"If there's one thing we learned coming up on Daufuskie," remembers Sallie Ann Robinson, "it's the importance of good, home-cooked food." In this enchanting book, Robinson presents the delicious, robust dishes of her native Sea Islands and offers readers a taste of the unique, West African-influenced Gullah culture still found there.
Living on a South Carolina island accessible only by boat, Daufuskie folk have traditionally relied on the bounty of fresh ingredients found on the land and in the waters that surround them. The one hundred home-style dishes presented here include salads and side dishes, seafood, meat and game, rice, quick meals, breads, and desserts. Gregory Wrenn Smith's photographs evoke the sights and tastes of Daufuskie.
"Here are my family's recipes," writes Robinson, weaving warm memories of the people who made and loved these dishes and clear instructions for preparing them. She invites readers to share in the joys of Gullah home cooking the Daufuskie way, to make her family's recipes their own.
"A fascinating cookbook. . . . Robinson knows what to do with classic soul food ingredients like pig's feet, ham hocks, chitterlings and even possum. But Southern food lovers will also find plenty of down-to-earth recipes."
— New York Times Book Review
"Opens the front door of Robinson's garden and childhood and welcome[s] you right in."
— Chicago Tribune
"With this collection of recipes, stories, and personal reminiscences, Sallie Ann has cooked up a big pot of steaming low-country gumbo. So you better come on in her kitchen and experience the seasonings and flavors of the traditional and new Daufuskie Island offered up by a native daughter.
(Vertamae Grosvenor)"