Soup Beans and Hot Water Cornbread
By Emma Castleberry
Ashleigh Shanti, owner of Good Hot Fish, is adding cookbook author to her list of accomplishments—among them being recognized as a James Beard Award finalist for Rising Star Chef and also a finalist on the show Top Chef. Shanti’s debut cookbook, Our South: Black Food Through My Lens, was published by Union Square & Co. in October.
Many of the recipes are adapted from Shanti’s personal arsenal and from family cookbooks, always with accessibility in mind.
“Developing recipes for Our South mostly looked like refining what I already knew to accommodate the common home cook,” she says. “These recipes were tested by home cooks and chefs. Everything was shopped for at a local grocery store. If it couldn’t be found by the common cook in their local grocery store, we sought out a more accessible alternative that didn’t diminish the quality of the recipe.”
Ashleigh Shanti. Photo by Johnny Autry
Featuring 125 recipes, the book is organized into five “microregions” of the American South: Backcountry, Lowcountry, Midlands, Lowlands and Homeland. This was an organic structure that came up for Shanti as she put the book together. “In fielding through what foods meant the most to me as a young chef,” she says, “I found myself tying these recipes to specific regions and realized how and why I am who I am as a chef. It became pretty clear that these recipes came from specific regions of the South that have shaped who I am today. Post-Helene, it’s important to note that the microregion, Backcountry, has taken on a new meaning—a preservation of sorts. I live in Asheville so naturally I feel deeply connected to this community and all the togetherness it stands for.”
Recipes like Hot Collard and Oyster Dip with Fried Saltines, Grilled Sorghum Chicken on a Stick and Rice Custard Brûlée with Strawberries are demonstrative of Shanti’s creativity in honoring her heritage.
“I hope this book speaks clearly of what the South is and isn’t,” she says. “It’s time this region gets the respect it deserves in the culinary world—the diversity in cuisine here is undeniable.”
Our South: Black Food Through My Lens, nonfiction, 2024, hardcover, $40, by Ashleigh Shanti and published by Union Square & Co., New York City.
