Café Du Monde is a New Orleans fixture. Tourists seek it out for the “real” New Orleans experience, and locals and college students utilize it for everything from a last stop in a night escapade, to a hangover cure, to just a great place to get a café au lait and beignets. It celebrates over 150 years of life and has been in the same family since World War II. Café Du Monde has woven itself into the fabric of the French Quarter and the city itself. As a cultural icon in a city that revolves around food, it is a logical step that a book of stories about food name itself after the famous cafe. Meanwhile, Back at Café Du Monde: Life Stories About Food, celebrates the essentialness of food to our lives and culture. The collection of stories is a glimpse into American culture. It portrays a society in which people from different backgrounds are unified over similar a theme. While their stories may not be homogenous, it is their basis in food that unites Americans as a society, and their heterogeneity is what makes for a vibrant American society (and great restaurants).

The compiler, Peggy Sweeney-McDonald, has a story of her own. She is from Louisiana, and is an event producer in Los Angeles. Her book first began as a live performance version of Back at Cafe Du Monde. She first began working on it during Thanksgiving in 2009. Sweeney-McDonald’s business was suffering because of the recession, and says she was in “depths of despair.” It was her friend’s personal anecdote, involving food as comfort, that gave Sweeney-McDonald the idea to create a production involving people’s stories about their lives and food. She wanted to explore the concept of food as a unifier and an uplifter. Her production was a success, as many people wanted to share their own food stories. Turns out, many people think of food as an important aspect of their lives.

The story of Sweeney-McDonald’s friend, Lisa Annitti, is one of the best stories in the book that exemplifies food as comfort and an escape. Suffering from a horrible break-up, she was stuck in an apartment in Baton Rouge alone before Thanksgiving.

Photo by: Andrea Booher. FEMA Photo Library, via Wikimedia Commons

Bored, alone, and depressed, she drank a bottle of wine at home on her couch. Then, she decided to eat her pie she was supposed to bring to her boss’ Thanksgiving dinner the next day. Her boss did not really want more pie, but acted offended when she appeared the next day pie-less. Annitti’s story is relatable to so many Americans. The pie was friendly and inviting. Her pie (and her wine) allowed her to escape from her unhappiness into a momentary euphoria. Her playful story is surrounded by a deep cultural emphasis in food as comfort. Americans treat food as a way to escape a bad day, or mood, and through something delicious into a momentary bliss.

Annitti’s anecdote is followed by a recipe for coconut cream pie. Her favorite coconut cream pie is from a place in Shreveport, Louisiana called Strawn’s Eat Shop. Her claim is that if one cannot book the ticket to Shreveport, her recipe will suffice. While it lacks a recipe for a crust, the recipe for the filling looks fairly straightforward and delicious.

Other stories include fascinating tales from New Orleans chefs and other local foodies. One is from Drew Ramsey, owner of Hubig Pies. He recalls the amazement he felt when New Orleanians cheered him as a hero when he reopened the factory after Hurricane Katrina.

“I am a simple man, making simple pies…. who was amazed and astonished that on our first trip back down the parade route in 2006, people clapped, cheered, and cried when they saw us handing out our little fried pies” (30)

Ramsey was astonished that his little company could have such an impact on the entire city. People found inspiration in his company’s reopening. Those little pies had become a foundation of the city’s morale. When Ramsey tossed out those pies during

Mardi Gras, he was symbolizing hope for New Orleans to the people on the parade route. His little pies had become so much more than a delicious treat at convenience store counters, it was a symbol of a city striving to revive itself.

The stories in Meanwhile Back at Café Du Monde on the surface are amusing and uplifting, but they contain so much more depth. They explain a society that uses food for much more than simply eating. Americans use food for comfort, hope, escape and symbolism. Even though so many Americans have different backgrounds and prefer different foods, they all serve as a great unifier, making American society so fascinating and rich.

……….

Meanwhile, Back at Cafe Du Monde

Peggy Sweeney-McDonald

Pelican Press

ISBN: 9781455616602

http://www.pelicanpub.com/proddetail.php?prod=9781455616602#.UO2EcIXwGUc

JIM CARTER

READ ALL POSTS

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Buttermilk was and is, to an extent, a staple food of the South. North Carolinian Debbie Moose, an award winning food writer, has done a masterful job in Buttermilk of laying out some of its history and giving us some great recipes to try. If you don’t care about the history and science of buttermilk, just go straight to the recipes.

