OUT NOW
Come to Events Celebrating
SOUTHERN ROOTS
Celebrating the Release of Southern Roots: Recipes and Stories from Mama Dip’s Daughter
“It’s a delight”
Southern Roots: Recipes and Stories from Mama Dip’s Daughter, is now available at your favorite booksellers. Published by Countryman Press, an imprint of W. W. Norton.
For me, food has always been the thread connecting seasons, memories, and generations, a precious gift from my mother, Mama Dip. Continuing her beloved culinary legacy, Southern Roots is more than just a cookbook; it's a heartfelt journey through life's celebrations and quiet moments, all told through the lens of food and family.
About the Book
Savor 100 cherished recipes for everything from quiet weeknight dinners to festive gatherings, featuring a mix of beloved family traditions passed down through generations and my own signature Southern-inspired creations.
Journey with me through personal stories and memories, and discover how food has shaped my life, relationships, and connection to my Southern heritage.
Immerse yourself in stunning full-color photography throughout, with dishes beautifully presented on my personal collection of vintage tableware.
Unlock fresh excitement in your Southern cooking with unexpected ingredients and innovative techniques that honor tradition while embracing the new.
Featuring a Foreword by acclaimed food historian Marcie Cohen Ferris.
“Spring Council’s Southern Roots is a necessary passing of a baton. . . . She brings all of her culinary wisdom and training, travels and experience to a dynamic new chapter in North Carolina food and the glory of the Southern table. I’m excited and grateful for her originality and appeal to family tradition.”
—MICHAEL TWITTY, James Beard Award–winning author of The Cooking Gene and Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew
“For fifty years, I’ve had the pleasure of calling Spring Council my friend and having a seat at her table. This book is more than a collection of recipes; it’s a taste of the wonderful memories we’ve shared in her Chapel Hill home. If you make only one thing—a nearly impossible choice!—let it be the sweet potato and pecan pie. It’s the showstopper at her legendary dinner parties and the dish that makes everyone rave.” —BILL SMITH, former chef at Crook’s Corner
“The youngest daughter of Mildred Edna Cotton Council, Spring Council grew up in Mama Dip’s Kitchen, both at home and in her mother’s legendary Southern restaurant. . . . This book is a picnic basket packed with moving stories of her childhood in an African American neighborhood of summer gardens, backyard fruit trees, and great home cooks. Spring learned early on the power of food to nourish us, delight us, and create community, and I am so grateful that she shares it with us in this book.”
—NANCIE McDERMOTT, author of Southern Cakes and Fruit: A Savor the South Cookbook
“In Southern Roots, Spring Council offers a thoughtfully curated collection of classic Southern recipes from her family. She deftly weaves together delicious recipes and family history to create what is sure to become a Southern classic and proves that Mama Dip’s legacy is in very good hands.”
—JESSICA B. HARRIS, PhD culinary historian, professor emeritus Queens College/CUNY, lecturer and author of High on the Hog
A Countryman Press Book
An imprint of W. W. Norton & Company