You'll find all the old-time flavors and textures embodied in such classic delights as black-eyed peas, fried chicken with the crustiest of coatings, country ham, and peach cobbler. Here, too, is all the new lightness and flavor combinations that mark today's innovative Southern cooking-expressed in such recipes as Acadian Peppered Shrimp (made tangy with just the right touches of basil, garlic, oregano, and cayenne), chicken breasts with stir-fried peanuts and collards, and grouper grilled over a pecan-seasoned fire.

Nathalie Dupree shows us how to get that Southern aura of comfort and welcome into our meals. She draws on the many cuisines, rustic and elegant, that have profoundly influenced Southern cooking from its beginnings—including English, French, African, Spanish, and West Indian. Nathalie has provided a wonderfully wide-ranging selection of Southern recipes remarkable for their ease of preparation and perfectly tuned to the pace of our lives today.

Whether you're cooking for guests or the folks at home, planning a backyard barbecue (there are twenty-two barbecue recipes alone!) or a big gala party, you'll find here an abundant supply of irresistible recipes, accompanied by charming illustrations by Karen Barbour.