The Florida Cookbook: From Gulf Coast Gumbo to Key Lime Pie

A generous and delicious sampling (more than 200 recipes) of the cooking of Florida, along with an entertaining excurison into the land where the story of American food began and where today one can find the most interesting culinary diversity in the U.S.A.

Jeanne Voltz and Caroline Stuart take us through all six areas of Florida: the Northeast (for Oyster Roasts, Smoked Beans, Peanut Butter Pie); the Panhandle (Shrimp Stuffed Eggplant, Cheese Grits, Blackberry Dumplings); the Space Coast, Gold Coast, and the Keys (Conch Salad, Broiled Yellowtail with Orange Butter); the Big Bend and the Sun Coast (Crab Boil, Calabaza Salad, Rum Spanish Flan with Caramelized Oranges); Central Florida (Smothered Rabbit, Greens with Corn Meal Dumplings); and Florida's Great Lake (Frog's Legs, Hoppin' John, Fresh Banana Layer Cake).

Anyone who loves good food will welcome the delightful fare to be found in these pages. And Floridians—newcomers, old-timers, and those just passing through—will discover a wealth of information about where and how to enjoy the riches of land and sea.


With more than 65 photographs and illustrations

Jeanne Voltz was born in Collinsville, Alabama. She was for many years the food editor at Woman's Day magazine, and she edited the food pages at the Los Angeles Times and the Miami Herald. She is the author of several cookbooks, including The Flavor of the South and Barbecued Ribs, Smoked Butts, and Other Great Feeds—which is also part of the Knopf Cooks American series—is a six-time winner of the Vesta Award for newspaper food editing and writing and has also won numerous other feature and food writing awards. Mrs. Voltz lives with her husband in Pittsboro, North Carolina, where she is a food consultant, writer, and free-lance editor.

Caroline Stuart is a third-generation Floridian whose family settled in the central part of the state in the 1870s. She spent her childhood on a ranch where her father grew citrus and raised cattle. She graduated from the University of Alabama and began her career as a caterer. She then worked for several years with James Beard as his assistant and is now a member of the executive board of the James Beard Foundation. Mrs. Stuart is a contributing editor and restaurant critic for Hudson Valley magazine, as well as a freelance writer and cooking teacher. She lives with her husband, John Brainard, in Greenwich, Connecticut, and has two sons.