The Best Cook in the World

Tales from My Momma's Southern Table: A Memoir and Cookbook

By: Rick Bragg

Narrated by: Rick Bragg

Length: 19 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

From the beloved, best-selling author of All over but the Shoutin', a delectable, rollicking food memoir, cookbook, and loving tribute to a region, a vanishing history, a family, and, especially, his mother.

Margaret Bragg does not own a single cookbook. She measures in "dabs" and "smidgens" and "tads" and "you know, hon, just some". She cannot be pinned down on how long to bake corn bread ("about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the mysteries of your oven"). Her notion of farm-to-table is a flatbed truck. But she can tell you the secrets to perfect mashed potatoes, corn pudding, redeye gravy, pinto beans and hambone, stewed cabbage, short ribs, chicken and dressing, biscuits, and butter rolls. The irresistible stories in this audiobook are of long memory - many of them predate the Civil War, handed down skillet by skillet, from one generation of Braggs to the next.

In The Best Cook in the World, Rick Bragg finally preserves his heritage by telling the stories that framed his mother's cooking and education, from childhood into old age. Because good food always has a good story, and a recipe, writes Bragg, is a story like anything else.

©2018 Rick Bragg (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Wonderful, rollicking, poignant, sometimes hilarious tales about how generations of Bragg’s extended family survived from one meal to the next." (USA Today)

"This book is a tribute, a monument, to his mother and her people, captured here in solid recipes for good food...All the stories in this book... gleam with a special luster; they’ve been polished by time, and no one is meant to get hung up on the details." (The Wall Street Journal)

"A beautifully written memoir... For readers who crave soul with their recipes this is a fitting tribute to foodways that are fast escaping." (Library Journal)

Delicious!

I love Rick Bragg's word craft--he is a phenomenal expert! I loved this book and so appreciate that he shared these exquisite stories about his family and their traditions. The narration of this book lovingly matched the pace of the south. The incredibly detailed stories, entwined with the food that is enjoyed across the south, was so real and enjoyable. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a culinary experience with individuals you will want to have as part of your own family!

Not even finished with it and alreay LOVE this!

I just want anyone looking for something special to listen to, This is well worth it! Some of the best stories and recipes I’ve ever heard! Its nostalgic, raw & real! Full of struggle, good times, and love of family and home! Its just a beautiful book and totally relatable!
Thank you for sharing it with the world!

Favorite book of the year! (so far)

What a great listen, and the fact that Rick Bragg is reading it himself makes it all the better. I love to cook, my mother was and is my inspiration, so a book about a son's mother's cooking has great resonance to me. The fact that his family has such characters in it adds to the joy. Rick Bragg's ability to spin yarns is simply a wonder!

Great Stories and Recipes: Wish it came with a pdf

I really enjoyed listening to the stories that accompanied the traditional family recipes in this book! Is there any way you can create a pdf of the recipes and pictures for the Audible customers? Some of the recipes are already a part of my family history but it would be easier to try the new ones from a printed page. Thank you for writing such a great book and giving a voice to past eras. :-)

Reminded me of the stories my grandma tells me.

I love everything about this book. Especially the layout. It’s a life story with recipes. Genius!

I gained ten pounds just listening to it!

An amazing journey through family history & Southern food culture! Rick Bragg, as always, paints a vivid portrait of the working class and their kitchens & vegetable gardens. It reminded me of my family, the way I grew up, and the way I choose to live today, doing things “the old fashioned way” in today’s world of drive-thru fast food and frozen dinners. Rick Bragg’s narration is the glaze on the fig cake; he puts heart in his words. Definitely give this one a listen!

Back home in this book

I was raised in the south with a mother, grandmother and an aunt that cooked just like this. To hear Rick Bragg read it, made it even better. I lost count on the number of times I laughed out loud, or just nodded my head in agreement with him. I will recommend this to my friends and family. What an awesome job!

Masterful story-telling in tribute

Rick Bragg is no doubt one of the best storytellers ever, and he delivers this book as tribute to his mother and the assortment of characters who taught her to cook. The cooking we learn here makes the book a prize, and Bragg layers stories around the recipes to produce a masterpiece. Don’t miss this new classic!

Rick Bragg is incapable of writing a bad book

If you’ve heard Rick Bragg before, you know what a joy it is to listen to his calm southern voice. This book focuses mainly on his mother’s cooking and even goes a bit further back to tell you where she received her cooking skills. I enjoyed all the fill in areas , talking about the family and all their quirks, and their ability to make some mighty fine sounding food with very little ingredients. No fast food here, this is real home cooking with everything made from scratch. Very well done book, having the hardback and audio copy. The only possible complaint I might have is that some of the recipes may be a bit harder to follow, as any cook that’s cooked for decades knows, it’s very hard to give precise directions about amounts used of certain items when you just toss it all in a pan and see what happens. I liked My Southern Journey a bit more and would like to request that his older ones please be put out as unabridged. Who’d want to cut out any of that beautiful voice ?

Fully entertaining

Mr. Bragg is such a wonderful writer. As a former southern myself, it almost brought tears to my eyes at sometimes. The new south did not replace any good part of the old south. I can’t even put into words how I miss the old concept of “neighborliness“.