We’ve just been planted with another kiss from the authors of the newly released “Tupelo Honey Café: New Southern Flavors from the Blue Ridge Mountains.” As in 2011’s especially sweet “Tupelo Honey Café: Spirited Recipes from Asheville’s New South Kitchen,” which I referred to then as an “Appalachian mountain kiss,” Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus, a graduate of the prestigious Johnson and Wales University, once again serve up 125 mouth-watering, hyper-approachable recipes from one of the most culinary diverse areas of our country – the mountain South. Chef Sonoskus continues to triumph as the creator of scratch-made “sassy and scrumptious” dishes that has made the downtown Asheville, North Carolina Tupelo Honey Café, where Chef Sonoskus has been since it opened its doors in 2000, so celebrated – and innovative. Luckily, we can sample some of this innovation right at home, via cookbook recipes for dishes such as Frogmore Stew, the quintessential “from field and sea to the pot” meal that originated in the lowcountry of South Carolina – my neck of the woods for almost 30 years now. Chef Sonoskus’ version (also known as Beaufort Stew or Lowcountry Boil in this region) contains scallops – an addition that was not only new to me, but to be honest – fabulous. Additionally, the book’s recipe for Maple Sweet Potato Bread Pudding is pretty remarkable, too, with the flavors of sweet potatoes and maple, as Chef Sonoskus states, “a match made in nirvana.” For information about either cookbook, which includes stunning photography of the mountains, farms and foods of the region, visit https://tupelohoneycafe.com/collection/cookbook.
Sue Ade is a syndicated food writer with broad experience and interest in the culinary arts. She has worked and resided in the Lowcountry of South Carolina since 1985 and may be reached at kitchenade@yahoo.com.
