Customer Reviews

Gullah Home Cooking the Daufuskie Way: Smokin' Joe Butter Beans, Ol' 'Fuskie Fried Crab Rice, Sticky-Bush Blackberry Dumpling, and Other Sea Island Favorites

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I remain fascinated by Gullah and Daufuskie cooking. This book is a welcome addition to my ever-expanding collection. I'm glad I found it.

Great to read for the stories of the author growing up - the glimpse into another's life & cultural differences was appealingly writtern. But as for recipes - the lack of precise measurements & high number of game recipes was disappointing.

This book is long on stories and short on seasoned cooking. Most are bland. Good history though.

This is a wonderful cookbook if you want to learn how to prepare what some South Carolinians call "Lowcountry" fare. I made the Fried Crab Rice on a couple of occasions, for my family and my co-workers and for both groups it was a hit! In Charleston, SC one dish that is hot on the restaurants' menu is Shrimp and gravy, well Sally teaches you how to make this dish. The best thing about this cookbook - the recipes are easy to prepare. I really enjoy the Author's entertaining comments about growing up on Daufuskie Island, which is off the coast of South Carolina. This cookbook is a keeper!

If you are not yet blessed with living on South Carolina's Daufuskie Island or even a vacation here, reading and eating from Sallie Ann's recipes is the next best thing. Enjoy!

Great history involved with the writing of this book. I live in the Charleston area and I highly respect the Gullah language and ways.

I have tried to catch Ms. Robinson's t.v. shows when I was able. Having grown up poor and having to make ends meet by stretching the food, you appreciate any attempt to liven up the meals. Ms. Robinson has done this very well. I enjoy her, and I enjoy the book.

This book of recipes and remembrances by a woman, Sallie Ann Robinson, who grew up on South Carolina's Daufuskie Island is much more a work of social and culinary history than it is a work of culinary interest. The first thing which most impressed me about the book was how fascinating and charming it was to read about the author's life with her many siblings, parents, grandmother, and neighbors. The second thing, which impressed me, was how dull her recipes were from a strictly culinary point of view.

An example of the monotony is the eleven salad recipes in the first chapter. The first recipe is a simple version of the Waldorf salad and the second salad is a simple cole slaw. The remaining nine recipes are simply variations on the same mayonnaise, pickle relish, celery, and sweet pepper salad combined with a protein and appropriate spices. The recipes for sweets and pastries are similarly very common versions of recipes we have all seen a dozen times over.

This is not to say the recipes had no interest. As a case study of culinary anthropology, it is fascinating to compare this cuisine with the rustic Italian cuisine, which is heavily based on `the fifth quarter' of the pig plus cured pork products. The differences are even more interesting. In spite of a life based greatly on subsistence farming, fishing, hunting, and gathering, there is no mention of curing, preserving, or cheese making or any other activity which would come to elevate Italian food to it's high place in the world's cuisines. This is not to belittle this rural South Carolina cuisine, but to point out the genius behind food in Italy.

The industry, pride, and ingenuity involved in the collection of raw foodstuffs on Daufuskie are truly amazing in light of the slim resources available. Fishing nets were made by hand. Wooden hoe, shovel, and rake handles were made and placed in their metal parts by hand. Tilling was done with a plough worthy of a museum of 17th century agriculture, drawn by a steer. All cultivation and harvesting was done by hand. Iron tools were all sharpened by hand.

All this takes place against a backdrop of the local business, oyster canning, being destroyed by pollution from modern industry befouling the waters of the Savannah River. A second theme is how the natives of this backwater island succeeded in living by their wits in the enforced absence of decent education up until the success of the civil rights movement of the late 1960s.

I was expecting a bit more from these recipes, especially after seeing the author demonstrate some of her recipes on Sara Moulton's Food Network show. But, I will give Ms. Moulton's producers full credit for filming segments on Daufuskie Island itself, showing up that the way of life on that island is the real hero of this book. I would buy it for it's effective evocation of this way of life and it's snapshot of an unvarnished poor rural subsistence living cuisine.

I grew up in St. Helena Island (Frogmore). Having and using this book brings back those memories

This was the perfect gift for my sister who lived on Dafuskie island for several years. She personally knew Sallie Ann and was sad to leave her east coast home and the lovely people she met there. The book brought back memories of a delightful period in her life.