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I first tasted a Vidalia in the mid ’70s in New York when a colleague who’d just received a box of them served them at a dinner party. We marveled at their crispness, their juiciness, but above all their sweetness. Our hostess sent each of us home with a few to try, and soon we were introducing these unique South Georgia onions to others. And writing about them, too.

By 1977, “America’s Favorite Sweet Onion” was so popular the Vidalia town fathers decided to stage a festival to celebrate the spring harvest. It erupts every April with parades and fun for all. Thirteen years later, Georgia named the Vidalia the official state vegetable.

Today, thousands of South Georgia acres are devoted to growing Vidalias; indeed they account for 13 percent of the state’s vegetable cash receipts. Most supermarkets sell them in season (April to December) but they can also be ordered farm-fresh (see Sources, backmatter).

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TIME LINE: the people and events that shaped Southern Cuisine

1926

Virginia ferry boat captain S. Wallace Edwards begins serving sandwiches on his Jamestown-Scotland run using his family’s salt-cured, hickory-smoked country ham. The demand for that ham is soon so great that Edwards devotes full time to it. Today, Edwards hams are a Virginia classic.

1927

C. F. Sauer of Richmond, Virginia, becomes America’s largest producer of spices and extracts.

Chef Henry Haussner, newly arrived from Germany, opens a restaurant in Baltimore. For more than 70 years it is where locals and visitors go for fine German food.

1928

Henrietta Dull, a home economist and “The First Lady of Georgia Cooking,” writes Mrs. Dull’s Southern Cooking, the twentieth century’s first comprehensive southern cookbook.

Nashville’s Cheek-Neal Coffee Company is bought by the Postum Company and the name is changed to Maxwell House Products Company. A year later the company has a new name: the General Foods Corporation.

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SCALLOPED OYSTER PLANT

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Southerners have always doted upon salsify—or “oyster plant,” as they prefer to call this mellow ivory-fleshed root—because its flavor reminds them of oysters. And no more so than when scalloped (creamed) and baked under a coverlet of buttered bread crumbs (to which I’ve added finely ground pecans). Serve with roast beef, veal, lamb, pork, turkey, or chicken. Note: Salsify discolors the instant it’s cut, so waste no time getting it into the acidulated water. It also grays if cooked in aluminum, so use a nonreactive pan. Don rubber gloves before working with salsify, then pitch them out when the job’s done; if you don’t, your hands will be covered with a sticky substance that soap and water won’t remove.

1 pound salsify, scrubbed, trimmed, peeled, and cut into 2-inch chunks (see Note above)

2 quarts cold water mixed with 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (acidulated water)

4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

¾ cup half-and-half or light cream

¾ cup milk

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Topping

1 cup fine soft bread crumbs

1/3 cup finely ground pecans

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Also butter a shallow 1-quart baking dish or gratin pan and set aside.

2. Place the salsify in a large nonreactive bowl, add the acidulated water, and soak for 20 minutes; this is to preserve the salsify’s country-cream color.

3. Meanwhile, bring 1½ quarts of lightly salted water to boil in a large nonreactive saucepan. Drain the salsify, add to the boiling water, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes or until firm-tender. Drain well and slice 1/8 inch thick.

4. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small, heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Blend in the flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the half-and-half and milk and cook,