Bress ’n’ Nyam: Gullah Geechee Recipes from a Sixth-Generation Farmer

Chef and farmer Raiford shares an array of simple and soulful family recipes that were six generations in the making, in this beautiful debut. Inspired by his Gullah Geechee heritage, Raiford lays out dishes that double as a tribute to his great-great-great-grandfather, a freed slave who purchased his family’s Georgia farm in 1874. Among the many meals that can be made in a single vessel are coastal paella, with a hint of saffron, and rabbit fricassee, which is enhanced with bacon and shiitake mushrooms. For outdoor enthusiasts, there’s an oyster roast, pig roast, and a Lowcountry boil with crab, shrimp, and sausage. Those in search of fancier fare will appreciate the rose petal quail, with a syrup made from fresh rose petals and prickly pear, and, for dessert, the author’s influences mesh to produce Strudel with Almost Rum Syrup, “a marriage of a traditional Southern biscuit and a Bavarian pastry.” Skillfully showcasing the flavors of a resilient culture, these recipes are as enlightening as they are delicious. (May)