However, I found the history and science interesting. Moose relates her first memory of buttermilk – her father making a snack of buttermilk and cornbread. It was because of memories like this that led her to write Buttermilk. And she interviewed a professor of food science for a scientific discussion of buttermilk. It’s good background.

Then there are the recipes. The first line of the book is, “Like a full moon on a warm southern night, buttermilk makes something special happen.”  Moose is referring to the special things buttermilk can do to make some of our favorite foods even better. She presents 50 recipes that range from breakfast pastries to dinner recipes, including batters for frying, soups, salad dressings, and deserts. And yes, she tells us in detail how to make “Daddy’s Favorite Snack”.

After review, there was no doubt in my mind that these are great Southern recipes; in fact they looked so good that I had to try a few of them.  Who could resist trying “Don’t-Fear-The-Slime Okra?”

The salad with Moose's fried okra that I prepared for my daughters. Photo by Jim Carter.

My daughters, Stephanie and Lauren, were coming to visit the ranch here in Texas just as okra was coming in season.  So, as a second course, I built them a salad of heirloom tomatoes, butter beans grown here on the ranch and baby fried okra. I used Moose’s buttermilk-based recipe to fry the okra just before serving the salad.  Lauren was the first to dive in. She started with the okra and after one bite exclaimed, “I want more of this!” It seems both of them ate their okra before any other part of the salad. Enough said.

Buttermilk is great in cold summer soups, so I tried Moose’s “Cool Cucumber Soup.” It is so simple and so refreshing on a hot summer day. Be sure to use freshly harvested small local cucumbers, if you can get them.

Cool Cucumber Soup from Buttermilk. Photo by Jim Carter.

Finally I tried “Joe’s Blue Cheese Dressing.”  Why? Because blue cheese is one of the best foods on earth and when combined with buttermilk it had to be good, and it was.  Try it with Buffalo wings or shrimp or on a salad.

If you are not already a fan of buttermilk in your cooking, get this book and soon you will be.

A personal note – my first memory of buttermilk back on the farm in South Carolina was churning raw milk to make butter. Once the butter was skimmed off, buttermilk was left behind. So, buttermilk, a byproduct of butter making, was not allowed to go to waste in the old South.  A couple of my favorite recipes from my youth are fried catfish with buttermilk-based batter and chess pie.

Here are a couple of my own recipes with buttermilk…

Fried Catfish with Buttermilk Batter

Ingredients:

• 4-5 lbs. catfish fillets
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup all purpose flower
• 1 tablespoon Cajun style seasoning (I use Tony’s.)
• ½ teaspoon ground cayenne or to taste
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon Louisiana style hot sauce

Oil for frying, enough to cover the fillets, I use canola oil.)

Rinse catfish fillets and pat dry.  Combine buttermilk and hot sauce.  Let fillets marinate for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, heat the oil.  I use a deep fryer, which has excellent heat control.   If you use a Dutch oven or cast iron pan, be sure the sides are high enough to contain the oil. Heat the oil to about 365 degrees.  While the oil is heating, mix the cornmeal, flower, Cajun seasoning, cayenne, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish.

Then let each fillet drain a little and dredge in the cornmeal and flower mixture.  Place them in the hot oil.  Don’t crowd the pan; do two or more batches if necessary.  Cook until the fillets are golden brown, about a total of about eight minutes.  If not fully covered in oil, turn the fillets over at the four-minute mark.  If making multiple batches, let the oil return to about 365 degrees, before adding subsequent batches.

Buttermilk Chess Pie

Ingredients

• 1 nine inch unbaked pie shell (of course in the day we made these from scratch.)
• 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 3 eggs, beaten
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Blend flour, sugar and salt.  Add beaten eggs and melted butter; thoroughly mix.  Blend in buttermilk, lemon juice, and vanilla..  Pour into pastry shell and bake until done about  50 minutes.

