Cookbook Thursday: Savor the South cookbooks

            The University of North Carolina Press has instituted a new series of Southern foodway books called “Savor the South” cookbooks. These small but highly informative titles have included subjects such as pecans, bourbon, okra and tomatoes.

            The newest titles to emerge are “Gumbo” by Dale Curry, a New Orleans food writer and cookbook author, and “Shrimp” by Jay Pierce, a chef and food writer of North Carolina who grew up on the Louisiana coast.

            In addition to explanations of the subject, each book offers dozens of recipes. If you love shrimp, you’ll not want to miss Pierce’s homage to the Gulf creature and its many ways to cook it. Curry’s book includes her own variety of gumbos, from a roux-less bowl to a “Super Gumbo” that throws everything into the pot, as well as those of celebrity chefs such as Leah Chase, Emeril Lagasse and Donald Link. However, she veers off into other dishes such as jambalaya, calas, corn maque choux and shrimp and grits and I would have preferred more takes on the Louisiana standard.

            Pierce is executive chef at Rocksalt in Charlotte, North Carolina, and has written for CNN's Eatocracy blog, Edible Piedmont, Savor NC and Beer Connoisseur. Curry served as the food editor for 20 years of The Times-Picayune newspaper of New Orleans and is the author of "New Orleans Home Cooking."

            It’s a wonderful series and a great addition to any cook’s collection, especially those wondering about the history of these unique Louisiana foodways.

            

Shrimp Ceviche

From "Shrimp" by Jay Pierce

1 pound large shrimp (21/25), peeled

1/4 cup seeded, small-diced Roma tomatoes

4 teaspoons seeded, minced jalapenos

1 cup lime juice

1/2 cup small-diced red onion

2 tablespoons packed cilantro

2 tablespoons orange juice

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Plantain crisps or tortilla chips

Hot sauce (preferably Valentinac or Bufalo)

      Directions: Cut the shrimp in half lengthwise. Place in a bowl and cover with water. Swish around well, then remove the shrimp from the water. Combine the shrimp with the remaining ingredients in a shallow pan or bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and press it down onto the surface of the ceviche. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, stirring halfway through and replacing the plastic wrap. To serve, use a slotted spoon to transfer the ceviche to a serving dish. Serve with plantain crisps or tortilla chips and a bottle of hot sauce. Some folks like to serve the juice separately as shots of "Leche de Tigre."

Louisiana Book News is written by Cheré Coen, the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “ExploringCajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Walter's last cookbook a must for every Southern library

            Eugene Walter of Mobile loved Southern foodways, particularly spirits, and enjoying sharing this passion with the world. He was the author of “American Cooking: Southern Style,” in addition to being a novelist, screenwriter, costume designer, actor and more. 

             David Goodman, who manages the Eugene Walters estate, and Thomas Head of Louisiana, former executive wine and food editor of Washingtonian magazine, have edited a cookbook Walter was working on in his final years. “The Happy Table of EugeneWalter: Southern Spirits in Food and Drink” blends stories with food and cocktail recipes, with great explanations of both. Throughout it all is Walter’s dynamic personality shining through, a book that’s fun to read whether you’re interesting in cooking or not.

            In the press materials that came with the book are some recommendations from the editors. One of Goodman’s favorite cocktail, for instance, is The Milton Makeover, which I’m including below. I’ve been to Milton, Fla., and enjoyed the setting sun over the gorgeous Blackwater River. I can picture Walter sipping this cool drink on the river’s edge, a variation of the mint julep that’s good for late summer when mint is hard to find.

The Milton Makeover

From “The Happy Table of Eugene Walter”

1 kumquat

1 tangerine

1 orange

Bourbon

Cane sugar

Dark rum

Lemon juice

Candied orange peel or crystallized ginger for garnish

            Directions: Scrape only the outer skin of a few kumquats, tangerines, sweet oranges, or whatever combination of these you can conjure into a good quantity of best bourbon. Add a dash of cane sugar. Let sit an hour or so, then strain and chill well. Add a dash of dark rum. Add 1 or 2 drops of lemon juice. Pour over cracked ice in chilled mugs or tankards, garnish with 1 thin strip of candied orange or crystallized ginger, and serve after putting into icebox at least 15 minutes.

