Working harder to understand exactly how this sausage is made compels us to consider the intersections of tacit knowledge, physical dexterity, social savvy, and sensory power, as well as how the appellation craft can bolster hierarchies framed in terms of gender, class, and race.

In a 2008 ethnographic celebration of American county fairs, Drake Hokanson and Carol Kratz pointed to pigs, quilts, and dirty pickup trucks as surefire signs of rural culture. Jars of colorful award-winning preserves also affirmed the vibrant life beyond urban centers: after all, the authors asked, “Who in the city makes jelly?”