South: Essential Recipes and New Explorations

This is a cookbook that will become a classic. I'm addicted to cookbooks, which I read from cover to cover--and to cooking. I also happen always to have lived in the far North--currently in the middle of nowhere--but love Southern cooking, own quite a few Southern cookbooks, know Chef Brock's reputation, and have read his "Heritage" (2013). And so I didn't expect to find many recipes with ingredients that would be easy for me to find, nor techniques that might be easy for me to execute. However, I bought the book because, although we cook more than a thousand miles away, I really wanted to know more of what Chef has to say about Southern cooking. My high expectations were exceeded. Chef's obsession--to use his own word--for the heirloom ingredients, and techniques of the South shines through on every page. This is why I bought the book: I wasn't looking for mere recipes. I didn't expect to find many recipes with ingredients that would be easy for me to find, nor techniques that might be easy for me to execute: for example, grilling--featured in so many recipes--is illegal on my condo deck. I appreciate that the author's editors have given him enormous leeway to present his dishes precisely as he wishes to do: with his preferred ingredients, whether easy to obtain in other regions or not; and with his preferred technique--regardless of how many pages it takes to present a recipe. Every recipe has an informative headnote explaining why Chef appreciates the dish, the recipe's history, why specific ingredients or technique matter, or more. I've actually placed a number of Post-It's on the pages. For example, I know how to cook grits, but I want to try grits Chef Brock's two ways (one of which uses an electric pressure cooker, who knew?). And I've flagged several recipes that will have to wait for the incredibly short season in which my Farmers' Market will provide some of the author's favorite vegetables. Finally, the book's design is gorgeous. Most recipes have a color photo, and there are several photo vignettes demonstrating technique.

I received this book today and within a few hours had tasted Sean Brock's latest work. The recipes include many traditional Southern classics like buttermilk pie, fried chicken, she-crab soup, and fried green tomatoes, but there is also the inclusion of more creative directions for blending of the geographic flavors of the south such as heirloom tomato and watermelon salad, asparagus "capers", and potato and ramp puree. Some will say that there the recipes aren't exactly like the ones they had growing up, but they would be mistaken like so many in believing that southern food is uniform. It is not. The "country ham roadmap" is a good example of how one product in one state can be both similar in evolution but have extreme variations in taste and smoke. There are a lot of great cookbooks out there but I believe this one will be one that you will find both beautiful and practical.

This is the definitive modern southern cookbook. If you don’t likes sourcing ingredients I would look elsewhere. Pimento Ranch requires two different cheese powders that cost a combined 75$ from the source provided. I’m totally fine with that and you need to be as well. This is a well written, thought out Rhône to southern cookery. Great addition to my library.

What an awesome book!!!! The pictures are bright and perfect! The recipes, so many, and easy for anyone (I'm a chef, but I could have my crew master any of these). Pickling, vinegars, smoking techniques,, baking ,and a ton of southern need-to-know sauces. This book will have me go through page by page, which is hard for me to do with most "recipe" books. I use recipes as guidelines, and all of these recipes can be created!

This is absolutely the best cookbook I've ever purchased. Sean goes into great detail about the ingredients and cooking methods he uses and explains why. Most cookbooks just list ingredients and method, without any explanation. The idea that Sean explains HOW he cooks something and WHY his method is import to the finished product is revolutionary in my opinion. His love for Southern cuisine is unrivaled. I recommend reading this book front to back like it's a novel. Then go back and re-read the sections and recipes you love. Finally, the resources section of this book is worth the price alone. Often, chefs will tell you they are using a certain ingredient, but good luck finding it in your local store. Sean tells you EXACTLY where to go for anything that isn't standard grocery store fare. Buy this book. Then buy another one to give to a Southern food loving friend.

This is the best southern cookbook I’ve come across. Brock’s Heritage is also great, but these recipes are a bit more approachable. If you’re the type of cook that likes to make everything from scratch, he offers help on how. But, if you’d rather make quicker, less burdensome versions of the same dishes without the made from scratch ingredients, the recipes are very straight forward.

Increíble! Gracias

Beautiful cookbook, my husband is over the moon!

Have met Sean on a few occasions in Charleston, SC and he is an amazing chef. We cook alot alike and we both have a PASSION for all foods southern and the humble beginnings. I would recommend all his books to anyone wanting to learn history and recipes from both our states, NC and SC!!!

This book is far and away even better than I thought it would be. His first book Heritage was amazing and filled with good southern inspiration. This book takes it all a step further. Brock live and breathes the south and it’s rich heritage. It’s a winner!

