Talking Location with author Lauren H Brandenburg – KENTUCKY

17th December 2019

#TalkingLocationWith…Lauren H Brandenburg, author of The Death of Mungo Blackwell – KENTUCKY

Kentucky Through My Coraloo

You won’t find Coraloo on a map nor could one locate it with a GPS. There are no reviews for its single tavern or tri-fold pamphlets advertising the renovated shoe factory turned flea market on the hill. Coraloo emerges into story as a bit of a whimsical place, idyllic with a personality as entertaining as its citizens—an escape for readers, a lovely place to dwell, painted in all the smells, foods, entertainments, landscape, and feels of my childhood Kentucky home, setting the perfect stage for The Death of Mungo Blackwell.

In search of a quelque chose de nouveau, a something new, the tale’s heroes, Charlie and Velveteen Price take the two hour and forty-one minute drive southeast of “the city” to Coraloo, past miles of rolling Kentucky bluegrass, black fences outlining the estates of family owned horse farms, and limestone walls, iconic to the central Kentucky landscape — built mostly by Kentucky’s earliest Scotch-Irish settlers who passed their artisan skill on to slaves, now branding the dry-stack stone walls as “slave walls”. It is the same scene I passed visiting grandparents in other towns, during school bus rides as a child, and on Sunday drives to church.

Kentucky flows through Coraloo like the pungent aroma of freshly hung tobacco wafting through the door-less entry of the Coraloo Flea Market. As the granddaughter of a tobacco farmer, it is that fragrance I try to recall the most—the auburn stalks warmed by the sunlight streaming through the slated black barns, producing a fragrance that is both sweet and dry. It would not have been a smell Charlie and Velveteen would have found in “the city”, but still a comfort, a reminder of simpler times, foreshadowing the simplicity they crave in their search for a less complicated life.

Coraloo represents a change of pace, a slowing down, a chance to reflect and rest from the push and drive of a career driven life in the city. It is my Kentucky. The days of my youth where summer was ushered in by the Kentucky Derby, watching from my living room as the women adorned in wide brimmed hats, decorated in bows and flora, and the men dressed in their finery, placed bets on which horse would win the race. And of the late fall when days were cool and nights much colder, I recall my grandparents’ church brewing burgoo in a huge cast iron pot, stirring it with oar like paddles, then placing in Mason jars to sell as a church-wide fundraiser. In days gone by, this Kentucky meal was prepared as a means of survival, comprised of rabbit, deer, or other game with longevity, combined with a household’s remaining vegetables to create a stew of sorts that could be canned and stored for months. Served warm it is a comfort food, and in the eyes of Coraloo, the perfect way to welcome the Price’s to the traditions of their town.

Like burgoo, bourbon has its own place in both Kentucky and Coraloo. Kentucky lays claim to the type of barrel aged whiskey with distilleries now popular as tourist destinations. But in Coraloo it is as much a necessary flavory as a beverage to be consumed at the local tavern—The Beaver’s Beard. The boozy beverage has found its way into their meats, bread puddings, and even their cinnamon rolls. My mother occasionally used it to quiet a cough or calm a stinging sore throat. And of the non-alcoholic nature, Velveteen refers to a “gingery fizzy drink”, a gesture to Ale-8 – Kentucky’s original ginger and citrus flavored soda.

Family and food go hand in hand in Coraloo, like summer picnics and potluck dinners—where guests each bring a dish of their choosing to the meal. For Velveteen, it would be a miniature version of the Kentucky Hot Brown—an open-faced turkey sandwich usually prepared with turkey, bacon, pimientos and a light cheesy Mornay sauce, broiled until the cheese is melted. But for the Blackwells, the family of artisans who own the flea market, it would be a bit more casual—pickled eggs, fried corn, or a casserole recipe that has been passed from one generation to the next.

Through the history and epic tales of Coraloo, friendships anchored by family, and the financial provision Charlie searches for by buying and selling from the Blackwell market, Charlie and Velveteen take readers through Coraloo, nodding to the simplicity of my Kentucky with its diverse farmland, gentle people, strong Southern traditions and iconic foods. It is my home. My history. My Coraloo.

Thank you so much to Lauren for the this evocative piece on Kentucky!

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