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Buttermilk, a Savor the South (TM) cookbook, by Debbie Moose

Available from UNCPress, 2012

Southern Sides is available from UNC Press.

In Southern Sides: 250 Dishes That Really Make the Plate, Fred Thompson remarks that he is “here to celebrate, glorify, and teach you the beauty of [Southern] recipes as they have been telegraphed through my life, my cooking experience, and my joy of eating.” Indeed, Thompson’s cookbook is much more than a simple manual that tells hungry automatons how to combine ingredients in an edible manner. Thompson is able to reproduce the true spirit of southern cooking, not only in his recipe selection, but also in his content and authorial style. Thompson notes that his “southern side dishes and vegetables are more than one-dimensional. They illustrate region, style, and heritage.” The same could be said of his cookbook; it explores many dimensions of its recipes, including historical importance, cultural significance, aesthetic preferences, and practical preparation. The exploration of these dimensions shows that southern cooking is a hodgepodge of culinary styles and difficult to classify using any kind of set formula. Southern Sides successfully duplicates this multidimensionality of southern culture because Thompson’s style also unapologetically refuses to adhere to maxims. He is not afraid to pair fresh, locally produced ingredients with Miracle Whip or Jell-O. Sometimes he prefers certain products for sentimental reasons, and other times he is purely practical. Such contradictions highlight fact that meals are extensions of the people that cook them; as such, meals have the ability to both interact with and intimately connect those that partake in them.

Thompson’s laid-back attitude is immediately apparent in the table of contents, which lists chapters with names like “A Little Something to Get the Hospitality Started” and “Glorious Grains – The Way a Yankee Becomes a Southerner.” The chapters are sometimes grouped according to dish type (appetizer, cold sides, sauces) and sometimes grouped by the vegetable type (nightshades, root vegetables, beans). Though these groupings are not entirely standardized, the categorization is intuitive, and a listing of recipes included in each chapter follows its heading. In keeping with Thompson’s unique style, some of the recipe titles are whimsical, but none so much so that they obscure the dish they describe. For instance, “Fred’s Opinion on Pimento Cheese” is not more difficult to understand than “Stuffed Peppers” or “Flaky Butter Biscuits.” The book neither has an index nor needs one; the table of contents is so well organized that it can stand on its own.

After the table of contents, Thompson includes a brief introduction that is both an entertaining read and a crucial tool. As he describes his motivations and goals for this cookbook, his thoughts are passionate, personal, and knowledgeable. These three threads will continue even through the recipe sections. They transform the recipes from instructions into experiences. Also in the introduction, Thompson gives his recommendations on important ingredients and tools. He explains where substitutions are allowed, where they are encouraged, and where they are forbidden. He derives his reasons from several sources: what looks good, what feels good, what is good for the local community, what is good for one’s health, and what tastes good.

The next part of the book is the recipes. Each section begins with about a page of Thompson discussing the personal significance and practical matters for the following group of recipes. Each individual recipe also begins head notes along these same lines. This commentary ranges from serious tips to personal anecdotes, so it mirrors the casual, easygoing attitude of the South. The recipes are formatted in a concise manner, with in-margin ingredient lists and numbered steps. The instructions are easy to follow and specific enough to avoid any confusion. Additionally, Thompson provides advice on which brands or ingredients can be store-bought to save time. Such simplicity and practical considerations make this book perfect for inexperienced or busy people. Yet, Thompson’s advice usually leaves room for veterans to customize the recipes according to personal tastes, preferences, or health considerations. Speaking of health considerations, Southern Sides contains a nice range of healthy and less healthy options. Not everything is deep-fried or overloaded with butter, and though many recipes are vegetable-heavy, they do not necessarily shy away from fats.

Photo by Pingouperrios was adapted from Wikimedia Commons

The first recipe that I tried was “Jean’s Potato Salad.” The title of this recipe both intimidated and soothed me – my cooking skills are such that the only time that my name has ever prefaced a type of food is when it was showing possession of leftovers from a restaurant. Yet, I took a strange and irrational comfort in the fact that if I messed this up, I could always just blame this “Jean” character. As it turns out, no such scapegoating was necessary because the recipe is very simple and straightforward. I simply boiled the potatoes and mixed together four ingredients to make a dressing (which can be adjusted to taste). The result tasted amazing, and the salad has a sweetness that I have never experienced in potato salad before. This sweetness is at least partially because of Miracle Whip, which Thompson warns not to substitute with mayonnaise. The recipe also contains a brief anecdote about its background, which really sets the stage for a meal as homey as potato salad.

