Cornbread Nation 4

Whether you want inspiration to cook a Southern meal or simply wish to take an imaginary taste trip to the Bayou, Cornbread Nation 4, The Best of Southern Food Writing (The University of Georgia Press, 2008; $17.95) is a way to explore the cuisine of the South. Printed in conjunction with the Southern Food Alliance, this is a new collection of 53 musings on Southern cooking and the people and traditions behind them.

The tales offer a variety of views and taste memories, like the story in which the late columnist R.W. Apple, Jr. reminisces about the closing of a long-time Southern institution that was so beloved it occasionally had a line of 200 customers waiting for its po'boys, soft shell crabs and house-made tartar sauce. Or you can read roving writers Matt and Ted Lee observations of a cook at work on a chicken purloo, a dish as African as it is American. And Lois Eric Elie tells how post-Katrina New Orleans is faring, in the words of a local cook, "coming back through people's stomachs and their appetites."

The stories are touching, and the recipes will transport you so that your mouth waters and you start planning your next trip below the Mason Dixon line.

The recipe linked below will whet your appetite. It is published courtesy of Julia Reed and The University of Georgia Press.