Junior League, church, and community cookbooks can offer piquant glimpses into the culinary traditions and idiosyncrasies of a region. The Best of the Best cookbook series, which by 2005 had covered all fifty states, combs through these local, frequently self-published tomes and compiles some of the most noteworthy finds. The Georgia edition, originally published in 1989 and updated in 2006, occasionally forays into kitsch (pecans, not macadamias, star in a sweet dubbed “Hawaiian nut sandwiches”), but there are also plenty of honest regional specialties: Look for Georgia peanut soup, two user-friendly versions of Brunswick stew, no fewer than four variations of fried chicken, and, of course, a cake made with Coca-Cola.
Best of the Best from Georgia Cookbook
Edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley
Quail Ridge Press
RECIPE: Brunswick Stew
Advertisement
