Nick Wynne
Nick Wynne is the author of ten books, ranging from academic tomes to children's books. Southern Cooking: A Man's Domain is a cookbook that he work to provide instructions for Yankee wives married to Southerners. It is NOT a cookbook for the fainthearted or those who worry about calories or cholesterol. Wynne uses ingredients like lard, butter and buttermilk--all designed to satisfy palates and to clog arteries. Scottish, Irish, Welsh and English by birth--they all hate each other and share the same diets--Wynne recently celebrated his heritage by taking an extended trip to Scotland, where he and wife, Debra, feasted on the haute cuisine of the "mother country." "It's a burden being a mixture of all these peoples," said Wynne, "some mornings I get up, look in the mirror and decide I can't stand myself!"
Although the recipes are direct to the reader from his late mother, Lola Mae, it is the commentary that accompanies them that makes this cookbook a logical successor to another Georgian by birth, Lewis Grizzard.
Wynne is available for signings, presentations or simply "fun" parties. He can be contacted at wynne@flahistory.net or by telephone at (321) 690-1971.
REVIEWS OF NICK WYNNE'S SOUTHERN COOKING...
At long last I'm back in the mountains, after prolonged visits to Winter Park and Montgomery (I was still so sick from my cold I could hardly drive). When I got to Alabama I gave my dad Nick's autographed cookbook but my step-mom Mary Elizabeth grabbed it from him, opened it at random, read a bit and proclaimed--I kid you not-- "Here's a recipe calling for lard; this is a man who can be trusted!" then they oohed and aahed over the many pork dishes. So I know it will be used--much more than the coffee-table tome I gave them about the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Stuart Ferguson--Wall Street Journal reporter
I've enjoyed this cookbook tremendously. The recipes are great--if you like Southern cooking (and even if you don't)--but the commentary and humor puts Wynne in the category of humorists like Lewis Grizzard and Justin Wilson. I plan to steal every story in it, including Nick's famous discourse on the perils of mispronouncing "pecan."
Don David Argo, author, Canaveral Light
What a relief to find an honest-to-goodness Southern cookbook that does NOT pay lip service to the latest fads in dieting and dining. I applaud Nick Wynne's "cholesterol be damned and in-your-face" honesty when it comes to recipes that I enjoyed as a youth. I can just see my Mama, with her apron on and her sleeves rolled up, chattering away as she went about preparing dinner or supper--yes, this was before the days of "lunch!" Can't wait for the next installment--will it be R-C colas and moon pies, potted meat and mayonnaise sandwiches, or some other, now passé, form of Southern cuisine? Bring it on!
Richard Moorhead, RMA Associates
I
should be in the dining room doing my job, but since I picked up your book just
to browse the content I have not been able to put it down until I finished it.
What fun! I first opened up to the section on the pecan pronunciation
debate and enjoyed myself too much. I really needed to get into the dining
room, so I thought, “one more quick section,” and stumbled on to
“barbeque.” I was hooked there, and had to read the book from the
beginning. The barbeque section was especially fun because of “sauce,
sauce, sauce.” You would be pleased to know that Chef Erol and I feel
the same way about any “center of the plate” (as suppliers call it) item.
As long as you’re buying top grade fish and meats, any chef can cook it to a
tender and enjoyable consistency. But it’s the sauces that differentiate
great meals from ordinary!
The
book was not the “text book” I expected from a professor and authority of
history! The visualizations were great. But then I recall “Tin Can
Tourists” was very interesting and fun reading too. In fact, last
weekend before taking a plane trip I pulled a couple of books from my pile of
required reading. Some of these have been in the lot for more than a year,
waiting for me to have time for pleasure reading since I normally only find time
for trade journals. One of the books I read on the plane was “Fast Food
Nation,” a somewhat predictable book, but required reading none the less.
A section there that spoke of GM buying up trolley lines only to tear them up to
increase the demand for motor cars reminded me of “Tin Can Tourists” and I
thought of you. It was ironic to see you today, for of all reasons, to
bring me your new book!
Thank
you for sharing! And thank you for writing such a fun book!
Alexander Litras, Cafe Margaux--Historic Cocoa Village, Florida
