More Culinary Kudzu: Recollections and Recipes from Growing Up Southern

Keetha DePriest Reed
Pecan Street Press (2006)
ISBN 0971987726
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (3/07)

Keetha DePriest Reed’s “More Culinary Kudzu: Recollections and Recipes from Growing Up Southern” is part cookbook, part collection of wonderful essays on food, family and growing up Southern and altogether great fun. Reading her book made me want to get up and cook and at the same time do nothing and not feel guilty about it.

A deceptively slim volume of 172 pages, this book is packed with immense insight, great wisdom, yummy recipes and sweet reminiscences. As refreshing as a glass of freshly brewed iced tea on a sweltering hot summer day anywhere in the South, this is a book that you will want to keep – either in your kitchen cupboard for the recipes or by the bedside for the great, uplifting essays crafted by Ms. DePriest Reed. After reading and enjoying the book greatly, I also read the author’s bio and I was immensely surprised that she is only in her thirties. Such wisdom in somebody so young is rare and I’d venture to say that she owes it at least in part to her obviously great upbringing.

The book is divided into six sections. The first five deal with the four seasons – plus an additional one, the holiday season. Appropriate recipes are interspersed with musings on food, family, friendship and life in general. Lots of great childhood memories as well as photos of author and her family illustrate well how celebrating food is an intricate part of living in the South. The recipes range from very simple to quite involved and cover all kind of dishes, from beverages to salads, main dishes, desserts, canned foods and more. The sixth section is an Appendix – where one can find more interesting information on various websites, places of interest, books and a brief author’s bio.

I tried two of her recipes out already and found them to be easy to follow, easy to make and delicious. More of them are on my to-do list, as is getting the first Culinary Kudzu book Ms. DePriest Reed wrote and published earlier.

I would very highly recommend “More Culinary Kudzu” to anybody who enjoys good food and good writing as well as to anybody who wants to find out more about the South. As for me, I only have one question left – how do I get invited to one of their family reunions?

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