Southern Cooking, Global Flavors

Drawing on his experiences cooking around the world, a celebrated chef revisits his Southern cooking roots by reimagining iconic dishes of the American South with bold international flavors.

Learn to cook favorite traditional Southern dishes, adding variety and spice through the use of different techniques and ingredients. Each of ten chapters offers an iconic Southern dish and then international variations, with, for example, Korean or Chinese or Indian ingredients and flavors.

Showing his full range, chef Kenny Gilbert shares other dishes: the “Ribs and Slaw” chapter includes jerk-spiced spareribs with habanero-mango BBQ sauce and coconut-guava slaw; the “Fish and Grits” chapter features grouper Francese with truffle-gouda grits; and the “Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes” chapter includes shawarma-spiced lamb meatloaf with feta and kalamata-olive mashed potatoes.

Through more than 100 recipes, as well as tips and techniques in Gilbert’s own words, this book connects people to the great potential of Southern cuisine in today’s global culture.

Award-winning chef Kenny Gilbert has had a career spanning over three decades. He is best known for his flavorful Southern cuisine and has trained in premier fine dining restaurants worldwide as well as worked as Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef. Since making his national debut on Top Chef in 2010, Gilbert and his recipes have been featured in a multitude of cookbooks, national magazines, and blogs. He is based in Jacksonville, Florida, where he captains his award-winning restaurant Silkie’s Chicken and Champagne Bar. Alexander Smalls is a James Beard Award–winning chef, author, and raconteur, and was the visionary co-owner of renowned restaurants The Cecil and Minton’s.