Emory Reads

An illustrated collection of herbal fact and lore of the historical kitchen garden. Tracing herbs and their uses back to earlier times and places. Includes reflections and observations from manuscripts and published herbals that detail the historical uses and fascinating stories surrounding plants of documented interest in the early American South and mid-Atlantic. Practicality and necessity were the guiding theses for gardening in eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century rural and frontier settlements in the Southeast. There were plants for food, for seasoning, for medicine, for dye, for insect repellency, and for scent.
Book available in print.

You're invited to pull up a chair to a year of meals, friends, and fun with the Partons, as Dolly and her sister (and favorite cook) Rachel share beloved, crowd-pleasing recipes and family stories.
A print copy is available.

A Vishwesh Bhatt dish conjures an evolving American South, earning him Best Chef: South (2019 James Beard Awards) and induction into the Fellowship of Southern Farmers, Artisans, and Chefs in 2022. Includes 130 recipes by ingredient, emphasizing staples, spices, and vegetables that are as beloved on the Indian subcontinent as they are in the American South. Recipes run the gamut from Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Tandoori Spices to vegetarian comfort food.
Print book available.

Adapted from 3 centuries of historical texts and rare African-American cookbooks, the 125 recipes paint a rich, varied picture of the true history of African-American cooking- a cuisine far beyond soul food. The first African-American food editor of a daily American newspaper, and award-winning author, Tipton-Martin adapts recipes from those historic texts for the modern kitchen. What we find is a world of African-American cuisine--made by enslaved master chefs, free caterers, and black entrepreneurs and culinary stars. The recipes take inspiration from around the globe; that has created much of what we know of as American cuisine.
A print copy is available.

From the colonial era to the present, Marcie Cohen Ferris examines the expressive power of food throughout southern Jewish history. This culinary tour of the historic Jewish South is an evocative mixture of history and foodways, including more than thirty recipes to try at home. A print copy is available.

"You're standing in front of your refrigerator, a week after your last trip to the supermarket. You've got a bunch of random veggies, some wrinkly fruit, near-expired milk, and those pricey fresh herbs you bought for that one recipe and don't know how to use up. For a split second you picture yourself opening a trash bag, throwing everything away, and ordering takeout. But instead...you pick up this cookbook. Written by the chef-sisters behind Boston's acclaimed Mei Mei Dumplings, this cookbook/field guide is a crucial resource for the thrifty chef, the environmentally mindful cook, and anyone looking to make the most of their ingredients."

2020 Gourmand World Cookbook Award Winner. The acclaimed Choctaw author and scholar draws on the rich indigenous heritages of this continent to offer a helpful guide to a healthier life including recipes. For anyone wanting to know more about indigenous foodways.

Moving beyond familiar myths about moonshiners, bootleggers, and hard­-drinking writers, This is a collection of seventeen essays. Southern Comforts challenges popular assumptions by examining evocative topics drawn from literature, music, film, city life, and cocktail culture. The essays collected here illustrate that exaggerated representations of drinking oversimplify the South's relationship to alcohol, in effect absorbing it into narratives of southern exceptionalism that persist to this day.
Book available online.

An exploration of the foodways, people, and places of Appalachia. Written by Ronni Lundy, regarded as the most engaging authority on the region, the book guides us through the surprisingly diverse history of food in the Mountain South. Victuals explores the diverse and complex food scene of the Mountain South through recipes, stories, traditions, and innovations. Each chapter explores a specific defining food or tradition of the region-such as salt, beans, corn (and corn liquor). The essays introduce readers to their rich histories and the farmers, curers, hunters, and chefs who define the region's contemporary landscape.
A print copy is available.