The Florida Cookbook: From Gulf Coast Gumbo to Key Lime Pie (Knopf Cooks American)

Here is a delicious and generous sampling (more than 200 recipes) of the cooking of Florida, along with an entertaining excursion 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 as they explore:
The Northeast in search of An Oyster Roast, Florida Smoked Beans, and Peanut Butter Pie
The Panhandle for Shrimp Stuffed Eggplant, Baked Cheese Grits, and Blackberry Dumplings
The Space Coast, Gold Coast, and the Keys for Florida Conch Salad, Broiled Yellowtail with Orange Butter, and Mango Tarte Tatin with Lime Custard Sauce
The Big Bend and the Sun Coast for Coastal Crab Boil, Ybor City Calabaza Salad, and Rum Spanish Flan with Caramelized Oranges
Central Florida for Smothered Rabbit, Greens with Corn Meal Dumplings, and Strawberry Cobbler
Florida's Great Lake for South Florida Frog's Legs, Hoppin' John with Trimmings, and Fresh Banana Layer Cake
and many, many other delectable recipes.

The authors tell tales of bygone times -- from the early homesteads to the opulent hotels of the Gold Coast -- and about ethnic food festivals that take place the year round. They note the changes in cooking styles as different waves of immigrants -- Minorcans, Jews, Greeks, Cubans -- all left their mark; and they relish the winds of change as home cooks and young chefs today are assimilating new Caribbean and Far Eastern tastes that make the most of fresh tropical ingredients, the good local seafood, and the abundance of citrus and peppers.

Anyone who loves good food will welcome the delights to be found in these enticing 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.

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 anti 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. She 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.