Fannie Flagg's Original Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook

by Fannie Flagg

Actress and author of the the beloved novel FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE STOP CAFE, Fannie Flagg has long collected recipes from that famed cafe on which the movie was based. Now, due to popular demand, she joyfully shares those recipes along with some wonderful (and hilarious) observations about food and life.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Southern, Reference, Food and Drink

204 pages, Hardcover

First published October 19, 1993

About the author

Fannie Flagg began writing and producing television specials at age nineteen and went on to distinguish herself as an actress and writer in television, films, and the theater. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (which was produced by Universal Pictures as "Fried Green Tomatoes"), Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!, Standing in the Rainbow, and A Redbird Christmas.

Flagg’s film script for "Fried Green Tomatoes" was nominated for both the Academy Award and the Writers Guild of America Award and won the highly regarded Scripters Award. She lives in California and Alabama.

Reviews

[karen]

book two of "books i used to make this: https://www.thereadingroom.com/articl..."

in which i get to use the additional pictures and actually say something about the recipes.



Sweet Potato Croquettes



i love the idea of this - that you wrap a bunch of mashed sweet potato around a freaking marshmallow and then roll it in cornflakes and deep fry it. it's genius. however, by the time they had cooled down enough to eat (and believe me - i was not patient about it so let's just say they were BARELY cool enough to eat), the marshmallow had been raptured and there was barely anything that could be pointed to and identified as marshmallow. also, i had trouble making the cornflakes stay on once they were in the deep frying stage and i had to kinda scoop them up outta the oil afterward and press them back into the potato balls. did i mention i had never deep fried anything myself before?? this is why i need more carnies in my life. also for the oversized stuffed animals. but so if you are a scholar of deep-frying, you'll probably be fine and you should make these for me.

Squash Casserole





this recipe was even more disappointing than the sweet potato one because its failure to be delicious was not my fault. it's just a pretty bland recipe. it looked beautiful and i love summer squash and all, but the end result didn't have a lot of flavor and the texture was gummy and chunky at the same time. maybe adding something acidic like tomato would boost it a little? or maybe some spinach?? i dunno - in any event, i did not love.

Lemon Ice Box Pie



but this one YESSSSSSSS a million times YESSSSSSSSSSS. oh, man, i was SUCH a fan of this. it was so bright and sour and creamy, i will make it a hundred more times. there are actually a ton more dessert recipes that look delicious in this book (many of them lemon-based), so i may test those as well in the future and maybe have a summertime dessert-only picnic. with some oversize stuffed animals.

[Miranda Reads]

And, I feel like you cannot read the original story without wanting to eat at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Fried green tomatoes, biscuits, barbecue (hmm, maybe not the barbecue - if you know, you know)...but the point still stands.

So, imagine my delight when I realized that there was a cookbook based off of the book...and my further, compounding delight when I realized that the Whistle Stop Cafe was actually based on a real place - the Irondale Cafe started by the author's own aunt!

Fannie Flagg goes into detail about her desire to create a cookbook - despite her lack of general cooking skills...

"As the only child of a mother who did not like to cook, I have eaten out almost every day of my life ... so I certainly know good food when I see it."

This cookbook is broken up into ten main sections - Breakfasts, Blue Plate Specials, Fish, Gravies and Sauces, Side Dishes, Breads, Soups and Stews, Salads and Snacks, Desserts, and Jams/Jellies/Condiments.

At the beginning of each section, she provides some background to the recipes she chose for her Fried Green Tomatoes book, as well as a bit of family history as well from the Irondale Cafe. Sometimes she will give her thoughts on a recipe or what she thought her characters would think about the recipe.

I really the simplicity of this cookbook, after all, Fannie Flagg says,

"Café cooking is not hard; in fact it is nothing more than good, old-fashioned home cooking not done at home."

And overall, I thought this was a fun literary connection to one of my favorite books. I'm really happy to have this one in my collection.

