Ceilidh-Tripping the write fantastic

French cuisine has Julia Child, Italian has Marcella Hazan, Indian has Madhur Jaffrey and we, in the south, have Nathalie Dupree. And, this cookbook is excellent, truly.

I am a born and bred southerner. My mother's family came to Atlanta from Ireland in the (very) early 1900s, my dad's to South Carolina long before that. I have cousins in Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. I've got family members that are rednecks, hillbillies, debutantes and swamp cousins. What I'm saying is my southern bonafides are legit.

There are a few simple truths to southern cooking:

1. Grits are made with milk (or when times are tough a mix of milk and water)
2. Pork makes everything better (be that bacon, ham hock or drippings)
3. Biscuits should be lighter than air, crisp on the outside, tender on the inside
4. It's Coca-Cola, co-cola, or holy water. It is NEVER Pepsi, Cola, Soda or Pop

Nathalie's recipes are always excellent, but what she's done here is so awesome.

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Art-French-Cooking-Volume/dp/0394721780 Taking inspiration from the extraordinary MtA ,Nathalie has given step-by-step instructions to creating delicious southern (and southern inspired) meals. Just as Julia Child's original work inspired home cooks everywhere to tackle complicated French recipes, Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking, provides the home cook with a step-by-step guide for cooking like you were raised south of the Mason Dixon.