Beignets, Po' Boys, gumbo, jambalaya, Antoine's. New Orleans' celebrated status derives in large measure from its incredibly rich food culture, based mainly on Creole and Cajun traditions. At last, this world-class destination has its own food biography. Elizabeth M. Williams, a New Orleans native and founder of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum there, takes readers through the history of the city, showing how the natural environment and people have shaped the cooking we all love. The narrative starts with the indigenous population, resources and environment, then reveals the contributions of the immigrant populations, major industries, marketing networks, and retail and major food industries and finally discusses famous restaurants and signature dishes. This must-have book will inform and delight food aficionados and fans of the Big Easy itself.

The Sazerac, the Hurricane, and the absinthe glass of Herbsaint are among the many well-known creations native to New Orleans's longstanding drinking culture. But more than vehicles for alcohol, the cocktails and spirits that complement the city's culinary prowess are each a token of its history. In every bar-side toast or street-corner daiquiri you can find evidence of the people, politics, and convergence of ethnicities that drive the story of the Crescent City. In Lift Your Spirits: A Celebratory History of Cocktail Culture in New Orleans, Elizabeth M. Williams, founder and director of the Southern Food and Beverage Institute, and world-renowned bartender Chris McMillian illuminate the city's open embrace of alcohol, both in religious and secular life, while delving into the myths, traditions, and personalities that have made New Orleans a destination for imbibing tourists and a mecca for mixologists. With over 40 cocktail recipes interspersed among nearly three hundred years of history, a sampling of premier cocktail bars in New Orleans, and a glossary of terms to aid drink making and mixing, Lift Your Spirits honors the art of a good drink in the city of good times.

Beignets, Po' Boys, gumbo, jambalaya, Antoine's. New Orleans' celebrated status derives in large measure from its incredibly rich food culture, based mainly on Creole and Cajun traditions. At last, this world-class destination has its own food biography. Elizabeth M. Williams, a New Orleans native and founder of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum there, takes readers through the history of the city, showing how the natural environment and people have shaped the cooking we all love. The narrative starts by describing the indigenous population and material resources, then reveals the contributions of the immigrant populations, delves into markets and local food companies, and finally discusses famous restaurants, drinking culture, cooking at home and cookbooks, and signature foods dishes. This must-have book will inform and delight food aficionados and fans of the Big Easy itself.

John C. Campbell (1867--1919) is widely considered to be a pioneer in the objective study of the complex world of Appalachian mountaineers. Thanks to a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation, Campbell traveled throughout the region with his wife -- noted social reformer and "songcatcher" Olive Dame Campbell -- interviewing and profiling its people. His landmark work, The Southern Highlander and His Homeland, is cited by nearly every scholar writing about the region, yet little has been published about the Campbells and their role in the sociological, educational, and cultural history of Appalachia. Elizabeth McCutchen Williams has prepared the first critical edition of Olive Dame Campbell's comprehensive overview of her husband's life and work -- a project left unfinished at the time of Olive's death. Never before published, this unique volume draws extensively on diary entries and personal letters to illuminate the significance and lasting impact of John C. Campbell's contributions. The result is a dynamic blend of biography and collected correspondence that presents an insightful portrait of the influential educator and reformer.

From meatball po'boys to Creole red gravy, the influence of Sicilian foodways permeates New Orleans, one of America's greatest food cities. Nana's Creole Italian Table tells the story of those immigrants and their communities through the lens of food, exploring the ways traditional Sicilian dishes such as pasta and olive salad became a part of-and were in turn changed by-the existing food culture in New Orleans. Sicilian immigrants-Elizabeth M. Williams's family among them-came to New Orleans in droves in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, fleeing the instability of their own country and hoping to make a new home in America. This cookbook shares Williams's traditional family recipes, with variations that reveal the evolution and blending of Sicilian and Creole cuisines. Baked into every recipe is the history of Sicilian American culture as it has changed over the centuries, allowing each new generation to incorporate its own foodways and ever-evolving tastes.

In 1908 and 1909, noted social reformer and "songcatcher" Olive Dame Campbell traveled with her husband, John C. Campbell, through the Southern Highlands region of Appalachia to survey the social and economic conditions in mountain communities. Throughout the journey, Olive kept a detailed diary offering a vivid, entertaining, and personal account of the places the couple visited, the people they met, and the mountain cultures they encountered. Although John C. Campbell's book, The Southern Highlander and His Homeland, is cited by nearly every scholar writing about the region, little has been published about the Campbells themselves and their role in the sociological, educational, and cultural history of Appalachia. In this critical edition, Elizabeth McCutchen Williams makes Olive's diary widely accessible to scholars and students for the first time. Appalachian Travels only offers an invaluable account of mountain society at the turn of the twentieth century.