Robert F. Moss – författare

Almost lost to history, the Roffignac has long been one of New Orleans's most mysterious cocktails. While drinks such as the Sazerac and the Ramos gin fizz enjoyed a resurgence in popularity during the craft cocktail movement of the early twenty-first century, resurrecting the Roffignac has proved a more difficult task.Named for nineteenth-century New Orleans mayor Joseph Roffignac, the whiskey-based drink became one of the city's most celebrated libations by the 1890s. After Prohibition, however, its place in Crescent City drinking culture never quite recovered. It remained the house cocktail at Maylie's Restaurant until its owners shuttered the establishment in 1983. By then, the Roffignac had fallen into relative obscurity.The renewed interest in craft spirits in the 2010s saw bartenders and spirits enthusiasts across the country creating their own versions of the Roffignac. Many tried to trace its roots back through the years and uncover early recipes for the drink, and some perpetuated fanciful accounts related to its name, origins, and original ingredients.Robert F. Moss separates truth from fiction and offers the definitive story of this classic pre-Prohibition creation. The Roffignac explains for the first time how this once-famous elixir fell out of favor before being rediscovered by mixologists and connoisseurs. It also surveys dining and drinking in nineteenth-century New Orleans and explores how twentieth- and twenty-first-century conceptions of the city have shaped our views of the drink and its history. As Moss shares this remarkable and rather twisted tale, he highlights the central role that narrative, myth, and legend have played in American cocktail culture, and how unreliable those stories can sometimes be.

The definitive history of an iconic American food, with new chapters, sidebars, and updated historical accounts

Expert Robert F. Moss researched hundreds of sources—newspapers, letters, journals, diaries, and travel narratives—to document the origins and evolution of barbecue from its origins among Native Americans to its present status as an icon of American culture. In this definitive guide, he maps out the development of the rich array of regional barbecue styles, chronicles the rise of barbecue restaurants, and profiles the famed pitmasters who made the tradition what it is today.

Barbecue is the story not just of a dish but also of a social institution that helped shape many regional cultures of the United States. The history begins with British colonists’ adoption of barbecuing techniques from Native Americans in the 17th and 18th centuries, moves to barbecue’s establishment as the preeminent form of public celebration in the 19th century, and is carried through to barbecue’s ubiquitous standing today.

From the very beginning, barbecues were powerful social magnets, drawing together people from a wide range of classes and geographic backgrounds. Barbecue played a key role in three centuries of American history, both reflecting and influencing the direction of an evolving society. By tracing the story of barbecue from its origins to today, Barbecue: The History of an American Institution traces the very thread of American social history.

Moss has made significant updates in this new edition, offering a wealth of new historical research, sources, illustrations, and anecdotes.

A captivating narrative history that traces liquor, beer, and wine drinking in the American South, including 40 cocktail recipes.Ask almost anyone to name a uniquely Southern drink, and bourbon and mint juleps--perhaps moonshine--are about the only beverages that come up. But what about rye whiskey, Madeira wine, and fine imported Cognac? Or peach brandy, applejack, and lager beer? At various times in the past, these drinks were as likely to be found at the Southern bar as barrel-aged bourbon and raw corn likker. The image of genteel planters in white suits sipping mint juleps on the veranda is a myth that never was--the true picture is far more complex and fascinating. Southern Spirits is the first book to tell the full story of liquor, beer, and wine in the American South. This story is deeply intertwined with the region, from the period when British colonists found themselves stranded in a new world without their native beer, to the 21st century, when classic spirits and cocktails of the pre-Prohibition South have come back into vogue. Along the way, the book challenges the stereotypes of Southern drinking culture, including the ubiquity of bourbon and the geographic definition of the South itself, and reveals how that culture has shaped the South and America as a whole.