This is a cookbook that will become a classic. I'm addicted to cookbooks, which I read from cover to cover--and to cooking. I also happen always to have lived in the far North--currently in the middle of nowhere--but love Southern cooking, own quite a few Southern cookbooks, know Chef Brock's reputation, and have read his "Heritage" (2013). And so I didn't expect to find many recipes with ingredients that would be easy for me to find, nor techniques that might be easy for me to execute. However, I bought the book because, although we cook more than a thousand miles away, I really wanted to know more of what Chef has to say about Southern cooking. My high expectations were exceeded. Chef's obsession--to use his own word--for the heirloom ingredients, and techniques of the South shines through on every page. This is why I bought the book: I wasn't looking for mere recipes. I didn't expect to find many recipes with ingredients that would be easy for me to find, nor techniques that might be easy for me to execute: for example, grilling--featured in so many recipes--is illegal on my condo deck. I appreciate that the author's editors have given him enormous leeway to present his dishes precisely as he wishes to do: with his preferred ingredients, whether easy to obtain in other regions or not; and with his preferred technique--regardless of how many pages it takes to present a recipe. Every recipe has an informative headnote explaining why Chef appreciates the dish, the recipe's history, why specific ingredients or technique matter, or more. I've actually placed a number of Post-It's on the pages. For example, I know how to cook grits, but I want to try grits Chef Brock's two ways (one of which uses an electric pressure cooker, who knew?). And I've flagged several recipes that will have to wait for the incredibly short season in which my Farmers' Market will provide some of the author's favorite vegetables. Finally, the book's design is gorgeous. Most recipes have a color photo, and there are several photo vignettes demonstrating technique.

I received this book today and within a few hours had tasted Sean Brock's latest work. The recipes include many traditional Southern classics like buttermilk pie, fried chicken, she-crab soup, and fried green tomatoes, but there is also the inclusion of more creative directions for blending of the geographic flavors of the south such as heirloom tomato and watermelon salad, asparagus "capers", and potato and ramp puree. Some will say that there the recipes aren't exactly like the ones they had growing up, but they would be mistaken like so many in believing that southern food is uniform. It is not. The "country ham roadmap" is a good example of how one product in one state can be both similar in evolution but have extreme variations in taste and smoke. There are a lot of great cookbooks out there but I believe this one will be one that you will find both beautiful and practical.

This is the definitive modern southern cookbook. If you don’t likes sourcing ingredients I would look elsewhere. Pimento Ranch requires two different cheese powders that cost a combined 75$ from the source provided. I’m totally fine with that and you need to be as well. This is a well written, thought out Rhône to southern cookery. Great addition to my library.

What an awesome book!!!! The pictures are bright and perfect! The recipes, so many, and easy for anyone (I'm a chef, but I could have my crew master any of these). Pickling, vinegars, smoking techniques,, baking ,and a ton of southern need-to-know sauces. This book will have me go through page by page, which is hard for me to do with most "recipe" books. I use recipes as guidelines, and all of these recipes can be created!

This is absolutely the best cookbook I've ever purchased. Sean goes into great detail about the ingredients and cooking methods he uses and explains why. Most cookbooks just list ingredients and method, without any explanation. The idea that Sean explains HOW he cooks something and WHY his method is import to the finished product is revolutionary in my opinion. His love for Southern cuisine is unrivaled. I recommend reading this book front to back like it's a novel. Then go back and re-read the sections and recipes you love. Finally, the resources section of this book is worth the price alone. Often, chefs will tell you they are using a certain ingredient, but good luck finding it in your local store. Sean tells you EXACTLY where to go for anything that isn't standard grocery store fare. Buy this book. Then buy another one to give to a Southern food loving friend.

This is the best southern cookbook I’ve come across. Brock’s Heritage is also great, but these recipes are a bit more approachable. If you’re the type of cook that likes to make everything from scratch, he offers help on how. But, if you’d rather make quicker, less burdensome versions of the same dishes without the made from scratch ingredients, the recipes are very straight forward.

Increíble! Gracias

Beautiful cookbook, my husband is over the moon!

Have met Sean on a few occasions in Charleston, SC and he is an amazing chef. We cook alot alike and we both have a PASSION for all foods southern and the humble beginnings. I would recommend all his books to anyone wanting to learn history and recipes from both our states, NC and SC!!!

This book is far and away even better than I thought it would be. His first book Heritage was amazing and filled with good southern inspiration. This book takes it all a step further. Brock live and breathes the south and it’s rich heritage. It’s a winner!

Sean Brock is a genius. The aesthetic of this book and its layout is like walking in the mind of a genius and that’s not even mentioning his recipes. I’m working my way through them, but so far they are proving to be flawless and amazing. He truly is a master.

