Customer Reviews

Savannah Cookbook, The

5 star:		(4)
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3 star:		(1)
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I've cooked with Damon Lee Fowler's other books, like Classical Southern Cooking, and the recipes come out great.

I made the shrimp and grits from Savannah Cook Book, and it is tasty! I've reviewed about a dozen others, and they are gonna taste just as good-I can "taste" a dish fairly well, from reading its ingredients and steps and know if its balanced.
I've cooked quite a few variation of Southern classics (many shrimp and grits versions!); that's why I buy yet another Southern cook book. This one's recipes are worth cooking. I'll cook more from the book leisurely, and add my little variations as I go. That's how this book is best taken-leisurely, just as a few days visit to lovely Savannah should be. (I highly recommend visiting the classic Bonaventure Cemetery out of town, with the beautifully carved monuments and the foliage and trees-it's perhaps the prettiest one in the USA, and I'm not one to visit such spots!)

Mr.Fowler has his personality in the recipes, and the photos are quite attractive.
He truly loves, eats and breathes the South. This book for Savannah, and really any of his other books, are a great way to savor some the South's rich culsines.

This author has done his homework, both in his own Savannah kitchen and in the kitchens of Savannah's southern belles. The book is well-researched, and the prepared recipes are beautifully photographed and explained, complete with tips over decades of cooking. Even those who have never traveled south or have little interest in recipes that are made from Savannah's historical crops can find mouth-watering, delicious recipes to suit U.S.-born citizens from any part of this country.

We lived in the LowCountry for 3 years and have found this cook book to be authentic of the area. Now, when we miss Savannah and Beaufort (which is often!) we can cook a little something up and smile over our memories. The Breakfast Shrimp and Grits are to die for!

This cookbook is beautiful, and would make a lovely coffee table book. The bits and pieces of history and culture sprinkled throughout are personal, fascinating and well selected. Many of the recipes are titled for the ladies who were known for them or who submitted the them to original, now-antique community cookbooks.

That said, the recipes are much more taste and market specific than I had hoped. There's a LOT of Madeira and seafood - if you live somewhere where fresh seafood is hard to come by or prohibitively expensive (as I do) then most of this is going to be impractical for you. It's also largely focused on dinner-party style foods; if you're looking to entertain this could be a great resource as the recipes are unique. If not, you may be quite disappointed.

I recommend flipping through a copy of this somewhere if possible before buying to make sure it aligns with what you're looking for and what ingredients are available to you in your area.

Excellent book on regional cooking by Damon Lee Fowler. In Fowler's books, he gets into the history of the area and the recipes. Another great book by him is "Dining at Monticello".