World in a Skillet

Paul and Angela Knipples culinary tour of the contemporary American South celebrates the flourishing of global food traditions down home. Drawing on the authors' firsthand interviews and reportage from Richmond to Mobile and enriched by a cornucopia of photographs and original recipes, the book presents engaging, poignant profiles of a host of first-generation immigrants from all over the world who are cooking their way through life as professional chefs, food entrepreneurs and restaurateurs, and home cooks.Beginning the tour with an appreciation of the Souths foundational food traditions including Native American, Creole, African American, and Cajun the Knipples tell the fascinating stories of more than forty immigrants who now call the South home. Not only do their stories trace the continuing evolution of southern foodways, they also show how food is central to the immigrant experience. For these skillful, hardworking immigrants, food provides the means for both connecting with the American dream and maintaining cherished ethnic traditions. Try Father Viens Vietnamese-style pickled mustard greens, Don Felixs pork ribs, Elizabeth Kizitos Ugandan-style plantains in peanut sauce, or Uli Bennevitzs creamy beer soup and taste the world without stepping north of the Mason-Dixon line.