Cheré Coen is a Lafayette freelance travel and food writer. She is coauthor of “Cooking in Cajun Country” with Karl Breaux and author of “Exploring Cajun Country: A Tour of Historic Acadiana.”

Entries now being accepted for annual Ernest J. Gaines Award; new releases of Louisiana titles

            Entries are being accepted through April 30 for the seventh annual Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, an honor that comes with a $10,000 cash prize. Sponsored by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, The Ernest J. Gaines award is meant to inspire and recognize excellence among rising African-American writers and to honor Gaines as one of the world’s most celebrated authors. The New Orleans Times-Picayune called the award the “nation’s biggest prize for African-American writers.” A Louisiana native, Gaines’ critically acclaimed novel, “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” was adapted into a 1974 made-for-TV movie that received nine Emmy awards. His 1993 book, “A Lesson Before Dying,” won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. For information, visit www.ernestjgainesaward.org.

New releases

            Arthur Mitchell, born in 1915 a descendent of slaves on the Jons Plantation in Ironwood, Louisiana, was told a story about the descendents of a beautiful young slave girl from East Central Africa sold in 1810 to a French farmer in the New Orleans area. Mitchell later wrote these stories down and his original 150-page, hand-written memoir was lost in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina, when the levee broke near his house in the lower ninth ward of New Orleans. One copy was preserved by Gayle Nolan, who has edited and prepared the manuscript for publication, and that book is now “What Love Can Do: Recollected Stories of Slavery and Freedom in New Orleans and the Surrounding Area” by Arthur Mitchell, published by Balboa Press. 

            Daniel Brook of New Orleans has published “A History of Future Cities,” looking at St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Mumbai and Dubai. He focuses on the cultural and historical threads that connect these cities and their conflicted embrace of modernity.           

            Christa Allen has released a new love story titled “Love Finds You in New Orleans, Louisiana,” where young Adelaide LeClerc is about to wed a man she dreads. Orphaned at a young age, Adelaide’s future hangs in the balance as her grandparents consider whether to stop keeping secrets and reveal the truth that they’ve known since before Adelaide’s birth — a truth that will make the difference between a life of obligation and a life of choice for Adelaide.

            Monique O’Connor of Denham Springs writes about a spoiled college student trying to find her way in the real world in “Becoming Jolie,” set in the fictional town of Follette, Louisiana. The small town has been plagued by ghost sightings and a rash of missing children and Jolie is convinced everyone in town is crazy — except Hutch Landry and his brother Tucker. Published by Bayou Brew Publishing, the book is available from Amazon.

             Markeitha Bergeron White has self-published a children’s picture book that’s a Cajun twist on the little piggy went to market nursery rhyme titled “A Cajun Pig Tale,” illustrated by Erin Taylor. The book is available at The Coffee Depot and the Begnaud House in Scott and The Louisiana Art and Science Museum in Baton Rouge.   

            This week from LSU Press, Ron Smith’s “Its Ghosty Workshop,” a collection of poems from the Mediterranean to the American West, drawn from the lives of notable and diverse figures such Edward Teller, Edgar Allan Poe, Mickey Mantle, Ezra Pound, Robert Penn Warren, Jesse Owens, Leni Riefenstahl and many others. Smith is the author of the poetry collections “Running Again in Hollywood Cemetery” and “Moon Road,” and is the poetry editor for “Aethlon: The Journal of Sports Literature.”

            The University of North Carolina Press is publishing a collection of small cookbooks that spotlight specific foods, many of which are indigenous to the South. For instance, the “Savor the South” series includes “Pecans” by Kathleen Pruvis, full of pecan recipes, pecan history, tips on cooking with pecans and their nutritional value, and “Buttermilk” by Debbie Moose, which examines the great cooking ingredient and offers 50 recipes, most of which are uniquely Southern. And there are more to come.

Book events

            Ronlyn Domingue will sign copies of her latest novel, “The Mapmaker’s War,” at a “Meet & Greet the Author” from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at The Cottage Shoppe of Acadiana, 800 E. Broussard Road, Lafayette.

            Craig B. Smith will visit the World War II Museum in New Orleans at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 21, to discuss his book, “Counting the Days,” which tells the story of six prisoners of war imprisoned by both sides during the Pacific Theatre.

        

Cheré Coen is the author of “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at chere@louisianabooknews.com.