How to 'Bragg' about Wearing Out 18 Stoves

I’ll be the first to admit it: I’m a total newcomer when it comes to southern cooking. Still way, way in the shallow end of the pool. But here’s what I know for sure—I’ve absolutely fallen for it. The food? That goes without saying. For me the stories are pure magic.

My gateway drug wasn’t a recipe. Nope. It was Rick Bragg's writing that I first discovered flipping through Garden & Gun. Bragg’s style just hits different. I read one column and I was hooked. I quickly chewed through his book Where I Come From Stories from the Deep South. Bragg's prologue about his Aunt Jo literally captured my heart in the first two sentences. This book of personal columns is like reading the short stories of O. Henry. That's how good he is. Which brings me to my second book I just had to have aptly titled The Best Cook in the World.

So let’s get into it. The “Best Cook in the World” isn’t your usual, prim-and-proper Southern food memoir, either. This is about the down-home South—the South that gets poked at by “yankees” and TV shows, the version some folks might like to make fun of (until they’ve tasted the biscuits, let’s get real). If you’re rolling your eyes already, trust me: this book isn’t a cookbook, it’s a love letter. It’s southern history, told by the people who lived it—people like Bragg’s own relentless, hard-working momma.

Bragg's book takes you through his family's southern history. s some serious alchemy. He’s able to make you feel like his mother’s cooking and her life are basically stitched together, inseparable in every way that matters. Food isn’t a side note for her—it’s the main story, running clear through her bones.

Yes, there are recipes. But what gets its hooks into you is the storytelling. It’s a world where language and tales flow right alongside flour and lard, and Bragg spins them all together with the affection (sometimes exasperation) only a true southerner can muster for their momma.

You’ll laugh out loud. You’ll learn that “heart and soul” isn’t just talk—it’s the literal base of every dish in rural southern kitchens. Who else but Margaret Bragg can casually mention that she’s worn out eighteen stoves in a lifetime? That alone should be on a T-shirt.

The stories and phrases from this book will burrow into your memory and stick to your ribs long after the last page. Read it for the recipes if you want, but stay for the stories—they’re the real secret ingredient.

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