Around Our Southern Table by Theresa Jensen Lacey

Forty-five years in the making, local author Theresa Jensen Lacey is publishing her 21st book, a family cookbook.  “It was back in 1982 that I realized none of my people used a cookbook,” she said. 

“When I first approached my grandmother about wanting to get her recipes, she told me she just ‘knew’ when it was right, that she had never written down a recipe, although every dish she put on our farm table was excellent. My great-aunts and uncles were the same way. But they all told me, ‘You can come to watch what we do, but stay out of our way in the kitchen.’”

That began what would become Around Our Southern Table (2022, Moon Howler Publishing). Lacey kept adding to those original recipes from observations in her family’s kitchens. Still, the cookbook remained unfinished over three decades later, and most of the original contributors were gone. 

It wasn’t until she went to a reading by fellow author Rick Bragg, who had just come out with his book, The Best Cook in the World: Tales from My Momma’s Table, that she realized it was time to get her own people’s cookbook finished and published. After adding husband Eric Lacey’s favorite recipes and a few friends’ cherished ones, the manuscript of recipes was ready to be published.

Theresa approached local artist, designer, and musician (with The Leavin Brothers) Charles Hudson Davis, who acted as art director for the book’s graphics; he had AL.com cartoonist J.D. Crowe do the artwork for the front and back covers. “I think the art helps make the cookbook special,” Lacey added.

The cookbook is more than a batch of recipes from four generations of Southern family cooks. “It’s also an Escoffier,” Lacey said, “which means I offer variations on recipes and include information on correcting a dish that’s been a bit of an oops. 

For example, many cooks don’t know how to ‘fix’ their Hollandaise sauce because they get distracted, don’t stir it constantly, and wound up with what look like rich scrambled eggs. There’s a secret to returning the sauce to its creamy and smooth origin, and that’s in the cookbook.”

The cookbook has some other secrets, such as a simple gumbo for beginner cooks and a full-fledged recipe “for those who know their way around the kitchen.” The longest chapter is the one on seafood, Lacey said. “That’s natural for where we live.” Around Our Southern Table is available on the publisher’s website, Moon Howler Publishing, and locally at Ahi Seafood Market, Page & Palette, and Fairhope Pharmacy.

“Rick Bragg said, ‘This is a real legacy for generations to come,’” Theresa said. “I think that’s the best compliment I could get.”