Editor’s note: Consult our guide to the city’s cookbook stores to find this title at a shop near you.
If one has a moniker like “Princess,” one must be noble. The question around who rules Southern food continues to clog social media channels, but the reissued Princess Pamela’s Soul Food Cookbook undoubtedly gives an answer. Pamela Strobel was a culinary entrepreneur, creative artist and master crown wearer.
Throughout the pages, Strobel includes poetic self-help stanzas and effortlessly weaves colorful tips of how she ran her bygone East Village cabaret meets “the roota to the toota” restaurant frequented by Andy Warhol, Gloria Steinem and Diana Ross. The recipes take us through her soulful African-American pantry from an entire chapter of fresh greens to more than two dozen complex dessert creations. The Spartanburg, South Carolina, native commands the kitchen with dishes like cornmeal waffles and “sauce beautiful.” Buttermilk, peach preserves, hog jowls and simple instructions make this title a nuanced American classic.
First printed in 1969, the original paperback resembles a juicy beach romance novel and the pages are dotted with simple culinary line drawings. The updated version of Strobel’s cookbook is published under a Rizzoli imprint helmed by Southern food media stars Matt and Ted Lee. A new generation gets a large format, soft blue–hued hardback to pry open and, just like the Princess, cook for everyone in the palace.
Sauce Beautiful
This sauce can be used as an accompaniment to Fried Chicken Southern Style.
8 tablespoons peach preserves
½ cup water
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon salad oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
½ teaspoon paprika
Salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and blend. Cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring occasionally. Makes about 1 cup.
© Princess Pamela’s Soul Food Cookbook by Pamela Strobel, Rizzoli New York, 2017. Neither text nor images may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Serial rights are available, for more information please contact: Nicki Clendening at nclendening@rizzoliusa.com / 646.330.4878
