Like most native Southerners, Anne Byrn grew up eating the food of our memory-fried chicken and milk gravy, turnip greens slowly simmered with ham hocks, and homemade biscuits.

With the aid of today's time-saving tools and appliances, the availability of once hard-to-find ingredients, and the broadening of our culinary horizons, Southerners have branched out into a new style of cookery. We're using the same basic ingredients, but we have altered preparation and presentation, with an emphasis on the light, the simple, and the natural.

Cooking in the New South is a new look at what is traditional in our kitchens. It brings together more than 200 tested recipes for delicacies like Pumpkin Raisin Bread, Chilled Canteloupe Soup, Sesame Shrimp and Asparagus, Orange Ginger Pork Roast, and Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie. Each section begins with a vignette about a treasured food from our past-including Brunswick stew, grits, and chess pie-to remind us of the roots of our delightful cuisine.

Cooking in the New South captures the style and ease of the newest trends while retaining the distinctive flavor of the well-loved, old-fashioned Southern fare.