Fannie Flagg's Original Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook
Flagg, author of the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe , later made into the movie Fried Green Tomatoes , follows up both with something culinary and, logically, Southern. Her Alabama-inspired fare may not be healthy, but it's genuine, including blue plate specials and plenty of gravies (chicken; giblet), stews (Brunswick; beef), pies (pecan; black bottom), and jams (muscadine). This jauntily designed cookbook also offers enough first-person splash to entertain. "When I moved to California, I found myself surrounded by health freaks," Flagg whines, and explains how the South helped her to get revenge: with biscuits, cobblers, "creatures that swim" (e.g., fried oysters, which really don't), creamed onions, and fried okra. And, three recipes for fried green tomatoes. Photos not seen by PW.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.