Pig: King of the Southern Table

by James Villas

Overview

A nose-to-tail guide to the very best Southern pork recipes, from award-winning food writer James Villas

Though beef, poultry, and fish all have their place in Southern cuisine, one animal stands snout and shoulders above the rest—the mighty pig. From bacon to barbecue, from pork loin to pork belly, James Villas's Pig: King of the Southern Table presents the pride of the South in all its glory. 300 mouth-watering recipes range from the basics like sausages, ribs, and ham to creative ideas involving hashes, burgers, gumbos, and casseroles.

A North Carolina native, Villas doesn't just provide great pork recipes but also brings the spirit of Southern cooking alive with tasty cultural and historical tidbits and favorite recipes from beloved restaurants like Louis Osteen's on Pawley's Island and Crook's Corner in Chapel Hill. With gorgeous full-color photography and recipes from Maryland to Louisiana and everywhere in between, Pig is the definitive take on the South's favorite animal.

• Includes 300 recipes for pork dishes of all kinds, including appetizers, soups, sides, rice dishes, and even breads
• Features recipes like Cajun Boudin Rice Sausage, Bacon-Wrapped Pork Loin with Dates and Walnuts, Mississippi Spice-Stuffed Baked Ham, and Collard Greens with Pork Belly
• Offers more than just recipes—the book includes a pig-parts primer, a glossary of pig cooking terms, and cooking tips and sidebars throughout
• Written by James Villas, winner of two James Beard Journalism Awards and former food and wine editor of Town & Country magazine for 27 years

Whether you're planning the perfect summer barbecue or just looking for new ideas for family dinners, Pig shares the secrets of great Southern cooking with every corner of the nation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544187702
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/16/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	903,253
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

JAMES VILLAS’s work has appeared in Esquire, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Bon Appétit, and the New York Times. He won James Beard Awards for Journalism in 2003 and for Pig: King of the Southern Table.

Table of Contents

Preface: A Passion for Pig.

Introduction.

A Southern Pig Primer: From Head to Tail.

A Southern Pig Glossary.

Smithfield: King of Southern Hams.

Southern Country Hams.

The Gospel of Southern Barbecue.

Southern Bulk Pork Sausage.

Appetizers and Salads.

Soups, Chowders, and Gumbos.

Stews, Casseroles, and Stratas.

Chops, Cutlets, and Steaks.

Pies, Loaves, Hashes, and Burgers.

Roasts.

Ham.

Sausage and Bacon.

Barbecue and Ribs.

Variety and Specialty Meats.

Vegetables and Rice.

Breads.

Acknowledgments.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

If pig is indeed king, then there is trouble at the castle, for Villas (Dancing in the Lowcountry) has stormed the gates and had at him, leaving no sweetbread, shoulder, or chop untasted. So let the commoners rejoice: here are 300 recipes from Southern hog heaven that are juicy, flirtatious, and, at times, scary. Brave hearts will want to immediately dive into the Variety and Special Meats chapter for some deviled pork liver; hog's head stew; and brains and eggs. The upper crust might prefer a pork pie. Choices include spicy Tennessee sausage; Pork, Apple and Raisin; or Bacon and Corn. A section on barbecue and ribs includes both North and South Carolina styles of BBQ and half a dozen sparerib options. And where lesser authors might stray off-topic when moving to side dishes, Villas, with 13 cookbooks and two James Beard awards under his belt, knows better. All 39 vegetable and rice dishes are chock full of oink, from the mushy turnips with bacon and pork to the slab bacon hoppin' John. Similarly, there are 20 breads that are decidedly not fat-free. That other Southern king, Elvis, would surely have appreciated the bacon-peanut butter muffins, perhaps chased down with a lard hoecake or some bacon-grease hush puppies. (May)

Publishers Weekly

[STARRED REVIEW ] If pig is indeed king, then there is trouble at the castle, for Villas (Dancing in the Lowcountry) has stormed the gates and had at him, leaving no sweetbread, shoulder, or chop untasted. So let the commoners rejoice: here are 300 recipes from Southern hog heaven that are juicy, flirtatious, and, at times, scary. Brave hearts will want to immediately dive into the Variety and Special Meats chapter for some deviled pork liver; hog's head stew; and brains and eggs. The upper crust might prefer a pork pie. Choices include spicy Tennessee sausage; Pork, Apple and Raisin; or Bacon and Corn. A section on barbecue and ribs includes both North and South Carolina styles of BBQ and half a dozen sparerib options. And where lesser authors might stray off-topic when moving to side dishes, Villas, with 13 cookbooks and two James Beard awards under his belt, knows better. All 39 vegetable and rice dishes are chock full of oink, from the mushy turnips with bacon and pork to the slab bacon hoppin' John. Similarly, there are 20 breads that are decidedly not fat-free. That other Southern king, Elvis, would surely have appreciated the bacon-peanut butter muffins, perhaps chased down with a lard hoecake or some bacon-grease hush puppies. (May) (PublishersWeekly.com, February 16, 2010)

From the Publisher