It has arrived. Two years behind schedule, nearly 600 pages long and brimming with wonderful recipes, stories and photographs, it's "The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook" (Norton, 2006).

The Lee brothers are Matt and Ted, Ivy League graduates who did most of their serious growing up in Charleston, S.C., and never got over the boiled peanuts, scuppernong grapes, Duke's mayonnaise, deep-fried pork rinds and fried green tomatoes they found there. Living in New York City after college, they began their now-famous mail-order business, The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue (www.boiledpeanuts.com), and took to the road to discover sources of every kind of Southern specialty, from stone-ground grits to pure sorghum. Along the way, they started writing about what they found, and getting articles published in many of the glossiest of magazines as well as newspapers. Now comes their cookbook.

What distinguishes the Lee brothers is that they are deeply alive to the "here, not there" of food; that barbecue sauce made with mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise and pickle juice is found in Orangeburg County, S.C., but not in the state capital of Columbia (where it is made with mustard, ketchup and lemon). They know that "In Charleston, you can live to be 30 without ever eating a shrimp burger, but in the shrimping town of McClellanville, just a half-hour up the road, you'll probably acquire the taste for shrimp burgers before you're 30 months old."

That being said, they are adamant that Southern food can't just be quirky, or "wistful, or obsessed with the past."

"Otherwise," they write, "it risks becoming a curiosity, a genre to dip into now and again rather than what it is - food born from a spirited resourcefulness ... (that) reflects a desire to get the most from the ingredients you've got, to take every opportunity you have to enhance flavor and add dimension." They have taken that opportunity with many of the recipes in this book, creating such delights as Sweet Potato Buttermilk Pie and Boiled Peanut and Sorghum Swirl Ice Cream. But they are also faithful to old-timey favorites like Brunswick Stew and Lady Baltimore Cake.

"There has never been a better time to cook southern," write the Lee brothers. There's never been a better Southern cookbook to cook from. To quote their introduction: "Come on in."

SWEET POTATO BUTTERMILK PIE

1-1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch dice

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 large eggs, separated

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole or lowfat buttermilk (preferably whole)

1 homemade, prebaked 9-inch piecrust, cooled

whipped cream and mint leaves, for serving

Center a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 F.

Pour 1-1/2 inches of water into a 3-quart pot fitted with a steamer basket, and bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes, cover and steam until fork-tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, place in a large bowl, and let cool to room temperature. Mash to a smooth puree with a fork or potato masher. You should have 1-1/4 cups puree; discard any excess. Add the butter, lemon juice, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt, mixing thoroughly with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula after each addition.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a whisk, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is a creamy lemon-yellow color, about 1-1/2 minutes. Add the egg mixture to the sweet-potato mixture and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the eggs are thoroughly incorporated and the filling is a consistent bright-orange color. Add the flour a little at a time, stirring after each addition, until thoroughly incorporated. Add the buttermilk and stir to incorporate.

Using a clean whisk (any trace of fat will keep the egg whites from whipping) and a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. With a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the sweet-potato/buttermilk mixture until thoroughly combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared piecrust and bake until the center is firm and set, 35 to 40 minutes.

Remove the pie from the oven and cool completely on a rack. Serve at room temperature (or cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate and serve cold), with a dollop of whipped cream and a mint leaf on top.

Yield: 1 9-inch pie, or about 8 servings

Recipe from "The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook" by Matt and Ted Lee (Norton, 2006)

SLAB BACON AND CHEDDAR CHEESE BROILED GRITS

2 cups whole milk

2 cups water

1 cup stone-ground grits

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

1/4 pound slab bacon or 4 slices thick-cut bacon, diced

1-3/4 cups coarsely grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese

Pour the milk and water in a 2-quart saucepan, cover and turn the heat to medium-high. When it boils, uncover the pot, add the grits and the 3/4 teaspoon salt, and reduce the heat to medium. Stir constantly until the grits are the consistency of thick soup and release a fragrant sweet-corn perfume, about 8 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring every 2 to 3 minutes, for about 20 minutes, until the grits thicken and fall lazily from the end of the spoon. Cook about 15 minutes more, stirring constantly to prevent the grits from sticking. Add the 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Taste and correct seasonings.

While the grits are cooking, scatter the diced bacon in a dry skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the bacon is firm and barely crisp, about 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Reserve the bacon fat.

When the grits are cooked, stir in 1-1/4 cups of the cheese, the diced bacon and the bacon fat. Stir until the cheese melts. Transfer the grits to a small baking dish or cast-iron skillet. Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup cheese over the surface.

Preheat a broiler. Broil the grits about 2 inches beneath the heat source, until the cheese is nicely browned, about 3 minutes. Serve.

Yield: 4 servings

Recipe from "The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook" by Matt and Ted Lee (Norton, 2006)

HAM RELISH

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon golden raisins

1/2 pound baked ham, a solid chunk, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 tablespoons softened cream cheese

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon white-wine vinegar

3 tablespoons chowchow or any other sweet-and-tart relish

1/4 teaspoon curry powder

Soak the raisins in warm water for 10 minutes, drain and chop in a food processor until no raisins are left whole. You should have a rough golden puree. Add the ham and continue processing for about 1 minute, until the mixture is smooth and no ham pieces are left whole.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl, add the remaining ingredients and blend well with a wooden spoon or spatula. Use immediately as a sandwich spread on white bread. (Cut the crusts off, of course.)

Yield: 1-1/2 cups, enough for 10 small tea sandwiches

Recipe from "The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook" by Matt and Ted Lee (Norton, 2006)

Marialisa Calta is the author of "Barbarians at the Plate: Taming and Feeding the American Family" (Perigee, 2005). For more information, go to www.marialisacalta.com.