The New Low-Country Cooking: 125 Recipes for Coastal Southern Cooking with Innovative Style

by Marvin Woods

There's a whole world of flavor packed into an eighty-plus-square-mile area surrounding the cities of Charleston and Savannah. It's called the Low Country of South Carolina. For centuries, Low-Country cooks have taken the diverse foods of Africa, France, Spain, and the Caribbean and turned them into one of the most intriguing regional cuisines. Marvin Woods, chef/owner of Diaspora Foods in Charlotte, North Carolina, offers a new take on this extraordinary cuisine. By incorporating these international flavors with contemporary techniques, he stays true to the roots of the original dish, yet creates new flavors that are innovative and delicious. With the sure hand of a seasoned chef, Woods transforms standards like fried chicken and gumbo into updated dishes for today's kitchen. Try his Southern-Exposed Fried Chicken; it's fried, then baked, for crispy, greaseless results. His Vegetable Gumbo is light, flavorful, and satisfying. There's everything from Bourbon-Soaked Pork Chops and Barbecued Short Ribs to Pan-Seared Pompano and Southern Summer Ratatouille. Rice, South Carolina's great contribution to the American culinary melting pot, takes center stage in Crab and Shrimp Pilau and Five-Greens Rice. You'll also find recipes for the ultimate Southern classics--biscuits and cornbread--along with sensational desserts such as My Favorite Mini Mud Pies and Praline Bread Pudding. But The New Low-Country Cooking is much more than a great cookbook. Woods shares historical tidbits on how dishes and ingredients got their names, where they originated, and the indisputable importance of African-American cooks in Southern life. The New Low-Country Cooking hits a high note in American regional cuisine.

Genres: Cookbooks

240 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2000

Reviews

[Joan M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cookbooks that tell stories are my favorite kinds of cookbooks. Marvin Woods showcases the foods he grew up with and does them well. I tried his carrot cake, with my own modifications, and it's delightful. The Que sauce brought back some memories.

[PatriciaLeana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Rachel Coyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love cookbooks that are enjoyable like books. I read this front to back

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soul Food - That's What We're Talking About!

One of the really great things about living in the United States is the regional cuisine. In the last 15 years or so there has been an awaking of regional cuisine on a national level - perhaps because so many of us move and miss the flavours of home, or perhaps because the Clintons taught us that that fine wine and "y'alls" are the perfect combination, I'm not certain, but whatever the reason I love it.

Time was, back in the 1980's, when Southern cooking would be categorized as having 4 food groups : grease, sugar, salt, and alcohol. Not anymore.

Low-Country cooking captures those flavours of the Low Country. (Think Savannah, you know, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Now imagine the sets and locations of that movie as flavours. Now you understand! You can discover a bit of what you just imagined here.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The recipes that we use over and over are the ones for BBQ Sauce for the Pulled Pork sandwiches and the slaw dressing. The dressing is made with marscapone cheese and it is divine!

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!