Southern food has been in the spotlight for quite some time now. The country is in love. Between the fried chicken, biscuits, barbecue and pickles, it's easy to see why. The cuisine is so comforting, so heart-warming, it has made many rational people secretly wish they could shed their own heritage for an upbringing in that warmer part of the country. (Or at least had a good excuse to move there.)
But since we can't change that, the next best thing to having grown up with these foods is to learn about them. And to school yourself on all things Southern food -- aside from eating, which you should do a lot of -- is to read about it.
We recently had the opportunity to attend the Southern Food Writing Conference, where we got to spend two full days with some of the most inspired Southern writers of our times -- John T. Edge and Ronni Lundy, to name a couple. They shared with us some of the books about Southern food culture that they find to be the most important, and we're here to share them with you. From cookbooks to food essays to documentary reportage, here are 11 of the books that will pique your curiosity about Southern food and culture.
A Mind to Stay Here: Profiles from the South, by John Egerton
Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time, by Adrian Miller, $42.52
Cornbread Nation 7: The Best of Southern Food Writing, by Francis Lam and John T. Edge, $18,60
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