A Real Southern Cook: In Her Savannah Kitchen

This book has everything I've ever wanted to cook -- plus a few cakes, pies and cookies. It reminds me of my momma, her momma and my dad's momma. Of the dozen or so "instructions" (when I cook I rarely measure, maybe weigh a few things and just follow along), there hasn't been a miss yet. My 7yo daughter asked if we could get Rice Krispies today to try the Orphan One Hundred Cookies :) Initially I borrowed this book from the local library, after searching the Cooking--Southern category; I ordered my copy from Amazon while still reading the introduction. I love learning a cook's history, their inspiration. It gives me a chance to learn their voice. And Mizz Dora is funny! She knows her stuff but she isn't pretentious. This is likely the first time I ever laughed out loud reading a recipe intro! Her instructions are clear, with a little straight-talk thrown in when needed. Most of the recipes are so straightforward that I feel confident "cooking as I go", checking on the steps to make sure I'm on track. My husband approves. When I sent my momma a picture of the hoecakes, she called me two minutes later and said, "When you make those, I'm coming over." She's from Alabama and swears her grandmomma aka Big Momma could have written this book. If she'd ever written out recipes anyway. For a cook who cooks by feel, I can't imagine how hard it was to write out ever step and every ingredient down to the last quarter-teaspoon of salt, but she did it. Mizz Charles turned out an amazing cookbook. I would proudly keep it on my shelf if I wasn't always flipping through it. {Prior to checking out her book from the library, I'd never heard of Dora Charles or whatever mess did or didn't happen regarding Paula Deen, so I can't comment about that. (It has nothing to do with the book anyway.)}

What a delightful way to pass the afternoon, with fabulous recipes, family history, and gorgeous photos of many dishes so I know how the finished product should look. I will be trying some of these recipes soon!

This is the cookbook that I have been looking for all of my life! I am world travelled and simply love food - a true foodie. I have hundreds of cookbooks. But during the holidays I find myself in mourning. I've lost so many in my family - my mother, my grandmothers, aunts, and uncles. I am realizing that my generation has made a grievous error in letting the old ones go to their graves without learning the traditions. In today's society we praise the new and criticize the past. But past is not just prologue, it is history, it is tradition. On my mother's side (the side that hosted the holiday dinners) the people are from the South. The family settled in Cleveland, OH, by way of Florida, by way of Alabama (which they left because the Klan was after one of my great Uncles). As a child, during the holidays, I travelled to the Midwest to eat food that was decidedly Southern. It was delicious. But that isn't the whole story. Nowadays when people speak of Southern food or Soul food, they do so with a grimace, labeling it as unhealthy, the cause of diabetes, etc. Ironically, most of MY old ones, born and raised on this food, lived into their 90's. But in many ways this unhealthy designation is just another form of cultural denigration, while at the same time, every chef on the Food Network is incorporating those foods and methods into their own, so called gourmet cooking. Therefore, because society dismissed the old southern cooking as "not good enough", many who were raised with this kind of cooking chose not to preserve the memory of it, and, tragically, the memories of those who prepared it. This is a grievous mistake and I thank Dora for helping me just a little on my course correction. This book is beautiful and actually made me cry. It is exactly how I remember my family cooking. The recipes look amazing. I'll update my review when I have tried some, but I know that they are good because they are EXACTLY as ours were prepared. A couple are identical to the few I was able to snag for posterity. Her spirit and approach are the real thing. Not some chef TRYING to cook Southern, but a Southern cook trying to put into words what comes naturally to her. And those words are amazing. This book is well written and tells a story that needs to be told in the way it should be told. One last thing, please try to come off the high horse that I've seen so many on when reviewing this cookbook. For instance reviewers have scoffed at her use of Accent, Lawry's, Biscquick, margarine, etc. She labels Accent as "optional" - it's only recently that we have discarded this chemical for health reasons. People cooked with it for many years to enhance flavor. Lawry's is simply a mix of seasoning - the proportions of which have been copywrited and sold. Biscquick is simply a stabilzed baking mix. You could make it fresh if you want to, but many poor and busy people found it easier to buy it premade. Margarine, which I never touch, was put out as a HEALTHY alternative to butter a few decades back and an entire generation grew up using it as their butter and are accustomed to the flavor. I say this so that people see that many of these processed additives WERE a part of the organic evolution of black southern cooking. However if you read closely in the book, she sticks mostly to scratch. Finally, she talks about fry grease and people run for the hills. However if you'll stand still for a moment, all fry grease is is the grease that has been infused by the meat that was cooking in it. It is used as a flavoring IN LIEU of an unflavored oil. Ie: 2 tblsp of rendered bacon fat instead of 2 tblsp of olive oil. Not more fat, more flavor. At any rate, my point is not to convince anybody to eat Southern food. My point is that if Southern food was at all a part of your heritage, this book is for you. It is history as told by the cook. It is love through food. I might buy another copy just to give her the sale.

Perfect Fried Chicken recipe ! Also, That Cayenne , Brown Sugar mix on bacon is a game changer ! Never thought to make bacon that way. Delicious

My first concern that since Ms Charles is the one who taught Paula Deen how to cook, the recipes would just be repeats of what was in Ms Deen's cookbooks. Well, yes, many of her recipes can be found in the past cookbooks. There is a big difference though. Ms Charles takes her time to tell you about the recipe & coaxes you to use certain techniques, look for certain things as you are making the recipe. She makes the recipe come off the pages of the book & into your hands, eyes & even ears. There are cooking lessons to be learned here that can be applied to many other recipes you may try. Reading a recipe & making it become delicious is a special talent that Ms Charles wants you to learn. She is always searching for flavor & her recipes go beyond the other recipes that Ms Deen used. So is it the same recipe? Not by any means. Yes, these are not the healthiest recipes, but as you know, you can make substitutions. If that upsets you, then just pick another cookbook. This is simple soul food that graced the tables of years gone by. I wish Ms Charles the best. If there is another cookbook in her future, I will be there to purchase it.

I'm living in Canada and missing my family's cooking, but when I ask my cousins: How did Namaw make this? How did Dandy make that? No one has an answer. People forget, but Ms. Charles keeps these traditions alive and her cobbler recipe tastes just like my Dandy used to make.

Beautiful photos—the extracts about her life and family are touching. Pleased with my purchase—can’t wait to try out her recipes.

Lovely written, foolproof, well-tasting and authentic recipes! I'm deeply in love! Wer die Südstaatenküche kochen will, braucht dieses Buch! Es ist liebevoll geschrieben und die Rezepte sind absolut gelingsicher, wenn man sich die Tipps der Verfasserin zu Herzen nimmt. Ich bin überglücklich dieses Schätzchen gefunden zu haben!

Beautiful book. Very intimate and personal with simple and honest recipes. Dora Charles have so much to tell and teach about cooking, history and life. It’s homemade family food at is best. Feels like you will eat something from her hands sitting at her table. Loved the book. I’m muslim so we don’t eat pork. I found on Divas can cook channel on YT that people use smoked turkey instead of pork. I am working on my homemade halal smoked turkey legs and wings before trying some of the recipes. I am on a southern food discovery mission and Madame Charles is my muse. Bravo to her, beautiful book!

For those fans of southern African American and soul food, this book has some fabulous, easy to follow recipes and a collection of great photos. I added it to my library over the summer and have already made some of the dishes. There are a couple of some what unconventional dishes, such as roast Cornish hens stuffed with rice and rosemary. As a fan of Cornish hens, this is a recipe that I'll be trying. Loaded with many classics too.