Hoppin' John's Lowcountry Cooking: Recipes and Ruminations from Charleston and the Carolina Coastal Plain - Softcover

Taylor, John Martin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807837253 ISBN 13: 9780807837252

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2012

Synopsis

At oyster roasts and fancy cotillions, in fish camps and cutting-edge restaurants, the people of South Carolina gather to enjoy one of America's most distinctive cuisines--the delicious, inventive fare of the Lowcountry. In his classic Hoppin' John's Lowcountry Cooking, John Martin Taylor brings us 250 authentic and updated recipes for regional favorites, including shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, pickled watermelon rinds, and Frogmore stew. Taylor, who grew up casting shrimp nets in Lowcountry marshes, adds his personal experiences in bringing these dishes to the table and leads readers on a veritable treasure hunt throughout the region, giving us a delightful taste of an extraordinary way of life.

About this title

Review:

Lowcountry cooking--the food of South Carolina's coastal plain--is a refined mix of English, French, African, and West Indian culinary traditions. John Martin Taylor's Hoppin' John's Lowcountry Cooking, a collection of more than 200 accessible recipes, is the preeminent modern source for this treasured fare. Published in 1992, the book has become a classic, not only for the good food it presents but for Taylor's evocation of a homegrown American culinary style that flourished before the Civil War and remains a living cuisine. Beginning with a fascinating introduction to Lowcountry cooking--it's not the dishes that define it, but "the nuances of combination and a respect for the past" that make it unique--Taylor then provides ingredient notes and recipes for characteristic pantry preparations such as the dried spice and herb-intensive seafood boil. Recipes include She-Crab Soup, Benne Wafers, Duck and Sausage Gumbo, and that marvelous apple-nut sweet, Huguenot Tort. Included also are chapters on rice and grit dishes (among them, of course, Hoppin' John, the rice-and-pea specialty), a section on game dishes (Fried Quail with Sausage and Oyster Cream is irresistible), formulas for relishes like Sweet Watermelon Pickles, and for confections such as pomona, a traditional mixed-fruit "sugarplum." With reprints of historical recipes for specialties like Carolina Rice Bread and cogent preparation advice throughout, the book, both lyrical and practical, is a compelling guide to an almost-lost, now happily resurgent cuisine. --Arthur Boehm

Book Description:

"A treasure to delight all cooks."--Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides

About this edition

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0807837253
• ISBN 13: 9780807837252
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368