Pecans: A Savor the South Cookbook

Savor the South Cookbooks

by Kathleen Purvis

Show me a recipe with pecans, and I have to try it." Attributing her own love of this American nut to the state of her birth--Georgia is the nation's leader in growing pecans--and to the happy fact that her mother "hardly made a cookie, candy, or pan of Sunday dressing without them," Kathleen Purvis teaches readers how to find, store, cook, and completely enjoy this southern delicacy. Pecans includes fifty-two recipes, ranging from traditional to inventive, from uniquely southern to distinctly international, including Bourbon-Orange Pecans, Buttermilk-Pecan Chicken, Pecan Pralines, and Leche Quemada.
In addition to the recipes, Purvis delights readers with the pecan's culinary history and its intimate connections with southern culture and foodways. Headnotes for the recipes offer humorous personal stories as well as preparation tips such as how to choose accompanying cheeses.

Genres: Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Cookbooks

104 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2012

Reviews

[Micah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting enough, but there's really only so far you can go with pecans before it becomes not worth it

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the Savor the South cookbooks and somehow I had missed this one even though I think it was the first in the series. I haven't always loved nuts, but in the last few years I have come to really like pecans so I decided to check out this book. Purvis gives a great introduction with the history of pecans in the South, as well as her personal history with pecans. The book is ordered like many cookbooks with sections for appetizers, main dishes, sides, and desserts. Whether you pronounce them "pee-cans" or "pah-cahns" pecans are a definitive Southern food. There were definitely a few recipes I'd like to try.

[Anne]

Lots of interesting info in the introduction, as is usual for this series of single ingredient cookbooks. However the recipes are mostly appetizers and desserts as one might expect. Main dishes are variations on pecan crusted this and that, and the salads and sides are a standard assortment of things with pecans on top.

[Kylie Hood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually this is a book filler for the re-read of pecan man. It's only way for me to get the book counted.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The University of North Carolina Press has undertaken an ambitious and delicious project called "The Savor of the South" cookbooks series. Each small volume concentrates on one distinctively southern ingredient and its distinctively southern uses. The lead-off title is about Pecans; others will treat buttermilk, bourbon, peaches, bacon and catfish. The pecan grows natively in the American southeast. It was harvested and used by Native Americans before white people arrived on the continent. Its natural range covers the Old South as well as parts of Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. A staple in Southern American cooking, it many uses in both sweet and savoury dishes are exemplified in this book. Especially interesting are the bourbon-orange pecans served with pecan-orange bourbon, the honey-pecan chicken thighs, the roasted broccoli with browned-butter pecan sauce and the cane syrup-pecan ice cream. Kathleen Purvis is the Food Editor for The Charlotte Observer and writes a 'blog called "I'll Bite: Cooking, Eating and Food-Loving in the Carolinas." In the interest of full-disclosure, I admit that I know, enjoy and respect Kathleen, but my objectivity remains intact.

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit I haven't made one recipe out of this book yet. However, they all sound fabulous and I plan to keep renewing this book until I no longer can. And then I may buy it. Did I mention I love pecans?

[Belinda]

If you like pecans... enjoy a bit of history and family stories wrapped around recipes then this is the book for you!

[J. Robin Whitley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way that the author invites you into the story. Looking forward to trying the recipes.