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[Anna]

These are recipes from my childhood...literally. The recipes and stories are based on those from my Great-Aunt Bess and her cafe in Irondale, and the family who bought the cafe from her. You can see my aunt on one of the first pages feeding a cat. When I'm missing her, I take this out and it takes me back to my childhood and the good times I shared with her.

[Susan]

I wasn't thrilled with this cookbook. I've made Fried Green Tomatoes and although it was fun & tasty, it's not on the top of my list of favorites. I was hoping to find a new favorite recipe but the ones in here are so 1950's old fashioned that they usually cook everything beyond fresh flavors or I've seen them in church cookbooks for a few decades. So nothing really caught my attention. The quips from her books are really fun to read though. She's a great writer of the down home wit.

[L]

This is on my list of top 10 favorite cookbooks. The recipes render authentic southern cooking like I remember from my childhood, every one a winner. I love this book so much that I started buying up hardback copies whenever I could find them (since it was out of print) to give to close friends as presents. These recipes are the real deal!

[K.E. Garvey]

After reading the book and then watching the movie, I felt as though I had to complete the 'Fried Green' experience by buying the cookbook. I own 120+ cookbooks and this one still ranks in my top 5.

Make a couple of these recipes and you can't help but to feel southern!

[Richard L. Willett]

As a child of the 50's, and being raised in the South, this cookbook is a walk down memory lane with foods that I can remember eating from my mother's kitchen.
As I am someone who is not experienced in the kitchen, the key (for me) are simple instructions I can follow, a thorough explanation of ingredients and how to combine them, and instructions written in such a way as to make me feel I can actually tackle the job in the kitchen.
Flagg's cookbook meets all my criteria and I feel that I could tackle many, if not most of the recipes without disastrous results.

[Anne]

I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama the child of western parents, but I married a southern boy through-and-through. During the first half of our marriage, we lived far from his southern home and family. This cookbook saved me. The recipes in it are the ones my mother- and father-in-law would have written down if they used recipes. You get the sense that generations of southerners have cooked this way and taught their children to cook this way. Delicious, comforting, real southern food.

[Amy (Other Amy)]

It's probably cheeky to rate a cookbook before actually making any of the recipes, but this was a library book and my time with it is up. I will eventually get the lemon ice box pie and the key lime pie made though, at which point I will try to remember to update this. I will say that I read the whole thing cover to cover, folksy as it is, and it made me very hungry.

[Donna]

This cookbook of Fannie Flagg's was really interesting to read. Lots of delicious recipes included with little snippets from the book Fried Green Tomatoes and about Fannie herself.

I would recommend this book to everyone. I am surely going to try the recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes as I have never tried them yet.

Thanks Fannie for this cookbook.

I bought this book through Amazon.

[Susan Liston]

Reading her latest book reminded me that I have this cookbook and have probably never even read it. So I did, and it was quick and fun. There were some recipes I'll keep in mind, but not the possum.

[Karen Ferguson]

Fun read, I made one of the cake recipes

[Joyce]

What a fun cook book to read! Has a story line with all the recipes; and the recipes seem like good ones! Need to buy this one when I get home.

[Brittney]

Being a native Southerner I was ecstatic to find this at a local thrift store. Great compilation of authentic, down-home traditional cooking.

[Mel]

So many incredible recipes. I can't wait to try them all!!

[Jessica]

After the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, based on Fannie Flagg's novel, came out fans wanted to cookbook of all the recipes featured in the movie. While Flagg doesn't consider herself much of a cook, the Whistle Stop Cafe was based on her aunt's cafe from her childhood. So, Flagg got the recipes from the cook at her aunt's cafe and this book was born. While there were some recipes I'd like to try, many of them seemed pretty outdated and there was a LOT of using margarine, which I haven't bought or used in years and would not recommend at all. But, there were a lot of quotes from her books throughout the cookbook and every few pages there was an essay about Southern food written by Flagg so those were great to read. Overall, it was pretty good and there seem to be some solid, Southern recipes, but not anything to get super excited about.

