Brown: known state of drunkenness
by means of over consumption of Stump Liquor :)
FRIED CHICKEN YALL!!
Who are these odd looking beings? Oh yea, white people!
I noodled my girlfriend and she bit my finger!!
At least it didn't get snapped off in the "noodlin' " hole.
AWW I WAS 2ND :(
FIRST!!
Er, SECOND!
Fail
looser
Looser that what?
The screw in your noggin, illiterate?
is something not tight?
you did mean loser, right?....one o.
LMAO!
he probably still doesn't get it Richard...
you made me laugh "hard"
he must have been sitting in the desk
right next to Jethro
:D
you're my hero!
x♥x
mmmmm, i wish i could be a redneck!!
You can!
Don't go to the dentist again – ever.
Only shop at Walmart.
Move into the nearest trailer park ... with or without a trailer ... preferably the one next door to Walmart
When your wife or girlfriend goes shopping (at Walmart of course), tell her she can only wear tube tops, pajama bottoms and slippers.
Each day, drink gallons of the cheapest beer you can find.
Watch NASCAR like your life depends on it.
Never pass up fresh roadkill.
When anyone brings up the cost of anything, tell 'em they paid too much – no matter what it is.
There's more, but the race's fixin' tuh stort .....
You forgot the beer-can-curlers at WalMart. It's called wal-Mart not wal-SMART.
Written like an uppity a$$ who finally moved out of the trailer park...
And moved on up to Dollar General!
Tell you what, that tube top Ellie Jo's wearing's making me forget she's my cousin.
Then again, why does that even matter?
you kind of sound like an ass hole to me
Really? because anybody that isn't one of those big city folks must all be like this. Yes we like BBQ's, NASCAR, cookouts, fishing, hunting, ect ect......but we also care about family and country (not the music) very much. And remember the "good ol boys" are the majority of the fighters in the military.
You Americans are ALL white trash. Even the blacks. You've made Walmart richer than most countries. You deserve your poverty-ridden fate.
WOW Richard...Hate America much?
You remind me of the first professor I had in Chicago after leaving Kentucky. He was a classless jerk like you who thought us all to be provincial philistines. He poked fun at my home state time and time again until my work made him look like a ponce. Take your arrogance and shove it up your ass along with your crime, homelessness, pollution, and disrespect. Southern folks are typically incredibly friendly and hospitable until you treat us like quaint simpletons, then you learn what a Southern beat down feels like.
My daddy, he made whiskey,
My granddaddy did too.
We ain't paid no whiskey tax
Since seventeen ninety two!
Jon your in luck bc at some point your family was "redneck". Well that is if your family came here on a wooden boat. I love the sterotype of rednecks, but most people don't realize that redneck are TRUE americans. They are why this country is great not to mention free. I also think it's funny that our first President thought it was needed for people to make moonshine yet you get fined heavily if you make it.
George Washington wanted tax revenue from distilling as well....ever heard of the Whiskey Rebellion? It was an armed insurrection that forced President Washington to raise a militia to go in and crush the insurrection. Sure, the rebellion was over before the militia even arrived but the message was clear, in the new country, you will have to pay excise taxes for distilling alcohol. Furthermore, those who took up armed resistance against the federal government were indicted and tried for treason, a big deal as unlike most countries, treason is defined in our Constitution, Article 3, Section 3, as a very specific waging of war against the state, and the Constitution was less than 4 years old at the time.
there are worse things one could be...
but know this, if you ever needed a helping
hand for whatever reason, they would
be the first to step up there, Jon
LOL!
Y'all in denial = defensive
Y'all on the attack = clueless left-wing stooges
Coming from rednecks who actually have a sense of humor about their way of life, gives me the liberty (remember what that is?) to make fun of ... well ... us.. Y'all need to get a grip. And while y'all're at Dollar General today, why not buy yourself a nice sense of humor, too. HA!
Let's ride Ponch,Bareback!
Ooo, bring it on big boy! I just love a man in uniform – and out, too.
To be a redneck you can live near a walmart, but to get your hands on the good moonshine you have to be a Hillbilly. Which means walmart is an hour drive into the nearest town(if your lucky) and you make the treck once a week outta the hollar for groceries.