Cassandra Harrell's Book On Southern Cooking

For people who are tired of hearing waiters say “locally sourced” – for people who rejoiced when a pot-roast recipe from Tippah County won grudging and incredulous approval from editors at the “New York Times” – this fine, no-nonsense book on Southern cooking will be a godsend.
Cassandra Harrell knows whereof she speaks, and she speaks with a veteran’s authority. She was reared in Halls, Tennessee, south of Dyersburg and not far from the Mississippi River, where she learned to cook in her grandmother’s kitchen. Her mother made custard pies. Her father fried cob corn for his wife when she came home from her shift at the Tupperware plant. She herself learned to pick up pecans from under the tree in the side yard. She loyally hails her husband Earl as the greatest barbecue chef in the galaxy. With Earl, she ran a restaurant and catering business in Milwaukee, with coleslaw and spareribs favored by the Milwaukee Bucks and pinto-bean soup (served with hot-water cornbread) that drew customers from across town.
Harrell writes.
“The main difference between soul food and southern food is basically that soul food was prepared by African American cooks during the days of slavery. Just remember that soul food’s beginnings were on plantations, and that these dishes were created by folks who didn’t have many ingredients to work with.” With unusual honesty, she acknowledges what Southern poverty meant to Southern