cookbook club

Classical Southern Cooking

by Bill Hirst, a reader in Sherwood, AR.

What do you get when you mix western European culinary traditions with local ingredients from the southern United States and West African cooks? According to food writer and acclaimed cookbook author Damon Lee Fowler, you get classical southern cooking. His book of that title, revised in 2008, takes us back to the first half of the 19th Century. He refers to that era as the golden age of southern cooking and provides us with over 200 recipes typical of that time. But Classical Southern Cooking is more than just a collection of recipes. It’s also a “how to” book, with countless culinary tips and cooking techniques laced throughout. More importantly, Mr. Fowler’s book is a meticulously researched documentary, weaving food and cooking into the historical, cultural and sociological fabric of the “old South.”
   Classical Southern Cooking is for both serious culinary devotees and casual dabblers. You don’t have to cook anything to enjoy this book. It’s entertaining and informative reading, cover to cover. As such, it could be a textbook, blending history and food folklore, spiced with the author’s sense of humor. But hey, this is a real cookbook, and you can do some fine cooking following the detailed explanations and instruction.
   As you can imagine, classical recipes may not transition well into the kitchen of the 21st Century. That said, the author makes a point of keeping the recipes as authentic as possible, while allowing the modern day cook to serve up delicious southern dishes. To demonstrate that point, I put together a menu for the Fourth of July family gathering. No hot dogs and hamburgers here. Instead, we had the following:

Shrimp Paste
Roast Young Chicken
Stewed Winter Greens
Potato Dumplings
Secession Biscuits
Chocolate Layer Cake with
Old-Fashioned Dark Fudge Frosting
Vanilla Custard Ice Cream

   Sticking to the ingredient lists and following directions as faithfully as possible, the resulting holiday meal was a resounding success. There were, however, a few problems. The shrimp appetizer needed more flavor, both in the cooking of the shrimp and in the final mix. Meanwhile, the dumplings came out heavy and chewy. While boiling, they never floated to the top of the pot. Both problems could have been prevented with a little more instruction in the recipes.
   On the other hand, the chicken came out of the oven juicy, with crispy skin, using an interesting high roasting temperature technique requiring frequent turning. The greens were simple to cook and had picky teenagers going back for seconds. The involved biscuit preparation, using a “sponge” starter method, was well worth the light and flaky end result. Finally, the three layer cake with fudge icing was just sweet enough and a little dense. Actually, some thought the cake was too dense, but they didn’t stop shoveling in the ice cream long enough to complain too loudly!
   Admittedly, many of the recipes tested were a bit involved. This is cooking from scratch and not a thirty minute meal. Then too, the recipes did not produce what our family would consider the “best ever” version. For example, we prefer our roasted chicken seasoned with rosemary, garlic, and lemon. And, it’s hard to compete with the sentimental family ice cream recipe.
   In the end Damon Lee Fowler has neatly packaged the rich food traditions of the south in their proper historical context. The recipes are from that place and time. If you enjoy what today is known as southern cooking and you’re at all curious about the origins of that cuisine, then Classical Southern Cooking is an essential addition to your cookbook library. Some say you can’t know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve been. With knowledge of the south’s “golden age” of cuisine, you’ll be ready to create your own classical southern cooking traditions.