There once was a time when Southern cooks were known for their lavish use of butter, sugar, bacon, cream, molasses, and, of course, lard. Throw in some corn meal, turnip greens, okra, grits and a cast iron skillet, and you would have had all the ingredients needed for a traditional Southern meal.
And though most Southern cooks have forsaken some of the more traditional ingredients and methods for healthier recipes and preparations, these clever culinary artists have not sacrificed the flavors.
Savannah restaurants are good examples of the new Southern cuisine - taking traditional recipes and applying new flavors and cooking methods. The chefs at the better restaurants are also taking cuisines from other parts of the world and giving them a Southern twist.
Recently I visited the Old Pink House in Savannah and enjoyed Southern sushi as an appetizer. This roll was similar to a traditional California roll except that it was wrapped in grits instead of rice. The taste was not only unique, but something I thoroughly enjoyed.
In various restaurants throughout Savannah, collard greens were presented sans the traditional pork ingredients, but with other spices that gave the vegetables a little bit of a kick. Cheeses were added to grits; pork chops were baked instead of fried; sweet potatoes were made into ravioli.
If you are about to travel to Savannah and are yearning for traditional Southern fare, don't despair - there are many dining spots that continue to serve black-eyed peas, pecan pie, fried okra, hamhocks and red-eye gravy.
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