Buoyed up by my potato salad success, I chose a more complex recipe to try out next. I was immediately drawn to the “Good Fried Green Tomatoes” recipe because it has always been a personal favorite of mine. From Thompson’s commentary I learned that these tomatoes taste even better with pimento cheese or breakfast foods, and that they taste better towards the end of the season. These are definitely the best fried green tomatoes I have ever had, and I am not just saying this because I created them and have a mother’s bias. I believe Thompson is correct when he says that bacon fat makes a huge difference in this recipe. I also like that the recipe’s bacon grease and cornmeal compliment the flavor of the tomato rather than overshadowing it.

In conclusion, Southern Sides is a worthwhile cookbook that brings so much more to the table than recipe listings. Readers can learn new things about a broad range of topics. I now know that okra came to the South from Africa and how to blanche vegetables. I believe that southerners will get a nice dose of nostalgia and comfort from these recipes, and non-southerners will get a great glimpse into a culture that cannot be explained, only experienced. All readers will also continue the rich traditions of these meals by creating new memories through them. Southern Sides is due out in September, 2012.

……….

You may also like:

Sweet Potato Guacamole from Fred Thompson’s Southern Sides

http://southernfood.org/okra/?p=2392

Book Review of Southern Comfort: A New Take on the Recipes We Grew Up With by Allison Vines-Rushing and Slade Rushing

The husband and wife chef team of Allison Vines-Rushing and Slade Rushing cooks in a sleek and modern restaurant, MiLa, located in the Marriot Hotel at the Pere Marquette Building in New Orleans. When I saw the name, the tone, and the illustrations of this cookbook, its rustic nature did not correspond with the restaurant that I identified with the couple.  It made me view the book with suspicion.

The recipes, however, reassured me.  This food was not the rustic fare that the look or name of the of the book implies.  These recipes represent the smart, innovative food that Vines-Rushing and Rushing  have been offering at their restaurant.  Reading it, I felt as though I was being let in on their secrets.  And reading the notes and the introduction, it seems that the couple has been in search of a life balance that they have mastered in their restaurant.

The cookbook reflects the couple’s attention to detail.  The chapter called “Cocktail Fare” is after my heart.  I believe that a cocktail party or reception needs easy to eat food that does not require plates and utensils.  You should be able to pop the food into your mouth while you are holding a glass.  This food is “bite-size, easy-to-eat.”  And, it is innovative and delicious.  The recipe for Hush Puppies with Caviar is an unexpected and amazing surprise. Just reading this chapter really makes you want to attend the party.  The Smoked Fish Spread with Buttermilk Crackers is a bit daunting, but worth the time and effort.

My other favorite chapter is the “Salad” chapter.  And my favorite recipe is the Cabbage and Dried Fig Salad with Honey and Garlic Vinaigrette.

Vines-Rushing and Rushing are able to demonstrate, without saying it, that Creole cuisine stands up to and melds with other great cuisines.  The flavor profiles, the ingredients and their careful treatment, and the pairings are found in this book.  Creole favorites with curry, coconut, and other Asian flavors are exciting.  The deconstructed dishes, like Oysters Rockefeller, demonstrate both a respect for tradition and a modern sensibility.  This book is a full of new ideas, but based on a solid Creole (and more broadly Southern) base.

I think that the look of the book may be an attempt to say that this food is really roots food.  And it is.  But it is so much more.  It is the balance between excellence and comfort.  That is a good place.

……….

Southern Comfort: A New Take on the Recipes We Grew Up With by Allison Vines-Rushing and Slade Rushing, copyright © 2012. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.

