Appalachian History

A king is curious to know which of his daughters loves him the most, so he asks them. The first two claim to love him more than anything else, but the youngest simply says, "as meat loves salt." The king is so angered but what he thinks is her flippancy that he banishes her.

She packs up her three prettiest dresses, hides them in a marsh, makes herself a dress and cap of rushes, and travels around to find work. After working as a kitchen maid for awhile in the house of a rich man, the rich man throws a series of parties for his son. The youngest princess / kitchen maid dresses up in her dresses and attends the gala each of the three nights, and the master’s son falls in love with her.

After searching in vain to find her, he begins to pine away for her. She makes him soup and drops the ring he gave her into the soup, which is delivered by the First Cook, who hopes to take credit for the soup. The master’s son recognizes the ring and vows to marry the woman who made the soup, who then reveals that she is the princess.

At the wedding feast, the bride instructs that her father be served meat without salt, thus revealing her identity to her father as she explains what she meant when she told him she loved him “as meat loves salt” – i.e. that he was and is the spice of her life.

---Appalachian folktale “As Meat Loves Salt,” based on similar English & Greek folktales


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