COOK & TELL is a moveable feast across Dixie showcasing the incredible food created in the homes of the South and the resulting tales that accompany those heartwarming dishes. Stops along the way include such food-rich cities as Savannah and Nashville, as well as the small hamlets of Millingport, North Carolina, and Nanafalia, Alabama, where farm-to-table food still has a prominent spot on the dining table. And in this warm and engaging anthology, Johnathon Scott Barrett includes not only his own entertaining stories and meaningful recipes but also those of friends met along the way. Some accounts come from family and hometown cooks, while others are from award-winning chefs and authors. COOK & TELL, a beautifully written collection of remembrances preserving the Souths rich intersection of foodways and oral histories, gives inspiration for readers to take pen to paper and record for themselves the special times and dishes that have shaped their own lives. "Chef, raconteur, and old-school bon vivant Johnathon Scott Barrett celebrates the most glorious aspects of Southern life in his new book, COOK & TELL. Alongside poignant, hilarious tales of his own family table are guest authors with pet recipes, both heirloom and newbie; city and farm-fresh. The effect is like sitting on the porch of an old hotel and getting into a cornbread discussion that widens to a smoked mullet, pork belly, best-iced-tea debate, won not only on the merit of the recipe but the quality of the story-telling." --Janis Owens, author of AMERICAN GHOST and THE CRACKER KITCHEN "COOK & TELL is a collection of time-honored Southern recipes and stories curated and collected by native Georgian Johnathon Scott Barrett. Not only will you find delectable recipes for everything from Caramel Cake to Pimento Cheese, BBQ to Biscuits, but also a veritable slew of tantalizing tidbits and tales from a wide variety of Southern writers and authors." --Virginia Willis, James Beard award-winning cookbook author and chef "Johnathon Scott Barrett writes books for cooks, not for people who went to culinary school or command a kitchen. They are for the people who love to cook for friends and family, and understand the emotional connection we all have with food. Barrett understands how food can be memory and warmth and love. This book is filled with great recipes, but it's also full of life and humor and kindness, just like Grandma's kitchen." --Celeste Headlee, host/executive producer of "On Second Thought," Georgia Public Broadcasting "Get a fabulous taste of food-driven life down South from a man who can cook and write. Here's a 'mess' of a good read that's as sweet as a fried peach pie." --Tom Poland, author of GEORGIALINA: A SOUTHLAND AS WE KNEW IT and SOLID GROUND, a play for Georgia's Swamp Gravy Folk Theater "Recalling a summertime shelling of black-eyed peas in a porch swing. Getting to the top of a 10-foot ladder to reach Brown Turkey Figs to make preserves. Mulling down a pot of just-caught catfish with potatoes, tomatoes, and onions for two hours. Frying pies stuffed with Georgia peaches in a black-iron skillet. These are some of the scenes from COOK & TELL, Johnathon Scott Barrett's endearing collection of food-centered stories and recipes from around the South. With a bowl of curried cocktail pecans on your kitchen counter, you'll be frying corn in bacon grease and topping banana pudding with meringue just like the best cooks in the South, no matter where you grew up." --Fred W. Sauceman, author of The PROFFITTS OF RIDGEWOOD and editor of the book series Food and the American South "What's the higher compliment--being called a great Southern writer or a great Southern cook? Johnathon Scott Barrett is both, which is upsetting to those of us who are only one of those things. COOK & TELL is a high-calorie romp through the kitchen of memory. I ate it up. You will, too." --Harrison Scott Key, author of THE WORLD'S LARGEST MAN and recipient of the 2016 Thurber Prize for American Humor "Johnathon Scott Barrett's COOK & TELL is utterly delicious. The family stories and recipes shared are spiced with humor and sweetened by memories. Reading it, I felt like I was sitting on his front porch." --Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times best-selling author of BEACH HOUSE FOR RENT "I'll bet you a hot ham biscuit with redeye gravy that Johnathon Scott Barrett's fabulous collection of tales and tables will soon be joining your shelf of well-worn favorites!" --Cassandra King, author of THE SUNDAY WIFE "A certified Southern gentleman and an engaging storyteller, Johnathon Scott Barrett has woven together a wonderful collection of not only recipes, but the stories behind them. COOK & TELL is more than a cookbook: it is a collection of heart-warming and funny essays. Just like the wonderful food featured in this anthology, the stories are to be savored from one chapter to the next." --Michael Morris, award-winning author of SLOW WAY HOME, MAN IN THE BLUE MOON, and WI