The South's Gonna Rise Again...

Frankly, my dear, I would say it already has, based on the number of southern cookbooks released in the past couple of years. The newest addition, is called Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, by Martha Hall Foose.

A couple of months ago, another southern cookery book, Bon Appetit, Y'all, by Virginia Willis came out and before that, it was Y'all Come Eat by Paula Deen's hunky son, Jamie. The Lee Brothers introduced the Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook, and before that, The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock.

Earlier this month, the James Beard Foundation announced it's cookbook awards, and guess who won the Americana category? The Glory of Southern Cooking by James Villas. The picture of perfectly fried chicken on the cover is deliciously tempting.

There is a new cookbook on Southern cakes. I didn't realize that we had enough cakes to fill a cookbook, but apparently we do! There are 6 or 7 different recipes for coconut cakes alone. Seriously.

I can't think of another region of the country that gets as much attention (at least in the cookbook world) than the South. Maybe Texas, which is technically part of the South, but don't try to tell us Texans that. We like to think we're kind of unique.

So, what do you think? Do you think this amount attention given to the cooking of the South is warranted?