Review of The Slaw and the Slow Cooked: Culture and Barbeque in the Mid-South

Edited by James R. Veteto and Edward M. Maclin

The Slaw and the Slow Cooked: Culture and Barbeque in the Mid-South, available from Vanderbilt University Press, is a fascinating collection of essays about the importance of barbeque to the identity and culture of the mid-south region.  This book has essays that cover the mostly small towns in Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas.  It takes a look at traditional life as it reflects the importance of sharing food, doing things “right,” and honoring the past.  Being slow cooked is most certainly a metaphor for living a slow life.  And that slow life seems to have little room in it for the future, if that future bodes change.

The articles take an anthropological look at the meaning of barbeque with the obvious nod to The Raw and the Cooked by Claude Lévi-Strauss.  That reference makes me want to look more deeply into the idea of barbeque as myth, but the articles themselves do not really lend themselves to such an abstract reverie, in part because the people that are barbequing are so grounded in reality.  Perhaps it is because they live simple and frugal lives, those who barbeque only embody myth; they are not myth-makers.

My favorite essay was written by Jonathan Deutsch about a barbeque competition.  While in my heart I know that those people observing everyday barbeque are observing the real barbeque, I cannot help but be fascinated by the air of competition.  The concentration, the attention to details, and of course, actual written standards defining true barbeque.  So this essay captured my attention.  Because the culture of competition barbeque is different from the culture of barbeque, I loved the inclusion of this mad for barbeque trophies group in this book.

Using the techniques of barbeque the competitors must produce an edible entry to meets the standards of the contest, whether that is something that forms a cohesive pleasant taste or not.  After all, this is competing, not eating.  The design of the rigs, the names of the teams, the quirky superstitions are part and parcel of competition.  That something so real as barbeque turns into the competition, is an indication of high fundamental barbeque is.

Angela and Paul Knipple’s contribution – exploring the “slowness” of barbeque – was also intriguing.  I really cannot imagine a regular old barbeque cook caring whether barbeque is “slow.”  We all know that it is.  It seems that barbeque’s links to tradition can allow it to pass”slow” muster.

All of the essays contain a special twist, an interesting element of surprise.  I recommend the book for a slow read about one of the South’s great traditions.

World Hunger by Brian Kenneth Swain was published by iUniverse, Inc. in 2007.

I must admit to a deep dark secret.  I read, correction, I like those light novels that tell a gripping story and are set in the future or the past or some made up world.  I also consider them shortcuts to learning about something new.  They allow you to learn in an entertaining way.  It was easier for me to understand the period of the Depression, for example, by reading historical novels set in the period. I could read novels written from several points of view to cover all the politics, cultural conditions, and historical facts.  It made it easier to plough through a history class that drying made us merely remember the date this law was passed or the date this economic indicator collapsed, etc. History class never satisfied the story part of history. It was all about the dates and names of battles, generals, and politicians.

In this same vein I learned more about the current scientific thinking about dinosaurs from reading Jurassic Park than I would have from a dry description of the hunting techniques of raptors in a scientific journal. That book also introduced cloning, gene sequencing, chaos theory and other cutting edge science.  And it very subtly pondered the modern version of the Frankenstein question of whether just because we can do something, should we? That is especially true when we are unsure of the consequences of the worst case scenario, or even a bad case scenario.

So I looked forward to reading World Hunger by Brian Kenneth Swain, because I wanted the short course in genetically modified (GM) seeds from the scientific angle and a discussion of the politics of the matter.  Here is what I got.  There is a fast-paced story with a race to save the world from destruction.  There is a motive to deal with issues of world hunger in addition to the profit motive.  There are characters who are morally ambiguous, and all of the other things that make a book a good romp. There is even the obligatory punishment-for-his-hubris scene in which the company leader is killed by the very superinsects that his company’s miscalculation has created. His demise is gilded by his own Pandora-like curiosity.  And there is the science itself, the laboratory testing procedures, and the field testing.  From the point of view of a teaching tool, I would have like a bit more about the nature of the insects and bit more about the rapid genetic transfer from plant to different insects in simultaneous plantings.  Regarding the politics, there is an attempt to cover the question of mandatory purchase of GM seeds from the manufacturer rather than holding back some seeds for the new crop, as well as some discussion of the long term health issues. I would have like a character who didn’t die to pursue some of this in greater detail. But I am nitpicking.

