title: The About.Com Guide To Southern Cooking: All You Need to Prepare 225 Delicious Home Cooked Favorites (About.com Guides)
author:  Diana Rattray 
description: <b>Diana Rattray</b>, the About.com Guide to Southern U.S. Cuisine, is an avid home cook and recipe collector. Her Web site on About.com is one of the most popular cooking sites on the Internet. She lives in Tupelo, MS.
zlib_text: # All You Need Southern
  
  
  Cookbook
  
  
  ### How to Eat Among the Magnolias
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Introduction
  
  
  ![](../images/00001.jpeg)
  
  The South evokes images of magnolias, mint juleps, and iced teas. It’s all
  about that, and much
  
  
  more. Southern cooking is influenced by its diverse history, much of it from
  slaves. It was the
  
  
  slaves who brought their beloved okra to southern cooking, integrating it with
  the very
  
  
  American corn and grits.
  
  
  A lot of southern cooking is about frying. Below the Mason Dixon Line, they
  know the right
  
  
  way of frying. Make sure your fat is very hot. This prevents it from soaking
  into your meal.
  
  
  This Southern Cookbook includes the right way to fry your favorite dishes.
  
  
  The South’s proximity to the Gulf coast provides them with a variety of
  healthy seafood,
  
  
  especially shrimp. There are so many delicious ways to prepare shrimp, and the
  Southern
  
  
  Cookbook has a number of tasty suggestions. Your family and guests will love
  them.
  
  
  And don’t forget about dessert.