South

Reviews / Votes

"This far-reaching compendium decodes the culinary pillars of the entire American South. . . . Shrimp and grits, fried bologna, five types of corn bread-it's all here. Brock, a celebrated chef, is one of the great practical historians of Southern cuisine, and here he focusses on the whys as much as the whats."
-The New Yorker

"Sean Brock is prone to diving deep into culinary rabbit holes, and thank God. His latest cookbook,South, builds on the intellectual, culinary and historical work of his 2014 book, Heritage, but widens the lens from the Lowcountry to the Appalachian Mountains, where he grew up. . . . I will keep this book forever in my collection because no one cooking today is doing more to help the Southern culinary flame burn brighter."
-New York Times

"If you love to cook, check out Sean Brock's South, a follow-up to his award-winning Heritage. Born and raised in the Appalachian mountains, Brock is known for his endless creativity, helming incredible restaurants . . . and celebrating Southern ingredients. Now he'll also be known for two of the decade's most beautiful and authoritative Southern cookbooks."
-Southern Living

"This book is no doubt the best way to get a grasp on the many micro-cultures and climates that fill [the American South]. . . . If you needed a reminder that you don't have to travel far to experience something new, this is it."
-Conde Nast Traveler

"Brock's perspective on the dishes of the Gulf Coast, Low Country, and Appalachia offers a new understanding of cultural traditions and a greater respect for the people whose conditions and local bounty shaped the way a great swatch of the country eats."
-Houston Chronicle

"Sean Brock's book South, while not specifically a vegetable book, teaches vegetable cookery and preservation from a grandmother's garden perspective. The vegetables and sides chapter, packed with traditional recipes, makes me want to run straight to the kitchen."
-Chicago Tribune

"Brock has juggled a panoply of roles: chef, revivalist, archivist, farm-to-table evangelist, the Duane Allman of vegetables, the Alan Lomax of heirloom grains, a dispenser of pleasure and history in equal bites. . . . The might of Brock's influence may portend a turning point in how the cuisine is regarded both at home and in the wider culinary sphere. . . . His second cookbook, SOUTH: Essential Recipes and New Explorations, in many ways serves as a greatest-hits compilation."
-Garden Gun

"A fascinating gastronomic guide to the South's most foundational cuisine. . . . Interwoven with important historical context and Sean's personal deep-seated passion for the region he calls home, these recipes will become your Holy Grail of Southern cooking."
-Taste of the South

"[Brock has] taken Southern cuisine and helped move it past tired stereotypes of merely heavy, fattening and cheap. In his new cookbook South, the James Beard Award-winner dives deep to explore the differences in the region's cuisines from Appalachia to Lowcountry and give his take on classics like catfish, cornbread and more."
-Robb Report

"Following in the footsteps of Southern cooking experts like Edna Lewis and John Egerton, Sean Brock's South asks us to reconsider the popular American conception of Southern cuisine as something limited to moon pies and fried chicken. From the introduction on, Brock is as interested in defending and defining the importance of Southern culinary foodways as he is in teaching the reader how to re-create his own approach to Southern cookery. He argues that the heirloom traditions of the South are a quintessential part of the socioculinary history of America and should be taken as seriously as the culinary patrimony of more widely recognized regional cuisines. . . . Brock's detailed approach makes for fascinating, immersive reading."
-Austin Chronicle

"Alongside Ken Burns's glorious recent multi-part documentary Country Music, the publication of Sean Brock's new cookbook, simply titled South, marks a mini-moment, even a kind of re-evaluation, for the region of the country known as the South. . . . Brock is an advocate for looking at food through the interplay between four basic themes: natives, immigrants, geography, and ingredients. . . . In his own way, Brock is not only a historian, but a futurist."
-Good Times Weekly (Santa Cruz)

"If you're someone that hears 'Southern cuisine' and thinks 'fried, heavy food,' Sean Brock's new cookbook will change your mind. Besides showing the delectable depth of Southern cuisine, and the differences between the South's microregions, South reminds us how eating connects us to each other. Brock hopes to dispel the myths many folks have about Southern cooking."
-Santa Cruz Sentinel

"An essential guide in a Southern cook's toolkit."
-Louisiana Life

"In this masterful follow-up to his James Beard Award-winning Heritage, Brock observes, 'The American South has a geographical area roughly equal to that of continental Europe.' Thus, he describes the territory as a land of microregions, finding the similarities as well as the differences that exist in the foods of the Southeast. Among the more than 125 recipes, a chapter of snacks includes deviled crab from the Low Country, fried bologna with pickled peach mustard from Appalachia, and two versions of shrimp and grits. The chef's love of heirloom tomatoes is evident not only in his salads and side dishes but also in grilled catfish with barely cooked tomatoes, as well as a rhubarb-tomato conserve that pairs well with poultry. The recipe for basic cornbread is accompanied by four variations, including a 'sour' version that calls for a cornmeal, buttermilk, and bacon fat mixture to ferment for three days. A grill is the preferred source of heat for many dishes, including grilled quail with red-eye gravy, while canning mavens will appreciate a stellar chapter of preserved pantry items that includes watermelon molasses. Brock wears his Southern heart on his sleeve in this mouthwatering, virtuosic collection."
-Publishers Weekly, starred review

"An excellent resource of regional Southern cooking. . . . Exceptional full-color photographs beautifully showcase recipes, such as pickled peaches, fried okra, buttermilk pie, and Brock's fried chicken. For vegetarians and vegans, there are some wonderful recipes for fresh vegetables, including fried green tomatoes and eggplant purloo. VERDICT Brimming with exquisite interpretations of Southern cooking, this is a great collection for intermediate to advanced cooks looking to broaden their culinary repertoire."
-Library Journal, starred review

"South is a game changer and could be called The Southern Bible of Cooking. Sean has created one of the most beautiful and powerful books on Southern food ever written."
-Frank Stitt, chef/owner and author of Frank Stitt's Southern Table

"Sean is one of Southern food's greatest champions. With this cookbook, he has distilled his knowledge of and affection for this region's foodways into a road map that anyone can use to be a better, more fulfilled cook. Follow it, and be rewarded with food that connects you to a sense of place and evokes the true soul of the South."
-Ashley Christensen, chef and author

"Every region, everywhere, needs a Sean Brock! Sean reminds us what it really means to eat and cook Southern food and how we can all be better custodians of the delicious ingredients we have available in our own parts of the world. We're incredibly lucky to get a taste of what he knows in South."
-David Chang chef/founder of Momofuku

"With prose, passion, and photographs, Sean Brock authoritatively sweeps us through his South, the land of shrimp and oysters, poke salad, tomatoes, and morels, with recipes designed to cook at home, whether grilling, sauteing, or stewing or cooking for groups of friends or just a few. He includes some of my favorite recipes, including caramel cake, doable at home with no fancy equipment needed and always delicious."
-Nathalie Dupree, cookbook author

"Sean Brock understands that the American South is more than one region and more than one cuisine. He understands that it is American, yes, but also West African and European. He understands that, whether you know it or not, this is a cookbook distilled by and filtered through centuries of Southern sensibility. Read it for the history. Cook it for the recipes."
-Lolis Eric Elie, food writer

"I love Sean's cooking because it does the same thing for me that a good song does: It transports me to another place, often one that exists in my childhood memories of the South."
-Jason Isbell, musician Best Cookbook of the Year-Amazon, Amazon