10 Southern Cookbooks for Gifting

Cookbooks are a great gift for those who love food, and what better way to show you care than to give a Southern gift that keeps on nourishing all year round. 

Field Peas to Foie Gras: Southern Recipes with a French Accent by Jennifer Booker
Chef Booker combines her Mississippi roots with classic French culinary training to create beautiful and elegant dishes in this cookbook. By providing stories of her childhood memories alongside her recipes, Booker provokes images of the farmhouse of her youth while including the proper cooking techniques that come with French cuisine. This book is full of hundreds of delectable photos and recipes, including decadent Venison Stew and elegant Caramel Cake, that will easily satisfy holiday cravings. $21.56 from Pelican Publishing

The Southern Foodie’s Guide To The Pig: A Culinary Tour of the South’s Best Restaurants & the Recipes That Made Them Famous by Chris Chamberlain
Nashville food writer Chris Chamberlain’s Guide to the Pig shines a light on one of the South’s staple foods. His latest book introduces readers to all of the parts of this versatile animal and teaches procedures to prepare a variety of dishes. Both a travel guide and cookbook, Guide to the Pig takes us on a tour through some of the South’s best restaurants known for their pig dishes. Chefs and pitmasters highlighted in this book also share their sacred secrets and personal recipes when it comes to creating the perfect slow-cooked pork, barbecue or bacon dishes. $24.99 from Thomas Nelson

Read our interview with Chris Chamberlain here

The Southern Po’ Boy Cookbook: Mouthwatering Sandwich Recipes from the Heart of New Orleans by Todd-Michael St. Pierre
A sandwich traditionally from Louisiana, the po’ boy combines French bread with delicious and hearty fillings. This cookbook offers not only wonderful pictures, but also a wide variety of recipes to make this Southern sandwich using traditional New Orleans offerings along with St. Pierre’s new creations, including blackened shrimp, fried oysters and Creole crab cakes. $13.56 on Amazon

The Southern Food Truck Cookbook: Discover the South’s Best Food on Four Wheels by Heather Donahue
With the popularity of food trucks right now, this cookbook allows readers to go on a road trip across the South with these restaurants on wheels. Donahue introduces us to food truckers and their special takes on a variety of dishes, from barbecue and biscuits to ice cream. The collection of recipes vary as much as the culinary traditions behind them, taking us on a mobile journey through the food of the South. $15.08 on Amazon

Heritage by Sean Brock
In this beautifully created book, award-winning Chef Sean Brock presents all of the divine dishes that have made him the successful chef behind restaurants Husk and McCrady’s. Brock’s drive to preserve America’s heritage foods is evident in his recipes, from Corn-Goat Cheese Soup with Shrimp and Brown Butter Chanterelles to his spin on Southern classics like Pickled Shrimp and Chocolate Alabama Stack Cake. Even the titles of his recipes will make your mouth water. $24 on Amazon

The Kentucky Bourbon Cookbook by Albert W. A. Schmid
Distilled almost exclusively in Kentucky, this Southern beverage has attained prominence and appreciation for its complexity, history and tradition. For the bourbon lover in your life, this cookbook offers a wide range of recipes, including both cocktails and savory dishes. Schmid breaks up the recipes with a chapter exclusively on cocktails, as well as those for each season. Gain a better appreciation of America’s native spirit with recipes for items like Bourbon-Pecan Crème Brulée with Chocolate Sauce. $24.95 from Kentucky Press

The Southern Vegetarian Cookbook: 100 Down-Home Recipes for the Modern Table by Justin Fox Burks and Amy Lawrence
With the amount of meat included in a typical Southern diet, vegetarians might struggle with the concept of Southern vegetarian food. However, this cookbook highlights the importance vegetables have in Southern cuisine. “In a region distinguished by ideal growing conditions and generations of skilled farmers, Southern-style vegetarian cooking is not only possible, it’s a pursuit brimming with vine-ripened possibility.” $18.98 on Amazon

The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook by The Southern Foodways Alliance
Community cookbooks make great holiday gifts because they keep with the Southern tradition of passing down and sharing recipes that are tried and true. This is exactly why the Southern Foodways Alliance created their own community cookbook. The SFA celebrates the diverse food cultures of the South by reflecting on and including more than 170 recipes that are as diverse as the histories and traditions behind them, from pimento cheese to gumbo z’herbs. $24.95 from UGA Press

Savor the South Cookbook Collection by UNC Press
For people who prefer cookbook collections, the Savor the South cookbooks would be great individually or as a complete set. Each cookbook celebrates the foods and traditions of the American South, focusing on one particular aspect of Southern cooking (with culinary and natural history of that food, as well as delicious recipes included). So far, there are 10 volumes in a set: Catfish, Gumbo, Shrimp, Sweet Potatoes, Southern Holidays, Okra, Pickles and Preserves, Bourbon, Biscuits, Tomatoes, Peaches, Pecans, and Buttermilk. $18-19 individually; $180 for the 10 volume set from UNC Press

Read our article about Savor the South’s cookbooks here

At My Grandmother’s Knee: Recipes & Memories Handed Down by Women of the South by Faye Porter
Porter’s cookbook celebrates the memories of grandma’s home cooking by reminiscing and recreating recipes that have been passed down in the family. This book brings to life the idea that certain dishes and the stories behind them cannot be separated, especially when it comes to family. With recipes named Nanny’s Hash Brown Casserole and Mema’s Pecan Bundt Cake, you can’t go wrong. $14.99 on Amazon