[Linda]

There are few guarantees in this life, but I am ALWAYS guaranteed a plethora of laughs if I'm reading Fannie Flagg. I start smiling on Page 1 and before long my ribs are hurting and hubby is asking, "What's so funny?" Then he's laughing too. With maternal southern grandparents, good food was almost a religion and milk gravy was a staple, so I loved these recipes that reminded me of all our family meals that were about a lot more than just consuming food. Fannie's recipe for Fried Okra is exactly the way we cook it, which is the first time I've run across this in a southern cookbook. I loved all her humorous or touching notes with each recipe and the passages from her books were a joy to read. (BTW, if you want something really special, add some shrimp to her cheesy grits.)

[Ciel]

Like someone else commented, every single recipe in this book is bland. The only seasonings she uses are salt and pepper. That being said I’m going to try her banana pudding recipe. Knowing me I will step it up a notch though with at least some cinnamon. a dash of salt. And certainly not margarine.

As I recall someone saying, Nilla wafers nowadays have no flavor whereas before they used to so maybe making my own sugar cookies would be helpful. They do have to be firm so they would have to make them dried out. Not that anyone cares :)

[Hollie]

I really enjoyed the film, definitely one of my favourites.. and when I heard there was a recipe book to go along with it I just had to get this! So far the only one I've tried is the buttermilk biscuits but there's a whole lot more that I'm wanting to try, especially Fried Green Tomatoes, that's next! I would have given 4.5 stars as there aren't any pictures in the book but since I can't 5 it is! If you're a fan of the film or just love southern cookin' then you just gotta try this cookbook!!

[Patricia Moore]

I love cookbooks and those based on books and movies and television shows are always fun!

There are recipes for southern foods served in the Whistle Stop Cafe and in southern kitchens. Yes, fried green tomatoes recipe is included. If you're a fan of the novel, you might enjoy checking this one out.

[Sarah]

So you might be thinkng, "you read a cookbook?" Well, not front to back but I read it. My mom picked it up at a library sale. This cookbook has stories all along the side from Fannie Flagg and, like everything else she writes, brought nostalgia and laughter. I am not much of a cook but do love me some Fannie Flagg.

[Sharlene Young]

Love this book

Loved the movie and the cookbook!!!! It definitely takes you back to a simpler time. I’m a Pennsylvania girl but when I go to Alabama to visit relatives, it feels like I stepped into the book

[Alicia]

I enjoyed this cookbook. I particularly enjoyed the quotes from the book and anecdotes.

[Rhonda]

This is my absolute favorite cookbook of all time. I collect cookbooks but have been in search of a simple, back in time, southern food cookbook. This would be a great gift for a college student or new bride. The recipes here are things my Granny made on a regular basis. In a time when all meals were made from scratch, families ate together, bonded over each meal. If you don't have it, I urge you to get it. You already have the majority of ingredients in your pantry.

[Susan (aka Just My Op)]

I read this as a quick (very quick) light book, not as a cookbook but just for its down-home entertainment value. It was a fun, light read. There were some good sounding recipes, too, but not really my style of cooking. This makes a fun in-between book.

[Lee]

More than just a cookbook

Full of references to characters and scenes from "Fried Green Tomatoes ...," this unique cookbook features recipes for down home Southern dishes that epitomize comfort food

[Diana McCutcheon]

Food I was raised on, food I learned to cook and fed my family with. Some new recipes I would like to try. Makes me think of home, my mom, and grandmothers. I am a girl raised in the South and proud of it. Don't read or get this book unless you want to feel hungry and immediately start cooking!

[Louie]

A funny and memorable look at the past with delicious sounding recipes and a celebration of an iconic southern establishment, the cafe.

[Karen Bendzus]

funny anecdotes. Delicous recipes

[Elizabeth Meadows]

A cookbook of true comfort food!