Cook Like A Savannah Native, Eat Like An Honored Guest

Damon Lee Fowler is so enamored of Southern food and its heritage that he left a career in architecture to pursue the grits trail that meanders through the kitchens and dining rooms of the region. The journey resulted in five critically acclaimed cookbooks, travelogues if you will, that have chronicled the ingredients, methods and people that give Southern cuisine its legendary mantle.
[singlepic=11,320,240,,left]In his newest book, The Savannah Cookbook, the journey continues. But this volume reads more like a passionate love letter than a guidebook or historical reminiscence.
His preface, introduction and even the acknowledgments were such compelling and heartfelt pieces of writing that, once I began to read, I was lured into this cookbook like a hungry boy is reeled home by the smell of his mother’s baking pies.
Fowler unselfishly praises the Southern cooks who were sources for many of the book’s recipes. In some cases, like with a recipe from Savannah Chef Walter Dasher, he pens homage to this remarkably talented native son who has shared his secrets with generations of young chefs and zealous home cooks.
The recipes, according to Fowler, transcend what magazines refer to as Savannah cooking and instead explore the real foods of a city more known for moss-draped live Oaks and grand mansions than its cuisine. Fowler contends that the genuine Savannah cuisine is the food served behind the doors of those mansions and even humble homes; that our city’s cuisine is the food served for guests when hosts put their best dish forward.
The recipes do, in fact, read like a Who’s Who of Savannah dinner menus: Shrimp Pilau, St. John’s Golden Apple Chutney, Deviled Crab and Syllabub.
He instructs readers on the assembly and creation of an oyster roast, a Lowcountry Boil and the finer points of brewing up your own Chatham Artillery Punch and homemade vanilla. Graceful touches are also covered, like recipes for the ubiquitous cheese straw or tomato sandwiches all the way to cocktail sauces and dressings that add an authentic Savannah touch to a meal.
Along the way, he gives deserved respect to the ethnic influences of Europe, Asia and West Africa that permeate the city’s recipes.
The book’s 222 pages offer plenty of recipes ranging from breakfast to dinner with categories on appetizers, meat, fish and poultry, beverages, desserts, salads and a variety of side dishes. You can entertain for years to come without ever repeating a recipe – but you’re sure to discover favorites that you’ll serve again and again.
Stunning color photos accompany most recipes and are the work of Savannah Morning News photographer John Carrington.
Fowler writes a food column for the Savannah Morning News and teaches cooking at Kitchenware Outfitters, where he was recently named culinary arts director. A new edition of his first cookbook, Classical Southern Cooking, will be released in October – it has been out of print for a decade.
In addition to being available at local booksellers, The Savannah Cookbook ($34.95) is available at Kitchenware Outfitters.