LSU Press is delighted to announce our new cookbook series, The Southern Table. Books in the series will chronicle the histories, recipes, traditions, and production practices of the food of the American South. We’re looking for clear, compelling narrative, along with historical and contemporary recipes. Books will be of interest to a general audience, and especially to history enthusiasts and professional and home cooks curious about origins of the region’s foodways.
Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:
food-themed southern festivals and their winning contest recipes
antebellum and postbellum plantation food production, preparation, and consumption
innovations and equipment that changed the way the South eats
hunting and/or fishing practices, trends, and conservation
the African impact on iconic southern dishes
ethnic foodways and culinary contributions to the southern eating experience
Native American hunting, cooking, and eating habits before the arrival of Europeans
teaching children the basics of southern cooking
southern restaurants that have made a lasting imprint on their industry and on personal eating habits
southern chefs who have set and withstood culinary trends
the South’s many agriculture research facilities and their development of modern crops and animal husbandry
the exploration of individual food industries in the South, such as rice, sweet potatoes, corn, pork, oysters, cattle, and dairy
significant dish categories, such as cakes, breads, soups, barbecue, and vegetables
folklore and culinary uses of native southern herbs and plants
bourbon, whiskey, beer, absinthe, rum, moonshine—any kind of southern-made alcohol
the history of entertaining in the South
A member of the Newcomb College Culinary History Writers Group, Cynthia LeJeune Nobles is the author of The Delta Queen Cookbook: The History and Recipes of the Legendary Steamboat and A Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook: Recipes from Ignatius J. Reilly’s New Orleans and a contributor to New Orleans Cuisine: Fourteen Signature Dishes and Their Histories.
To send proposals or for more information, contact LSU Press acquisitions editor Jenny Keegan at jenniferkeegan@lsu.edu
