David S. Shields – författare

Bitter Southerner 2022 Summer Reading pick • Garden & Gun Best Southern Cookbooks pick • Forbes Best New Cookbooks For Travelers pick • 2021 Gourmand International Cookbook Award Finalist

A vivid cultural history of South Carolina''s most distinctive ingredients and signature dishes

From the influence of 1920 fashion on asparagus growers to an heirloom watermelon lost and found, Taste the State abounds with surprising stories from South Carolina''s singularly rich food tradition. Here, Kevin Mitchell and David S. Shields present engaging profiles of eighty-two of the state''s most distinctive ingredients, such as Carolina Gold rice, Sea Island White Flint corn, and the cone-shaped Charleston Wakefield cabbage, and signature dishes, such as shrimp and grits, chicken bog, okra soup, Frogmore stew, and crab rice. These portraits, illustrated with original photographs and historical drawings, provide origin stories and tales of kitchen creativity and agricultural innovation; historical "receipts" and modern recipes, including Chef Mitchell''s distillation of traditions in Hoppin'' John fritters, okra and crab stew, and more.

Because Carolina cookery combines ingredients and cooking techniques of three greatly divergent cultural traditions, there is more than a little novelty and variety in the food. In Taste the State Mitchell and Shields celebrate the contributions of Native Americans (hominy grits, squashes, and beans), the Gullah Geechee (field peas, okra, guinea squash, rice, and sorghum), and European settlers (garden vegetables, grains, pigs, and cattle) in the mixture of ingredients and techniques that would become Carolina cooking. They also explore the specialties of every region—the famous rice and seafood dishes of the lowcountry; the Pee Dee''s catfish and pinebark stews; the smothered cabbage, pumpkin chips, and mustard-based barbecue of the Dutch Fork and Orangeburg; the red chicken stew of the midlands; and the chestnuts, chinquapins, and corn bread recipes of mountain upstate.

Taste the State presents the cultural histories of native ingredients and showcases the evolution of the dishes and the variety of preparations that have emerged. Here you will find true Carolina cooking in all of its cultural depth, historical vividness, and sumptuous splendor—from the plain home cooking of sweet potato pone to Lady Baltimore cake worthy of a Charleston society banquet.

Ingredient by ingredient, dish by dish, take a tantalizing tour of Georgia''s signature foods

"Taste the State Georgia and the regional foods within it can be a source of pride for people and communities.... This book will prepare you for your next Georgian culinary adventure and give you a bit of history on why southerners eat what they eat."—Mashama Bailey, chef and owner of The Grey, Savannah

From apples to peaches to Vidalia onions, Georgia is home to some of the finest produce grown in the American South. From Brunswick stew to Savannah Red Rice, the state''s signature dishes are steeped in history. In Taste the State Georgia, chef Kevin Mitchell and culinary historian David S. Shields reveal the stories and history that have made this rich food culture what it is today.

Arguing that Georgia was one of the first states to enthusiastically claim regional cuisine as a marketing tool, Mitchell and Shields explore each of the state''s regions, highlighting foods such as Fort Valley Pecans from Central Georgia and Sapelo Island Clams from the Sea Islands. Beyond such staples of the Georgian diet, the authors emphasize more recent culinary creativity, which has produced favorites like the pimento cheeseburger and Vidalia onion cornbread. Sharing stories of heirloom cultivars and innovative kitchens, Taste the State Georgia is a testament to both the enduring memory and future possibilities of Georgian cuisine.

Taste the State Georgia includes sixty-five alphabetical entries, with numerous historical recipes, fourteen original recipes by Chef Mitchell, forty-eight color images, and a foreword by celebrated Savannah chef and author Mashama Bailey.