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Biscuits, Spoonbread, and Sweet Potato Pie
This delightful cookbook celebrates the glories of southern baking, with 300 recipes for the breads, biscuits, cakes, pies, cookies, and sweets that have been the pride of southern cooks for generations. From his first chapter on cornmeal--with recipes for dumplings, hushpuppies, and four styles of spoonbread--to his delicious array of desserts--including persimmon pudding, lemon chess pie, and pecan cake with caramel icing--Bill Neal interweaves fascinating bits of culinary history with a native's knowledge of the cooking secrets of the rural South. He demystifies beaten biscuits, revives such southern standbys as baps and bannocks, and freshens up old favorites such as peach cobbler and fruitcake. Passing on the traditions of the southern kitchen, Neal pays tribute to the richness of the region's heritage. Biscuits, Spoonbread, and Sweet Potato Pie was first published in 1990.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
47 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 28, 2021
Recently, on a road trip, I ate spoonbread for the first time. It was served with maple butter and was truly delicious! After we arrived home, I searched our library's online catalog to find a book with a recipe for this delightful dish and placed on hold, "Biscuits, Spoonbread, and Sweet Potato Pie," by Bill Neal. The hardcover edition duly arrived from Glenview Public Library. I am so thankful for our sharing libraries.
I was interested to learn from the introduction that "Today, Southerners are more and more aware of their traditional foods as the rest of their culture blends into that of the nation as a whole." Whenever I am asked about my background in England, I find my conversation usually includes or even revolves around the foods I ate growing up there. Regarding the South, Bill Neal writes, "Our diet reflects the history of the region and its people: Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans. Our food tells us where we came from and who we have become."
Neal writes about the adaptation of recipes to locally available ingredients, which "reveals the ingenuity and creativity of the Southern cook combining Old World practices and New World foods. This is an area I found truly interesting to learn about.
While in the South, I ate the best biscuits I ever tasted! From Neal, I learned the difference between wheats and that the soft flour from the South makes excellent biscuits, whereas the hard Northern flour is not well-suited to biscuit making. I enjoyed reading his tips for making biscuits including "Biscuits, like baking but more so, are in the hands, not the head." They require a light touch. He also explores how different fats affect the outcome. Finally, I was surprised to read that using a "glass or a jar or anything that does not allow air to escape while cutting" the dough will "compress your biscuit," due to the increased air pressure.
Finally, one of my favorite things to eat in England on a cold and damp Saturday teatime was crumpets toasted and lathered in butter and Lyle's golden syrup. So, imagine my delight to read, "We celebrate spring with crumpets in the garden."
I was interested to learn from the introduction that "Today, Southerners are more and more aware of their traditional foods as the rest of their culture blends into that of the nation as a whole." Whenever I am asked about my background in England, I find my conversation usually includes or even revolves around the foods I ate growing up there. Regarding the South, Bill Neal writes, "Our diet reflects the history of the region and its people: Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans. Our food tells us where we came from and who we have become."
Neal writes about the adaptation of recipes to locally available ingredients, which "reveals the ingenuity and creativity of the Southern cook combining Old World practices and New World foods. This is an area I found truly interesting to learn about.
While in the South, I ate the best biscuits I ever tasted! From Neal, I learned the difference between wheats and that the soft flour from the South makes excellent biscuits, whereas the hard Northern flour is not well-suited to biscuit making. I enjoyed reading his tips for making biscuits including "Biscuits, like baking but more so, are in the hands, not the head." They require a light touch. He also explores how different fats affect the outcome. Finally, I was surprised to read that using a "glass or a jar or anything that does not allow air to escape while cutting" the dough will "compress your biscuit," due to the increased air pressure.
Finally, one of my favorite things to eat in England on a cold and damp Saturday teatime was crumpets toasted and lathered in butter and Lyle's golden syrup. So, imagine my delight to read, "We celebrate spring with crumpets in the garden."
November 9, 2019
A mix of food history, mystery, and heirloom receipts. Not totally practical, but a fun read worth keeping if you're into cookbooks as comfort reading. The title doesn't suggest it, but this collection includes some interesting recipes for sorbets and ices, as well as cocktails (or syllabubs, shrubs, and nogs), and a whole chapter of corn-y goods, among other culinary oddments and borrowed ideas. I made the rose water apple pie and it was *very* good. Reading this made me wish I could see Mr. Neal's personal library of cookbook/recipe comfort reads.
January 7, 2019
Too learned? Not learned enough. Not useful enough, either. Might have been more earth shattering when published. Way too many pronouncements about “every Southern table.”
January 27, 2021
I've had this book for years. It's a great combination of cookbook, history lesson, and memoir. If you are like me and read a cookbook cover to cover like a novel when you first get it, you'll really enjoy this. I've made many of the recipes and they are reliable. Directions are clear. Personal favorite recipes: German Waffles p. 63 (I add vanilla), Oat Cake p. 288, and Apple Pie p. 269. Enjoy!
March 26, 2008
This is a great little cookbook with endearing recipies that I'm sure your family will love as much as mine did!
August 8, 2008
a keeper
August 11, 2008
Traditional Southern cooking with a wide slice of fascinating history served up with each recipe. An historical rendition of each recipe is included, along with its modern counterpart.
May 4, 2011
A great purchase from a used store, what a deal!
This is a great read as well as a having a lot of great recipes.
Every recipe I have used so far, has been wonderful.
This is a great read as well as a having a lot of great recipes.
Every recipe I have used so far, has been wonderful.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews