Anne Byrn, "Baking in the American South: 200 Recipes and Their Untold Stories" (Harper Celebrate, 2024)

New Books in American Studies

Witness the rise of Southern baking from the humble, make-do recipes of earlier generations to its place as one of the world's richest culinary traditions through Baking in the American South: 200 Recipes and Their Untold Stories (Harper Celebrate, 2024), a new essential cookbook from bestselling author Anne Byrn. With 200 recipes and more than 150 photos from 14 states, this cookbook has the biscuits, cornbread, cakes, and rolls that will help home cooks bake like a Southerner, whether or not they come from below the Mason-Dixon line.

As Anne Byrn explains on New Books Network, recipes can tell you volumes if you pay attention—the crops raised, languages spoken, family customs, old world flavors, and, often, religion. Did you know that where a mill was located affected the recipes handed down from that area? Or that baking and selling pound cakes directly impacted the Civil Rights Movement? She shares these stories and recipes, developed from good times and bad, having diligently uncovered them using the investigative expertise she earned as a journalist with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Tennessean

She provides a fascinating dive into the history of 14 Southern states—Texas, Florida, Kentucky, and more—discussing the places, the people, the products and the culture of the moment that influenced what people baked. Anne talks about African-American women and the monumental contributions they have made to the art of Southern baking, about home cooks and how they've kept traditions alive wherever they settle by baking family recipes each year for holidays and celebrations. She shares stories about Jewish families that came to the South and reinterpreted traditional baked goods to incorporate local ingredients, and she also talks about the pastry chefs who have thoughtfully reimagined how the South bakes.

Interview by Laura Goldberg, longtime food blogger at Vittlesvamp.com.

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