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3. Using a slotted spoon or mesh skimmer, ladle into large soup plates, making sure that everyone gets plenty of corn, sausage, shrimp, and onion. Spoon a little of the cooking liquid over each portion, if you like (discard the rest or save to use in soup later). Serve with crusty chunks of bread, coleslaw, and ice-cold beer.

To the present day I retain a nostalgic hunger for these cockcrow repasts of ham and fried chicken, fried pork chops, fried catfish, fried squirrel (in season), fried eggs, hominy grits with gravy, black-eyed peas, collards with collard liquor and cornbread to mush it in, biscuits, pound cake, pancakes and molasses, honey in the comb, homemade jams and jellies, sweet milk, buttermilk, coffee chicory-flavored and hot as Hades.

—TRUMAN CAPOTE, THE THANKSGIVING VISITOR

You’ve got to continue to grow, or you’re just like last night’s corn bread—stale and dry.

—LORETTA LYNN

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TIME LINE: the people and events that shaped Southern Cuisine

1767

The Mason-Dixon Line is drawn as far west as the Appalachians.

Defying George III’s ban on exploration west of the Appalachians, Daniel Boone pushes westward into Kentucky.

Commercial sugar production begins at New Smyrna, Florida, but fails nine years later.

1768

The British Crown appropriates Cherokee lands in the Carolinas and Virginia as well as the Iroquois country between the Tennessee and Ohio rivers.

1769

Virginia colonists begin relocating to Tennessee and Kentucky.

The Virginia Assembly names French viticulturist Andrew Estave “state winemaker,” but like his predecessors, he fails to produce a palatable Virginia wine.

1771

George Washington builds a grist-mill at Mount Vernon and grows rich on the superfine flour he ships as far afield as the West Indies.

* * *

CAJUN SHRIMP OR CRAWFISH GUMBO

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

Cajuns, I’m told, serve gumbo at least once a week: gumbo z’herbes, perhaps (a green gumbo made with collards and spinach), chicken gumbo, shrimp or crawfish gumbo. This particular recipe is adapted from one given to me by Miss Tootie Guirard, a lively Cajun lady from St. Martinville, Louisiana, whom I profiled some years ago for Family Circle. I spent about ten days with Miss Tootie and she was emphatic about the proper way to prepare gumbo. “Don’t rush your roux,” she warned at the outset. “It must brown very slowly in a heavy pot.” She works her roux for at least thirty minutes until it is as red, as brown as iron rust. She also thickens her gumbo with okra, not gumbo filé (powdered dried sassafras leaves). “I’d never use both,” she said. And one final caution: “Never cook okra in an iron pot because it will turn black.” Tip: This gumbo is a great make-ahead and thus is ideal for a dinner party. Cool it, then refrigerate until about twenty minutes before serving. Reheat slowly in an uncovered Dutch oven. According to Miss Tootie, shrimp and crawfish should never cook in a covered pan because they will disintegrate.

Okra Thickener

¼ cup lard, ham or bacon drippings

1 pound tender young okra, stemmed and sliced as thin as possible

One 8-ounce can tomato sauce

Roux

3 tablespoons lard

1/3 cup unsifted all-purpose flour

Gumbo

2 large yellow onions, finely chopped

1 large green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped

3 large celery ribs, trimmed and finely diced

1 large garlic clove, minced

10 cups (2½ quarts) cold water

2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

¼ to ½ teaspoon ground hot red pepper (cayenne), depending on how “hot” you like things

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1½ pounds medium-size raw shrimp (or crawfish) in the shell

4 quarts (1 gallon) boiling water mixed with 1 tablespoon salt

¼ cup thinly sliced green scallion tops

¼ cup coarsely chopped Italian parsley

2½ cups converted rice, cooked by package directions

1. For the okra thickener: Melt the lard in a large, heavy, nonreactive Dutch oven (I favor enameled cast iron) over moderately high heat. Add the okra and brown lightly