Great recipes my Southern wife can swear by

I really enjoyed using this cookbook. The flavor combinations and the use of everyday ingredients were outstanding. Not for the novice but it opened my eyes to new cullinary horizons

I have both of Sean Brock’s cookbooks. They’re both good, but this one - South - is more practical. It’s both informative and usable. If you want to understand both modern and traditional Southern cooking this is a must for your culinary library.

Excellent cookbook all around and it’s a gorgeous book with beautiful pictures!

This is a great cookbook for people who want to try authentic updated Southern Cuisine. Great, well described recipes and beautiful pictures to whet your appetite.

The flag is so pretty and well-made. You can see the design from both sides and it is just enough to add a little curb appeal.

Great recipes. Wonderful meals you well love.

His story is amazing, and his recipes are delicious! Cannot go wrong with shrimp and grits

This cookbook is more approachable than the chef’s previous cookbook but there are still many recipes that require ingredients you would have to order online or require you to make another recipe first. I do like that recipes list other recipes that would go well together. The Kindle version is difficult to use. Recipes run one after another. Spacing between sections of the recipe will make it difficult to use while cooking as nearly all recipes have ingredients well before directions and will require lots of page flipping. Last, you cannot click on recipe titles to jump to that recipe, even in the index.

Content is amazing. Very in depth, but also very doable. Lots of techniques and recipes that span across all difficulty levels. Only negative is not the fault of the author, but amazon. Cover had damage, disappointing since it is a new item.

Sean Brock does it again. I really appreciate his ability to dive deep into every detail of products.

Perfect gift, one corner a little bent in but otherwise great condition

Such a wealth of information! Love the stories. Chef Brock makes it so easy, too, with a very complete list of resources for ingredients you may not have in your pantry but need to have!

Not only are the recipes delicious, the writing is literary and the book is beautiful.

Sean does it again with his second book. Great recipes and photos. Timely shipping and mint condition.

Awesome

The original cookbook by Sean Brock "Husk" was, at the time of it's original publishing, above my capability. Time has passed and my capabilities have improved and although most of the recipes in Husk remain too specific in terms of the ingredients, South has a different feel to it. I don't think the author is writing down, but he is writing about cuisine as opposed to what he served in his restaurant. Much of what is in this book can be created with only a few stretches of the pantry and that makes a huge difference. Maybe my skills have improved, or maybe Sean Brock is speaking more directly to cooks like me.

This cookbook is so gorgeous, and also so comprehensive and imaginative. It’s so beautiful I’m surprised Phaidon didn’t put it out. And I’m fairly certain I dog eared every one of the 100+ (seemingly) recipes. The best thing? The recipes are inventive, but don’t require fancy ingredients, and aren’t super difficult to execute.

QUALITY AND THE EXTENSION IS WORTH EVERY PENNY.

Holy Cow! When I thought Heritage was enough, this book blew my mind and has more of Sean’s artfully prepared dishes that all have southern dna.

I gave it to someone who likes to cook..... he is pleased.

Great history on how people took pride in the goodness of Mother Earth!

Have used many recipes and learned a lot.

Amazing Chef

Good price

Beautiful book, gorgeous photos and excellent content. I’m a collector of southern cookbooks- this is the best yet!

Good job, Sean Brock

Can’t wait to delve more into this book when time allows

Sean Brock is an incredible chef and artist. This book exceeded all my expectations and is a must have for any food/cooking lover.

Sean Brock tells a beautiful story of the South. He pulls from his early experiences as a child, and his career as a top notch chef. You will find this diversity in his books. The recipes are top notch and will work on your home kitchen. Dive in!

Love

Beautifully southern ❤️

Everything about this book was wonderful, useful, insightful and rich.

Great book

As advertised.

Great book of Southern recipes by one of my culinary heroes. Sean Brock is a chef who is conserving the traditional flavours of the South.

Perfect condition, great book

I love this book

This book has some really great recipes, but it may be a little too involved for most cooks which is my main reason for giving it 4 stars instead of 5. Brock's previous cookbook was a lot more easy to handle for most cooks. The issue is that you might find a recipe in the book that you want to make, but then you realize that it requires you to make 6 other items from the book as well. So instead of just making that dish, you also have to make the rub on page x, the marinade from page y, the homemade mayo from page z etc. With that said, my kitchen is better stocked than most grocery stores and my spice cabinet has more selections than an Indian bazaar, so I like the challenge of recipes like this from time to time. I've made 3 different dishes from the book so far, and I can tell you that you can definitely taste the extra effort that goes into the dishes.

