Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-04-13
Southern Cooking
Finds Champions;
Is Not a Lost Art
Mrs. Joseph NJ. Brown,
Mrs. w. A. Speer and
E. L. Thornton Pro-
vide Typical Dixie
Menus, But French
Dishes are EnCroach-
ing in Hotels.

A Middle Western man spending a
few days in Atlanta remarked in a
fit Of petulance that there was TO
Southern cooking I'm this city An
the splendid Southern dishes that he
had read so much about were-not on
the bin Of fare at any hotel. So he
wrote to The Sunday American and
asked this newspaper to find out what
had become Of the boosted Southern
cooking In Atlanta. And an alert
young reporter, to whom the letter
was given, rushed off to see Mrs.
Joseph NJ. Brown, wife Of Governor
Brown, Mrs W. A. Speer. Peachtree
Road, and b, L. Thornton, Of the At
lanta Athletic Club. From them he
learned that Southern cooking is not
lost art. and that Dixie Land can
stiIl supply a perfect Southern dia-
ncr
1T may be rather too much for one
meal Mrs. Speer admitted, after
making up a menu, but at least all
The dishes are native to the South,
and all are delicious. What Is the
lace Coffee Any Southerner will
tell you"
Enter French Dishes.
But OF course you will have trou-
bic In finding just these things in
Atlanta hotels and restaurants. Which
fact brings up for discussion the We
racity OF the stirring song Dixie"
which says:
PORK and ra bhgpa GA do NOT
II goes in cold and comes out hot,
Away down South in Dixie"
But that was long ago, befo' the
War, sub. To-day you will find, right
mere in Atlanta, that the cooking OF
the old South, corn bread, fried chick
en-, and all that, is finding II hard
TO survive the inroads Of the "a las"
and the cXotics Of the French chefs
and the cooking schools
Would you order chicken, valiant
SouthrOn that you are? The negro
waiter VIII point you to a formidable
line on the bill Of fare:
"Poulardine en- casserole chez sol
Well Well you murmur, and make
blur al reading the list OF edibles
Finally you give up in despair.
Amy real food here?" you ask saw
agely. Where's the potatoes?"
The waiter scornfully points a dlngy
finger You read:
"Pommes nouvelles sablees."
And then you voice your disgust;
Good night you say 1t is yOur
ultimatum, You walk across to the
lunch stand and buy a weiner sand
witch, the universal and omnipresent
All Of which adds point to the story
that the kitchens over which your
black nanny used TO preside are
b. IL
and that the traditional Southern
cooking is acquiring more and more
the film OF tradition.
rs Work For NANNY"
For. after # is all said and done,
Southern cooking is work for a ne
gro mamuiy, or for one whose train
ing has come from the school of the
nanny. Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Speer
two of Atlanta's women who surely
must know all about Southern homes
and Southern cuisine. are sponsors
for this statement. And all the world
knows it, besides.
Mrs. Brown was asked to plan
distinctive Southern spread.
You'd better ask my cook she
said.
So that proves Il.
Southern cooking in Atlanta is be-
ing kept alive in every family where
there Is a negro cook Of the old school
Southern cooking with plenty of corn
meal and corn produCts-hOminy
corn dodgers, egg bread, corn fritteTs
Fried chicken. with nothing but Its
natural and indispensable succu-
leuCe to make il tempting is another
mark OF the true South. None Of your
casseroles and spinach and parsley to
grace the dish
Simplicity and making the most
of what is provided is the keynote OF
Southern cooking" said Mrs Speer
r L. Thornton. who is in charge
Of the cuisine Of the Atlanta Athletic
club, recommended the nanny also.
He told of other methods that make
Southern cooking distinctive
The dishes are seasoned simply. but
we'll
The seasoning must be applied
while the dishes are being cooked.
Soups are thick, the ingredients be