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Mrs. Wilkes' Boardinghouse Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from Her Savannah
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Mrs. Wilkes' Boardinghouse Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from Her Savannah Table Hardcover - 2001

by Sema Wilkes

After "Esquire" and "The New York Times" raved about her southern-style cooking, Sema Wilkes found herself and her boardinghouse meals making national news. Now the 94-year old Wilkes has collected over 300 of her most popular recipes for fried chicken, biscuits and banana pudding in this book. Illustrations.


From the publisher

A historical cookbook with more than 300 recipes from a pioneer of Southern cuisine.

In 1943, a young and determined Sema Wilkes took over a nondescript turn-of-the-century boardinghouse on a sun-dappled brick street in historic downtown Savannah. Her goal was modest: to make a living by offering comfortable lodging and Southern home cooking served family style in the downstairs dining room.

Mrs. Wilkes' reputation was strong and business was brisk from the beginning, but it was the coverage in Esquire and the New York Times, and even a profile on David Brinkley's evening news that brought Southern-food lovers from all over the world to her doorstep.

With over 300 recipes, photos from the boardinghouse, and culinary historian John T. Edge's colorful telling of Mrs. Wilkes' contribution to Savannah and Southern cuisine, this rich volume is a tribute to a way of cooking--and eating--that must not be forgotten.

Recipient of Southern Living's Reader's Choice Award 2000
Winner of the 1999 James Beard "America's Regional Classics" Award

Details

  • Title Mrs. Wilkes' Boardinghouse Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from Her Savannah Table
  • Author Sema Wilkes
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 176
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA
  • Date June 2001
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9781580082570 / 1580082572
  • Weight 1.83 lbs (0.83 kg)
  • Dimensions 10.32 x 8.45 x 0.83 in (26.21 x 21.46 x 2.11 cm)
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: Deep South
    • Cultural Region: Southeast U.S.
    • Cultural Region: South
    • Geographic Orientation: Georgia
  • Library of Congress subjects Cookery, American - Southern style
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 00065574
  • Dewey Decimal Code 641.597

Media reviews

“Captures the essence of Southern fare.” —Restaurant Hospitality “[Mrs. Wilkes' biscuits are] one of the greatest things, ever, to happen in my life.” —Craig Claiborne“[At Mrs. Wilkes'] the guests look in amazement as big platters of crisp, fried chicken and plenty of it, are set down on the white oilcloth. Then come feathery biscuits, generous squares of cornbread, tender okra simmered with tomatoes, pickled beets, candied yams, pitchers of sweetened ice tea.” —Boston Globe“Certainly down-home food is not news to regulars at such enduring American establishments as Mrs. Wilkes' Boardinghouse in Savannah, where guests sit at community lunch tables and help themselves from ten to twelve bowls and platters of meats, salads, and vegetables.” —Time“A meal at Mrs. Wilkes' is reminiscent of dinner at Grandma's.” —Esquire

Citations

  • Library Journal, 03/15/2001, Page 102
  • Publishers Weekly, 04/02/2001, Page 60

About the author

SEMA WILKES was born in 1907 to Georgia farmers who grew tobacco, cured hams, smoked sausages, and otherwise worked hard to get by. As the oldest of four children, all orphaned, she learned to cook out of necessity. Married at 16, a mother at 21, relocated to Savannah in the name of the war effort at 35, Sema went to work at Mrs. Dixon's Boardinghouse. Three years later, in 1943, she took over the boardinghouse and began building what would become her legacy. She lived in Savannah, Georgia, until her death in 2002.
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Mrs.Wilkes' Boardinghouse Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from Her Savannah Table

Mrs.Wilkes' Boardinghouse Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from Her Savannah Table

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Mrs. Wilkes' Boardinghouse Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from Her Savannah Table

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