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Naked Truth RevealedBy Jon HildrethI think this is as fine a southern cookbook as you'll ever come across. It isn't about the cooking of any specific state or area, because today people move around and eat out, and Mediterranean and oriental food have become as southern as grits and gravy. Panama City, the capital of the Redneck Riviera, has nearly as many Greek restaurants as gross-and-fried joints. And Bool Gogi is a native Atlanta dish if you consider not only the number of Koreans but also the number of fools for Korean food who are at large in Atlanta. Good ole boys who used to do their macho number arm-wrestling for beers now show off by eating Raw Crab Marinated in Special Sauce for Few Days. And they're welcome to my respect, and my Raw Crab.My point is, the South is not what it was; and that's not altogether a bad thing. Southern cooking ain't what it was either; at its best it's a sight better. Thanks to people like M. F. K. Fisher and Julia Child, there are people all over the States who really want to eat well, and some who do. The original problem with southern cooking was the people who did it. The Scotch and the Irish have no more culinary tradition than the average sway-backed mule; the Africans and West Indians, those who could cook, couldn't get the ingredients they knew, and often were afflicted by the gentility of their employer, the "lady of the house." Old southern cookbooks tell you to "brown and discard one crushed clove garlic," and "add 1/8 teaspoon cayenne." This won't produce tasty food, but does announce loud and dear that if you put a pea under her mattress, the writer would be in dreadful pain. I tell you if you put a pea under the rug under Susan's bed, she would be in agony, but she doesn't care if you know it as long as you're willing to learn to be the first, or, better yet, the second on your block (so sometimes you eat out) to make delicious, satisfying, healthy food; not just when you feel like going to a lot of trouble but all the time, because it's not hard and it's even fun. When he was running a kitchen in SoHo, Susan's son Daniel often phoned to ask how to make some standby; Susan would tell him, and he'd incredulously ask, "Is that ALL?" He imagined she was keeping some vital secret to herself, but the truth is, usually things are simpler than you think, and that is the secret. Beginning cooks, this is the book. It demystifies and spells, out the things experienced cooks often can't communicate. If you know how to cook everything in this book, your imagination will be your only limit. Experienced cooks, please pretend you've never cooked before: follow these recipes as written. You should know how these foods taste before you get creative. I mention this because we tested each recipe several times and almost every testing disaster was committed by an excellent cook who just had to do it the usual way. If you know your way around this book you'll know how to make food that people who love to eat will love you for cooking, and that is no small thing. You won't find recipes calling for microwaves nobody can cook in or for ingredients you can't find and don't want; you won't find garlic or hot stuff used timidly, either. Garlic is a vegetable, and so are chiles, and thank the Good Lord for both of them. One thing: please do read the parts you'd usually skip, especially if you're a beginner; we spent a lot of time making every word count. I am Susan's husband; I eat her cooking every day, and if you think that makes me prejudiced, you're quite correct. She's kept me fairly sane, healthy and happy for lo, these many years, and if you study these pages carefully, you'll learn a great deal about how she did it. One more thing; it is important. Eat by candlelight. When dinner is over, blow out the candles, sit in the dark, and talk. You'd be amazed: in the dark it's easy to tell the truth, and the truth can do miraculous things.
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