In Our South (Union Square, Oct.), Black queer chef Ashleigh Shanti compiles more than 125 recipes that showcase the ways in which Black cooks have shaped Southern foodways and cultures. Shanti, a 2020 James Beard semifinalist and the owner of Good Hot Fish in Asheville, N.C., which she opened earlier this year, spoke with PW about the diversity of Southern cuisine, radical hospitality, and the long history of Black women in food.
Why is it important for readers to understand the geography of the South?
When people think of Southern cooking, I want them to think farm-to-table cuisine. The South has incredible biodiversity; each region is so distinct. Lowcountry is close to the water, and they can grow amazing rice. Appalachia is high up in the mountains, where we can grow a lot of hearty, cold-weather vegetables. The Midlands are super sunny, amazing for stone fruits. And so there are all these things that are very special to each region that I feel deserve their space; they’re worthy of being highlighted and talked about. Even cornbread—it’s made differently in Appalachia, the Lowcountry, the Delta, and the Southwest.
How did you get your start in the kitchen?
I cook because of Black women who’ve influenced me. I remember the feeling of being in the kitchen with Black women, cooking and preparing food for all our family members. The kitchen was a gathering place. Maybe this food wasn’t “proper,” or we didn’t have names for the things that we were doing, but we knew the food was good and people were happy and true hospitality was being expressed. I remember going into professional kitchens and it feeling very daunting because that warmth wasn’t there. That contrast taught me a lot about hospitality, and what I believed hospitality to be, and how I wanted to portray it in my own spaces.
Which recipes are you excited for readers to discover?
In the Backcountry chapter, there’s a section about chow-chow, a flavorful condiment on the Appalachian table. It compliments many things: people top their cornbread with it or fold into their stew dish. In the Lowcountry chapter, the deep-fried hard-shell crabs are a cool cultural experience. I have such a vivid memory of my first time eating deep-fried hard-shell crabs—it blew my mind. It’s an active community effort, just peeling apart the crab. There’s a stone fruit galette in the Midlands chapter that highlights the seasonality of the region. The Midlands of South Carolina have some of the best stone fruit I’ve ever tasted, and the galette is a simple way to showcase that.
What else do you hope to convey to readers?
I’ve pored over some of the oldest cookbooks that exist in American history. I remember how I felt when I had Malinda Russell’s cookbook in my hands. Having the opportunity to canonize your recipes is a special thing. I want people to feel like they’re holding something historic in my book. Cooking, for me, has always been the great unifier. I hope the book can bring people together through food and make them a little more knowledgeable about what the South truly is.
