Down South by Donald Link

 

Perhaps best known as the James Beard Award-winning chef behind some of New Orleans’s most beloved restaurants, including Cochon and Herbsaint, Donald Link also has a knack for sniffing out a backyard barbecue wherever he travels and scoring an invitation to sample some of the best food around. In Down South he combines his talents to unearth true down home Southern cooking so everyone can pull up a seat at the table and sample some of the region’s finest flavors.
    
Link rejoices in the slow-cooked pork barbecue of Memphis, fresh seafood all along the Gulf coast, peas and shell beans from the farmlands in Mississippi and Alabama, Kentucky single barrel bourbon, and other regional standouts in 110 recipes and 100 color photographs. Along the way, he introduces all sorts of characters and places, including pitmaster Nick Pihakis of Jim ‘N Nick’s BBQ, Louisiana goat farmer Bill Ryal, beloved Southern writer Julia Reed, a true Tupelo honey apiary in Florida, and a Texas lamb ranch with a llama named Fritz.

This cookbook is not just a cookbook; it is more than that. It tells the story of a culture. The stories behind the recipes and styles of food are heartwarming, and I was drawn in by the photographs of the landscapes, people, and other landmarks in each chapter. The pictures in this book are spectacular. I immediately wanted to make and eat many of the recipes because they looked delicious. The recipes themselves are a unique mixture of drinks, meats, sides, and desserts that show the wide array of different foods that are enjoyed in particular places in the South. I look forward to crafting meals that broaden my tastes and that introduce me to more delicious Southern style foods. I would definitely recommend Down South not only as a cookbook but also as a book to put on a side table and to spark interesting conversations with guests.

I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review.