🤘

Not as enjoyable as expected. Recipes are not appealing. I enjoy reading cookbooks for info and ideas more than for recipes to follow. Didnt find this book as informative as expected

No one could question the beauty of what Sean Brock has done with South. I do wonder how many will be disappointed to see almost all recipes require ingredients that require ordering, expensive or having to make as a separate ingredient for the recipe. This is a book that truly represents the South and its heritage. I like the way he includes recipes for Shrimp and Grits. One traditional, the other an alternate. I remember the late Charlie Trotter of Chicago’s books had recipes that required ingredients not readily accessible. Definitely a book that needs to be read to appreciate the culinary South and its traditions, varieties and good recipes.

Great chef great book beautifully done. Recipes written with care and well photographed to show how they might turn out. The only thing I didn't like was Amazon's tiresome practice of using a box that might have held eight copies of this book, and so the book was free to bounce and slide around... This is just asking for damage. This time I was lucky, but not every time!

I really like this cookbook as a book but as a guide for recipes it has a couple drawbacks. First a lot of the ingredients are hard to come by in the area of the country that I live. Second the recipes in this book are more for a high level to advanced level cook. I still like this book though and have used and will still use these recipes because they are so good. I just have to put in the time to do them and for a lot of them because of the ingredient problem I will adapt.

It's an excellent cookbook from one of America's greatest chefs. Some people will complain about the special ingredients needed to make many of the recipes. For this reason I only gave it four stars. But that is the only negative about this cookbook. Even if you aren't going to search out the special ingredients you can definitely get inspiration that will change the way you view ingredients and the way you cook them.

Chef Brock is one of my favorite chefs. Some of the recipes looked familiar love the book but sometimes feels like should be used for the products he recommends like an info commercial. Still anyone can learn a lot from this book

See above

This is a beautiful book full of interesting recipes, but the ingredients are hard to source. I wish it was a little more basic or had more ingredient substitutions.

It’s a beautiful book but I’m very disappointed that it arrived in less than perfect condition. It was a special gift for my husband who is a professional chef. The cover of the book is damaged.

Great additional to my over 3,000 cookbook library.

Good book for someone who wants to read about food. Recipes aren’t that practical, I think the purpose is to educate the cook here.

The book itself is good but it came a little beat up in the mail. It’s just a book but just came with small amounts of damage to the pages and hardcover

The focus is on the recipes. Very little filler. Nice.

When it comes to Southern food and cooking, Chef Sean Brock is the king. Brock has long been one of my favorite chefs - He's articulate, passionate and insanely knowledgeable about his ingredients and background, and it really shows on every single page of his phenomenal new cookbook, "South." I also own - and have thoroughly enjoyed - his first book, the (deservedly) award-winning "Heritage," but I actually find this new one to be a bit more "approachable," as far as the recipes/food items go. While there are some ingredients in here that you might not find (at least not without some difficulty anyway) in your local market/grocery store, Brock provides an extremely helpful Resources section, telling you exactly where you can find some of the more elusive ingredients. If you're in to Southern food (and really, food and cooking in general), "South" is an absolute necessity for your kitchen. I guarantee you'll come back to it time and time again.

Sean Brock's South by Sean Brock is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in early October. Brock shirks from the stereotype that food from the American south is unhealthy and covers the rise of southern brands long in production now in the public eye, regional cuisine based on what can be sourced there, and their flavors as geographically and preferentially driven. There's a considerable, doting and informational prologue before going abruptly into the recipes and uses photographs you can practically reach into with a rich use of color and texture, and the dishes have a consistently tidy appearance. There's also a wide use of cooking techniques and heating methods, then finishing with a giant bibliography of resources and in-book diagrams & maps. Recipes are made up of familiar favorites paired with new flavors, like fried green tomatoes, pimento cheese, chicken & dumplings, cornbread, bread & butter pickles, fried okra, and shrimp & grits, compared to never-before-seen, yet gotta-make-it homestyle recipes, like crab rice, purloo, collard green salad, peanut butter gravy, Appalachian fry bread, boiled peanut miso, and mustard onions.

I went to see Sean talk and bought his latest book. Full disclosure, I am a big Sean Brock fan and owner of his last cookbook, Heritage. This book is as much of a cook book as it is an ode to Southern cooking and cuisine, breaking down some of the fundamental Southern ingredients and flavors. It has the classics: fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, and buttermilk pie, but so much more. Sean puts a spin on many "traditional" which some may take issue with since its not a purely classic rendition of what you are used to, but they would be wrong. The pictures in the book are amazing and an improvement over Heritage. If you like to collect cookbooks like I do, this deserves a place on your shelf.