Ernest Matthew Mickler's White Trash Cooking was released in 1986 to mixed reviews. Some of the recipes in the cookbook include "Uncle Willie's Swamp Cabbage Stew," "Rabbit Pie" and "Broiled Squirrel." Critics wondered if the book was for shock value or if it was just another elitist dig at poor southerners.  

Michael Adno's profile of Mickler portrays a man who took pride in his disappearing southern heritage and in the food served by his Florida relatives and neighbors —the same people he felt rejected by as a gay man.

On Second Thought host Virginia Prescott speaks with Michael Adno.

Adno joined On Second Thought from Florida to talk about the life of Mickler and the various things Adno discovered while writing the 2019 James Beard award-winning profile, "The Short and Brilliant Life of Ernest Matthew Mickler," published by The Bitter Southerner.

 

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