James Beard Award–winner Sean Brock grew up in rural Virginia, where making things by hand and from scratch is the norm. This upbringing has shaped every recipe in Brock's first cookbook, Heritage. "While I love caviar and foie gras dearly," he writes, "I crave nostalgia."
Brock serves up nostalgia and Southern cooking by the heap. His recipes are grouped by type: vegetables (muscadine-cucumber gazpacho), grain-based dishes (corn hoecakes), meat and seafood plates (rabbit stew with black-pepper dumplings) and desserts. A section called "The Larder" includes recipes for sauces, condiments and jams, while "The Public House" collects pub-style grub and cocktails.
Interspersed throughout each section are profiles on local food enthusiasts, how-tos on Southern specialties (preparing perfect grits, hosting a whiskey tasting at home) and stunning photography from Peter Frank Edwards. Though some of the recipes in Brock's collection are inherently complex, the instructions themselves are never difficult to follow, and Brock's enthusiasm for the food he prepares will inspire even inexperienced chefs to try some of this delightful, down-to-earth food. --Kerry McHugh, blogger at Entomology of a Bookworm