Damon Lee Fowler

Food * History * Words

In History's Kitchen

28 July 2012: Okra and Tomatoes

July 28, 2012

Tags: Okra, Tomatoes, Okra and tomatoes, Historical Southern Cooking, Classical Southern Cooking, Mary Randolph, Annabella Hill, Lettice Bryan, Sarah Rutledge

Classical Southern Okra and Tomatoes, with small, whole okra and fresh tomatoes

One of the great flavor combinations of a Southern summer is the masterful pairing of okra and tomatoes. This near perfect mating was not discovered down here, nor is it limited to our corner of the globe, but we�ve certainly laid claim to it and made it peculiarly our own. (more…)

1 Comment

20 July 2012: Yellow Crooknecks

July 20, 2012

Tags: summer squash, Classical Southern Cooking, Historical Southern Cooking, Mary Randolph, Lettice Bryan, Annabella Hill, Nancy Carter Crump, cymling squash, yellow crookneck squash

A still life of yellow crookneck squash, being made ready for the pan. Photography by John Carrington

Summer squash is in the air (and, where the drought hasn�t struck, overflowing in the garden). When fellow culinary historian Nancy Carter Crump mentioned them in a recent short essay, it inspired a look back to the four doyennes of Southern cookery, and turned up three different ways of getting the similar results from Mary Randolph, Lettice Bryan, and Annabella Hill: (more…)

4 Comments

16 July 2012: Pickled Shrimp

July 16, 2012

Tags: Historical Southern Cooking, Old Savannah Cookery, Southern Cooking, Pickled Shrimp, Shrimp, Lowcountry Cookery

Savannah Pickled Shrimp, photographed by John Carrington, from The Savannah Cookbook

One of the distinctive flavors of a Lowcountry summer, and a fixture on almost every summer party table in Savannah, is pickled shrimp. Devised as a conserve that could be stored at room temperature, the original was literally a pickle, heavy with vinegar and spices, and its flavor was intense. Consequently, they were eaten as a relish or condiment�not as a cocktail hors d�oeuvres or main dish salad as they are nowadays. (more…)

Be the first to comment

3 July 2012: Shrimp Creole

July 3, 2012

Tags: Shrimp Creole, Historical Southern Cooking, Creole Cookery, Classical Southern Cooking

Traditional Shrimp Creole

Without a doubt, Shrimp Creole is one of the most neglected classics in the entire repertory of modern Southern cooking. Though a version of it can be found in almost every comprehensive anthology, and it still turns up on the menu of many Louisiana restaurants, it no longer has the respect that it deserves, and is treated as a hackneyed clich�, indeed, almost as an anachronism. (more…)

7 Comments

Selected Works

Cookbooks

Classical Southern Cooking

A Celebration of the Cuisine of the Old South, hailed as a modern classic and Bible of Southern Foodways.

The Savannah Cookbook

A loving portrait of a proud old port city in recipes

Cookbook

Damon Lee Fowler's New Southern Kitchen

Classical Southern Cooking in today's kitchen

Beans, Greens, and Sweet Georgia Peaches

A sampling of the South's Cookery for the hundreds of regional fruits and vegetables.

Fried Chicken: The World's Best Recipes, From Memphis to Milan, From Buffalo to Bangkok

The cookbook I call my treatise on existentialism.

cookbook

Damon Lee Fowler's New Southern Baking

Traditional Southern Baking for modern cooks

Cookbook (editor)

Dining at Monticello

Seventy five recipes that were documented to have been used at Mr. Jefferson's Monticello during his lifetime, translated for use in a modern kitchen, with essays by the Foundation's curatorial staff.