If there's one thing we know how to do here in the South, it's eat. Anyone can eat, but you gotta learn to cook. These are some of the best books to show you how.
For a really special dessert, look no further than a home-made cake. With easy-to-follow techniques, plus kitchen secrets and tips, any home baker can make a Southern cake worth bragging about!
"With a drive to preserve the heritage foods of the South, [executive chef and partner at Husk] Brock cooks dishes that are ingredient-driven and reinterpret the flavors of his youth in Appalachia and his adopted hometown of Charleston. The recipes include all the comfort food (think food to eat at home) and high-end restaurant food (fancier dishes when there's more time to cook) for which he has become so well-known"--Amazon.com.
"Not just another successful Southern chef, James Beard Award-winner John Currence is THE ambassador for Oxford, Mississippi. In his first book, he shares his rugged and fancy style of cooking through 130 delicious recipes, colorful personal stories, music pairings, and beautiful photography."-- From publisher's description.
Build a from-scratch Southern pantry with 50 essential recipes, then discover the versatility and flexibility of cooking from your larder with 100 more recipes for fresh takes on Southern favorites. Learn how to make the most of local ingredients with recipes for pickles and relishes, jams and spreads, sauces and vinegars, and more that use whole, natural, and in-season produce. With these flavorful bases and embellishments on hand, Ashley English opens up a world of Southern cuisine by sharing ideas and recipes that incorporate these classic staples. With recipes ranging from Southern Greens with Chow Chow, Pickled Beet Deviled Eggs, and Succotash to Cornmeal Catfish with Spikey Tartar Sauce, Slow Cooker Barbeque Chicken, and Grit Cakes with Country Ham and Applesauce, this is a warm and down-to-earth homage to Southern Appalachian home cooking.
"Chef Edward Lee's story and his food could only happen in America. Raised in Brooklyn by a family of Korean immigrants, he eventually settled down in his adopted hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, where he owns the acclaimed restaurant 610 Magnolia. A multiple James Beard Award nominee for his unique patchwork cuisine, Edward creates recipes--filled with pickling, fermenting, frying, curing, and smoking--that reflect the overlapping flavors and techniques that led this Korean-American boy to feel right at home in the South. Dishes like Chicken-Fried Pork Steak with Ramen Crust and Buttermilk Pepper Gravy; Collards and Kimchi; Braised Beef Kalbi with Soft Grits and Scallions; and Miso-Smothered Chicken all share a place on his table. Born with the storytelling gene of a true Southerner, Lee fills his debut cookbook with tales of the restaurant world, New York City, Kentucky, and his time competing on Top Chef, plus more than 130 exceptional recipes for food with Korean roots and Southern soul."-- Publisher description.
"Authors of the award-winning Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook, Matt Lee and Ted Lee grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, immersed in the flavorful traditions...that have made southern food the most beloved food of American cuisines...That's the genesis of The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern--easy, healthy dishes for every day that don't compromise an ounce of deep southern flavor..."--Dust cover.
"Victuals is an exploration of the foodways, people, and places of Appalachia. Written by Ronni Lundy, regarded as the most engaging authority on the region, the book guides us through the surprisingly diverse history--and vibrant present--of food in the Mountain South. Victualsexplores the diverse and complex food scene of the Mountain South through recipes, stories, traditions, and innovations. Each chapter explores a specific defining food or tradition of the region--such as salt, beans, corn (and corn liquor). The essays introduce readers to their rich histories and the farmers, curers, hunters, and chefs who define the region's contemporary landscape. Sitting at a diverse intersection of cuisines, Appalachia offers a wide range of ingredients and products that can be transformed using traditional methods and contemporary applications. Through 80 recipes and stories gathered on her travels in the region, Lundy shares dishes that distill the story and flavors of the Mountain South"-- Provided by publisher.
Southern cooking, the most interesting and complex regional cuisine in America, remains a mystery to many professional cooks and southerners. With a stellar collection of recipes, Neal reveals the background and subtleties of southern foods. He uses imaginative new ways with old standards to make the recipes more accessible, but he never resorts to shortcuts or processed ingredients. He also shows how the meeting of Native American, Western European, and African cultures has created this cuisine.
"Food to leaf is not a vegetarian cookbook--it's a cookbook that celebrates vegetables. Everyone, from the omnivore to the vegan, will find something here. Organized by seasons, and with a decidedly Southern flair, Satterfield's collection of mouthwatering recipes makes the most of available produce from local markets, foraging, and the home garden."--preliminaries.
Women of African descent have contributed to America's food culture for centuries, but their rich and varied involvement is still overshadowed by the demeaning stereotype of an illiterate "Aunt Jemima" who cooked mostly by natural instinct. Tipton-Martin looks at black cookbooks that range from a rare 1827 house servant's manual, the first book published by an African American in the trade, to modern classics. These cookbooks offer firsthand evidence that African Americans cooked creative masterpieces from meager provisions, educated young chefs, operated food businesses, and nourished the African American community through the long struggle for human rights.
"A memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces the paths of the author's ancestors (black and white) through the crucible of slavery to show its effects on our food today"-- Provided by publisher.