World Hunger tells the story of a company that rushes GM seeds to premature testing with devastating results.  The seeds are modified for fast growth, increased yield, and resistance to pests. The unintended consequences are that the genetic modifications are transferred from the plants to insects which eat them, creating truly large, fast-growing, resistant insects. The protagonists are scientists who have to figure out what has happened, analyze the data, create a solution, and then implement it before the world is deforested and before all animals – including humans – are destroyed by the relentless superinsects.

In these times especially this is an interesting book.  It reminds us that corporations operate in the global arena and that sometimes experimentation that could not happen in the more highly regulated US can be carried out in less regulated countries.  No amount of regulation can protect us from the random consequences of nature, but at least regulations can curb science gone rogue, even when it thinks it is going rogue to save the world from hunger.

This book also has the benefit of being quite balanced in its presentation of GM seeds.  It is not an across the board proponent of banning GM products.  Nor is it a cheerleader for unfettered freewheeling experimentation.  What is most interesting to me is that there seems to be no real commercial experimentation dedicated to trying to use GM techniques to improve the taste of the crops.  It seems to be enough that they may use fewer pesticides or have a shorter growing season.  I see the commercial value in making the tomato more tomato-y.  After all when it is on the plate, that is what it is all about.

…

“The cocktails are very serious here, ladies, we take cocktails seriously.” Ti Adelaide Martin, co-proprietor of the legendary New Orleans restaurant, Commander’s Palace, advised a colleague and me as we sat down to join her for lunch there last summer, urging us to imbibe.

“Most places you go, you get a horrible cocktail, so most people say just give me a glass of wine. I’m not going to drink this- whatever, this stupid drink you have.”

Then she really warmed to the task, pulling out In the Land of the Cocktails, Recipe and Adventures From the Cocktail Chicks, penned with her fellow CP proprietor and cousin, Lally Brennan, an ode and guide to true cocktails, dedicated to bartenders everywhere who care about well made cocktails, and to their beloved New Orleans and its resilient citizens.

The little guide is filled with recipes (and great stories) for legendary Crescent City cocktails from the Sazerac to Brandy Milk Punch, a must have for Mardi Gras, they tell us.

“But my favorite drink is a Daiquiri,” Martin proclaims, a real Daiquiri, invented in Daiquiri, Cuba. It’s just lime juice, rum and sugar- that’s all there is, but it has to be in perfect proportions, it has to be exactly right, you know, and not too sweet.”

And Martin would know. She amused us with tales of her mother (Grande Dame of New Orleans restaurants, Ella Brennan) and uncle traveling to Cuba in pursuit of the perfect Daiquiri.

“They loved it, even back then. In those days, they used to go to Cuba like we go to Florida. They’d say, why can’t we make a Daiquiri exactly like they make in Cuba”?

“First they would bring home the ice- no, that’s not it. Then they would bring home the limes- well, tha

t’s not it. Then they would try to bring home the rum. You know what I mean…”

“The first time I had a Daiquiri”, Martin shares in the book, “it was as mind- boggling as the first time I had quality sushi, which tasted pure, clean and like the sea. I couldn’t get enough. I had the same problem with Daiquiris.”

The Brennan elders have perfected their Daiquiri since those Cuba trip days. Martin shares their technique and proportions for the ideal version, so that the rest of us can work on achieving that perfection, and fall in love with the cocktail, too.

The Original Daiquiri

It’s important to use the right rum, Martin states, a light rum which is clear and dry. Save the dark rum for Mai Tais.

•   2 lime wedges

•   1 cube sugar

•   1.5 ounces light rum

•   Up to 1 teaspoon Simple Syrup (which is optional for balance if the limes are too bitter)

1. Muddle the limes and sugar cube in a rocks glass to break down the sugar and lime When muddling the limes, you should be able to get a good 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of lime juice. If the limes are a bit dry, use another wedge or two. Be careful not to muddle too much, or the juice will become bitter. Add the rum and stir well. Taste the drink and adjust with a little Simple Syrup, if desired.

