Review by Choice Review
This deeply enjoyable, rambling volume has as many digressions as a country lane. In it, Shields (Univ. of South Carolina) stews over "amnesia-cleansed" cultural memory with a sense of humor and historiography. He mines 19th-century agricultural journals, a miscellany of famous eateries from New Orleans to Baltimore, and personal field experiences in an attempt to resuscitate a cuisine and revivify its soil. The writing is at times gorgeous, as when the author depicts "aureate and vivid" fields of Carolina gold rice, which well deserves a volume of its own. Critical readers who appreciate a roux of interdisciplinary ideas will ask for seconds as Shields tells of experimenters, restaurateurs, farmers, and mavericks spanning two centuries and many cultures. Carefully researched concepts that cull ingredients from a variety of sources will pique readers' appetites to know more. Who would have thought that the cuisine of the Reconstruction South was richer than its antebellum predecessors or that there was a "transatlantic fraternity" of seed brokers in the early 1800s? Savor this volume, explore its many flavors, and learn that there is more to cuisine than just sitting down at the table. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers. --Samuel Hammer, Boston University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
What does it take to imbue scholarly (and long-term) research with a compelling narrative? Ask University of South Carolina professor and author (Still: American Silent Motion Picture Photography, 2013) Shields, who combines his obvious affection for southern cuisine and its roots with a desire to present all cooking of the South, from the Appalachians to Texas, eyeing three factors: home and professional cooking, selling, and planting. His stories come alive with real people. Meet Sally Seymour, a free black pastry cook in Charleston; Colonel F. Dancy, who pioneered new ways of growing citrus; and South Carolina governor James Henry Hammond, responsible for the care and feeding of sorghum in the 1850s and its transformation into a sugar crop. Almost every chapter features at least one historical personage as well as colorful accounts of nineteenth-century feasts and unusual recipes (for instance, snipe à la Creole). Facts abound: the February 1860 Charleston Jockey Club Banquet was clouded with rumors of war, Thomas Jefferson aimed to cultivate olive trees, and a number of foodstuffs have been brought back from extinction, including benne, Sea Island red peas, and Herbemont grapes. A dense read, well worth the while for the foodies among us, North and South.--Jacobs, Barbara Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
When considering a region's cuisine, one must contemplate such questions as: What grows there? What did settlers bring with them from other places? What native foods are edible? Americans are familiar with some modernized Southern cuisine, including the low-country boil (South Carolina), Creole cooking (Louisiana), and that barbecue differs from region to region. Shields (Still) here takes readers back to the roots of Southern regional cooking. From freed men trapping terrapin (turtle) in Maryland to Carolina Gold rice, this well-researched and very detailed work traces the ingredients and chefs through the area's history. VERDICT This book will appeal to regional historians, U.S. historians, foodies with an interest in history, hungry anthropologists, and readers who want to know more about the food they eat.-Dawn Lowe-Wincentsen, Oregon Inst. of Technology, Portland (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Library Journal Review
