September 2006: Frank Stitt’s Southern Table

The cookbook that's been getting a lot of stove time in my house is Frank Stitt’s Southern Table. The book does double duty as both a coffee-table tome, oversized and loaded with dozens of incredible pictures detailing food life in the south, and as a recipe book, featuring over a hundred compelling arguments why Stitt is the best cook in the southeastern United States. Southern Table (Artisan Books) is packed with charming essays as well, from recollections of warm summer picnics to weighty arguments on the importance of sustainable farmers markets and in-depth looks at ingredients that make up the back bone of traditional Southern food style. People, places, and events that make up a rich Southern food life are captured in a graceful and elegant prose that shows why Stitt is a such a major force in Southern culture.

Stitt is the owner and chef of the Highlands Bar and Grill, Café Bottega, and Chez Fonfon, all located in Birmingham, Alabama. For years, food folks have waited for his book, and this—his first—is a whopper. Recipes such as green tomato and peach relish, grits, spoonbread, and corn pudding sit side by side with new classics, including black grouper with ham and pumpkin pirlau. Bourbon panna cotta, pecan streusel, and his famous sweet potato tart are the stars of the sweet section, but anyone who loves food and loves to cook will be pulling easy and well-written recipes out of this book for years. 

Buy Southern Table at Amazon.com.