2.  Add ice to fill the glass to the rim and serve.

Martin adds the Daiquiris are traditionally served on the rocks, but their bar chef at the Swizzle Stick, Lu, serves hers with crushed ice, giving them an almost frozen effect-but, heaven forbid, Martin adds, not made in a blender.

Last week, Tasting Table suggested to its subscribers to visit the South’s hottest food city, which they named as Charleston, South Carolina. I can hardly blame them – Charleston is an exciting place to eat and visit these days. I traveled there for a month last year and found myself perusing real estate listing in my spare time. However, I’d like to add something to that suggestion. Don’t try to navigate the food scene in Charleston (or neighboring Savannah, Georgia) without Holly Herrick’s on point compass, Food Lovers’ Guide to Charleston & Savannah: The Best Restaurants, Markets & Local Culinary Offerings. Trust me, this veteran food writer (www.hollyherrick.com) and restaurant reviewer won’t steer you wrong.

What I really like about this guidebook is its singular focus – food. And why wouldn’t we need a guidebook focused on food when one of the two cities in this book has been named the hottest in the South? The book, like traditional guidebooks, is organized according to area of town. Within each area, you may find the following topics: Foodie Faves, Landmarks, Specialty Stores, Markets, and Producers, and Learn to Cook. This makes this a great book for any type of gastro-enthusiast. If you are the type that only wants to eat out, you’ll find a complete list of restaurants worth visiting. I like to shop at local stores when I visit another city, giving me what I consider a more inside perspective on local products and what locals are doing with them. So, for people like me, there’s a section on specialty stores, markets and producers. And for those who need to cook what they experience, there’s the “Learn to Cook” section, which is includes both cooking classes and culinary tours. The special bonus section is tucked away in the back – a little section of recipes from some of Herrick’s favorite restaurants. The recipe section makes Food Lovers’ Guide to Charleston relevant long after your vacation has ended.

Charleston and Savannah are indeed “hot” culinary destinations (and cool cities all around). Unfortunately, the month I spent in the area was  before Herrick’s book was published, but I never had a bad meal. I don’t even know what would have happened if I had this thoughtful guidebook. But that’s the thing about a good guidebook, it makes you realize that you need to visit, or in my case, visit again.

…

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Globe Pequot; First edition (December 20, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762760125
• ISBN-13: 978-0762760121

.

Get the Lemon Rice recipe and Mrs. Call’s Orange Cake recipe.

I usually peruse the 600 isle of stacks at my local library, but found myself three rows down, pulling this book out from between two volumes dedicated to cemetaries, graves and a reference to funeral planning. Being Dead Is No Excuse: The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral, is a mis-categorized volume of gossip and southern funeral food worthy of resurrection.

Not for those suffering a recent loss, this humorous book is arranged in chapters, though I have no idea the logic behind the order of storytelling. Authors Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays lay the ground work early on. Information on dying in the Delta, etiquette of the living, death foods required at a proper southern funeral, flooded graves, cremation, undertakers and more – they throw it all in the first chapter. Much like they do in Little Hebe’s Jerusalem Artichoke Relish, which they’ll tell you how to make later on at the close of Chapter 3, “Who Died? Stuffed Eggs, Etiquette, and Delta Pate”. The allure in making this 15-ingredient condiment is summed up in a footnote: “You should feel like a Christian martyr after making this.” Luckily for us, you don’t have to cook this recipe to wholly appreciate this book.

Each chapter begins with an introduction to characters such as Leota, Baby Doll, Speed and Sue Ellen Potts, also known as “the Handmaiden of the Bereaved.” Through their encounters we learn of small town casket culture. From the food selections that are sourced from an Episcopalian or Methodist, food snob or not, each chapter is laid to rest with recipes appropriate for a range of tastes.

