Down Home Feasts

Louisiana, with its Cajun, Creole and Bayou traditions, is a celebrated crossroads of delicious cuisines, but the authors of this compendium would remind us that neighboring Gulf Coast states also share a rich and varied culinary heritageSpanish, French, African, Caribbean, British and Native American. The blend is so old that one forgets how unique are combinations of foods like fried okra and oysters Bienville. Williams (American Feasts, etc.) and Cortner (contributing editor to The Vermont Bread Book, etc.) serve up the range of traditional regional fare in fine and unpretentious stylespicy seafood, grits and greens, conch chowder, Tex-Mex dishes, inland game, key lime pie and pecan confections, pickles and condiments. The first chapter offers menus from each stateFlorida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana. Photos. 30,000 first printing; Better Homes & Gardens Cook Book Club main selection. (May 30)