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Stories, history & know-how.

The history, technique, and traditions behind Southern soul food — the reading that makes the cooking make sense.

Pantry & Kitchen

The Essential Tools Every Soul Food Kitchen Needs

Great soul food cooking depends less on gadgets and more on a small set of trusted tools that earn their…

7 min read
Pantry & Kitchen

Building a Southern Pantry From Scratch: The Essentials List

Starting fresh in the kitchen? Here is the honest, no-fluff list of what actually belongs in a Southern pantry, and…

7 min read
Ingredient Guides

Buttermilk, Beans, and Beyond: A Practical Look at Building Your Southern Pantry

It isn't one ingredient that makes Southern cooking sing, but the way a handful of staples work together, and here's…

6 min read
Ingredient Guides

Pecans in Southern Baking: A Complete Guide

Pecans are as Southern as any ingredient on this list, native to the region and central to its baking, so…

5 min read
Ingredient Guides

Country Ham vs. City Ham: What Actually Sets Them Apart

Not all ham is created equal, and the country ham hanging in a Southern smokehouse has almost nothing in common…

6 min read
Ingredient Guides

Catfish and Southern Freshwater Fish: A Buyer’s Guide

Catfish gets most of the attention, but Southern rivers and ponds have long supplied a whole lineup of freshwater fish…

6 min read
Ingredient Guides

Sorghum, Molasses, and Cane Syrup: Sorting Out the Southern Sweeteners

Three dark, sticky sweeteners share a shelf and a color, but they come from different plants entirely, and each one…

6 min read
Ingredient Guides

A Guide to Southern Rice: Carolina Gold and Beyond

Rice quietly shaped the Lowcountry the way cotton shaped other parts of the South, and the varieties grown here today…

6 min read
Ingredient Guides

Sweet Potatoes vs. Yams: Clearing Up a Southern Grocery Store Mix-Up

The bin marked "yams" at most American grocery stores is almost always sweet potatoes, and untangling why takes us through…

5 min read
Ingredient Guides

Dried Beans and Peas in Soul Food: Black-Eyed Peas, Butter Beans, and Field Peas

Beans and peas quietly built the backbone of soul food cooking, and knowing which one you're holding changes how long…

6 min read