Amazon.com Review
"I know we eat too many sweets in the South, but that's part of our tradition, and if I couldn't find reasons to celebrate with a beautiful cake, mousse or fruit crisp, I'd invent excuses." So says Martha Pearl Villas, whose classic sweets and down-home cooking savvy are the subject of
My Mother's Southern Desserts. Written by her son James Villas, cookbook author and food and wine editor of
Town & Country magazine, the book presents nearly 200 straightforward recipes for mouthwatering goodies. Cooks on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line will be tempted by this accessible collection, as will aficionados of Southern culinary culture.
Organized by holidays and other typical Southern occasions, such as bridge luncheons and charity socials, the recipes include luscious cakes and pies; muffins, fruit desserts, and ice creams; brownies; and confections. Among these are Satan Chocolate Pound Cake with Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting, Secession Brown Betty, Real McCoy Southern Pecan Pie, Essie's Apple Dumplings and Butter Walnut Turtle Bars, to name only a few of Martha Pearl's original and heirloom "receipts." Accompanied by color photos, tips for success, and James Villas's notes on the special context of every dish, the recipes celebrate a vivid cooking heritage and a feisty but endearing master of its art. --Arthur Boehm
From Publishers Weekly
North Carolina native, food writer and cookbook author (My Mother's Southern Kitchen; Recipes from the Great American Stewpot; etc.) Villas invites his mother, Martha Pearl Villas, to join him in presenting this winsome repertoire of Southern desserts. Organized by the calendar year and its fetes (e.g., Christmas, Kentucky Day Derby, birthdays, picnics or brunch) and laced with his mother's words of culinary wisdom, this family recipe collection ranges from Secession Brown Betty to Horse Pear Tart. Diet- and cholesterol-conscious readers beware: recipes often call for generous quantities of butter, Crisco, sugar, eggs and cream. Accompanying anecdotes defer to Martha Pearl's authoritative voice (e.g., the Pineapple Dessert Souffle is "perfect for fragile digestive systems") and trace the quirky personal histories of Cuddin' Berta's Georgia Kiss Pudding or The Delta Queen's Pralines as well as the antecedents of Blueberry Flummery, Huguenot Torte with chopped apples, pecans, cream and sherry, and chilled Pussycat Syllabub, melding lemon juice, wine and half-and-half. Ingredients are supermarket accessible and instructions are straightforward, without references to food processors or standing mixers. Novices who require hand-holding will not get it from the authors, who do not elaborate on kitchen setup, equipment or techniques. Villas's chatty prose and the unrepentantly caloric delectables make this a hard-to-resist collection. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