As gossip goes, the final story is a result of what was said and whom it was said to along the way. Our guides slip the same recipe in the book twice, giving it two different names – Methodist Party Potatoes and Liketa Died Potatoes. I couldn’t bring myself to make either one. I’m more of a Hardin’s Hardy Potatoes kind of cook; a mashed potato casserole topped with a cheese crust is an ideal recipe that can be prepared ahead of time, baked and brought to the bereaved. I did make myself try one recipe from Chapter 5, “Comfort Foods”: There Is a Balm in Campbell’s Soup. Instant and cream of anything are generally two adjectives I avoid when cooking, but I approached The Crocheted-Bedpan-Award Chicken with a mind to crossing over. The result was a dish that could have sent me to the grave if I would have gotten the second bite down. Spoonfuls of smoky bacon grease finished with the awful taste of canned asparagus. The chicken was tender, but not quite enough to bring salvation upon this dish. Healing Cheese Grits Gouda are also in line to make your arteries close upon impact, but a small taste will leave you trolling back and forth along the buffet for seconds and thirds. Start with stone ground grits and you will not be disappointed. Lemon rice is a standout as well; homemade chicken broth, lemon zest and dill make this dish easy to pair among heavier foodstuffs that conjure comfort.

It’s probably a written fact somewhere – sugar makes life a little easier to live sometimes. Sadly, Lowry’s Fudge cake was one dimensional and should only be made if you’re trying to send all of the mourners at your reception into a self-induced sugar coma. Make Mrs. Call’s Orange Cake instead – a simple and elegant way to give your loved one the final southern salute.

These stories are sure to reverberate throughout the region for those who can relate to, or argue with, the lives laid bare between these pages. For the non-southerner, these two ladies have shared their humorous insight on how people deal and cope and dish, because don’t you imagine your grief tastes better alongside Christopher Blake’s Return-to-Normalcy Shrimp Mousse?

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• Authors: Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Miramax (March 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401359345
• ISBN-13: 978-1401359348

Paul and Angela Knipple kick off their book tour at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum on March 3, 2012 at 2 pm. Admission is free. Learn more here – http://southernfood.org/sofab/?p=5252

The people who write about the South too often seem to be stuck in the past.  I am not referring to the desire to understand the traditional so that we can move into the future.  We can all benefit from that.  Understanding tradition, even if you reject it, helps us all to understand each other.  But Southern writers – and maybe all Southerners, but I am primarily talking about writing here – seem to only look backwards.  “If you use modern ingredients in this, you are being inauthentic.”  They seem to see the food of the South as static.

That is why The World in a Skillet:  A Food Lover’s Tour of the New American South by Paul and Angela Knipple is so exciting.  It looks at the present with an eye on the future.  It recognizes that the food of the South is a dynamic thing that changes with time and circumstances.  It is a very important book.

The Knipples begin with a survey of Southern food, the early ethnic groups that contributed to it, and the practices, culture and technologies that have developed into what we think of as Southern.  But then they take us into the modern world and remind us, through food, of what remains true.  People from everywhere in the world keep coming to the South, and the South continues to absorb their food and identity as it has done in the past.

Although the Knipples have put a positive face on it, they do not ignore the fact that being an immigrant in the New American South is not always easy.  We have a checkered history in embracing people who are different.  But the people and recipes that the Knipples have included in this book tell personal stories, yet they reflect the universal truths of immigration and assimilation.  The South is richer for these people.

But more importantly the Knipples are reminding us that the South is changing in ways that continue to reflect the patterns of immigration and assimilation.  The people are of different ethnic groups and the food is different.  But the people are all sincere and their food is offered as a gateway to understanding.  Whether from Kurdistan, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Mexico, Korea, or Bosnia the story of optimism and hope, the dreams of a new life, and the sharing of food are the same.  The Knipples tell the stories and present the recipes individually, but the universality shines through.

The recipes themselves are well explained and easy to follow.  Their flavors and techniques might not be familiar, but so many ingredients are.  The Vietnamese eat mustard greens.  The Indians eat goat.  We can sit together at the same table and share, not a past heritage, but a future one.

The Knipples do a good job of introducing the reader to important cultural points through food.  They make it possible to make variations of a dish, for example how to make something vegetarian, and they give serving and substitution advice.  But the beauty of this cookbook is that you do not have to cook from it.  You can just read it.  It gives you a window on the New South.  This is the South of today, with a vibrant and expanding palate.  And soon new generations will not know where that the mofongo that they like so much was not here all along.  They will only know that it tastes good.

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The World in A Skillet by Paul and Angela Knipple is available from UNC Press and others. http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/book_detail?title_id=2787