From gardenandgun.com
By Anna Williams
In a new cookbook, the “Mississippi Vegan” turns to his garden to reimagine regional cuisine
Timothy Pakron’s love of cooking began in Mississippi, where he learned to make Southern staples like gumbo from his mother and spent hours watching the Food Network. After moving to Charleston, South Carolina, for college, he adopted a vegan lifestyle, a shift that challenged him to recreate the comforting flavours he grew up with using fresh vegetables, herbs, and plant-based ingredients.
That passion eventually led to Mississippi Vegan, which started as an Instagram account and became his debut cookbook in 2018. A move to New Orleans would inspire a secondary passion—and a second cookbook, out September 1—as he discovered the joys of gardening. Garden Variety features more than 130 colourful, plant-forward recipes that celebrate the exquisiteness of the garden while honouring Southern flavours. Pakron chatted with G&G about the new book and shared two staples from its pages, Curried Cauliflower and Fried Squash.
How did you come up with the name Garden Variety?
I was driving through Alabama listening to a song by Van Dyke Parks. It said, “Not your run-of-the-mill, garden-variety Alabama country fare.” At that moment it just clicked in my brain. [Garden variety] really means boring and plain, but I love to play on words.
After moving to New Orleans, you started your own garden. Have you always had a green thumb?
I do consider myself to have a green thumb, but I’m always still learning. When I first started in 2019, I really didn’t know what I was doing. One thing I’ve learned is that if you’re interested in growing something, you try it, and you may not do well. But you can always try it again. You can always buy more seeds!
How would you describe your approach to Southern vegan cooking?
With Southern recipes, I find there’s always an undercurrent of veganism that already exists within the recipe. I like to capture the essence of the original recipe and make the vegan translation. For example, with the étouffée in the book, I kept the base the same as the classic dish but then added ingredients like roasted eggplant, okra, and some lima beans for a little bit of texture and protein. This celebrates the dish while still honouring Southern ingredients, but it also combines them in a way that makes them satisfying.
In Garden Variety, you wrote that if you had to pick one recipe you wished everyone would cook, it would be the curried cauliflower. What makes that such a special recipe?
I love when you can take just one ingredient, like a head of cauliflower, and really maximize its flavour and kind of transform it into something that is an explosion. You roast the cauliflower with a lot of seasonings until it has caramelized and has a crispy texture, then it has the sweetness from golden raisins and a contrast of fresh mint with the spiciness from the curry. It has everything—sweet, sour, salty, crispiness. It’s beautifully satisfying.
What makes your version of fried squash stand out?
I think the simplicity. I think people, when they think of a fried vegetable, think, “Oh, I need dairy, I need eggs.” You really don’t even need all of that. And it’s great by itself, you don’t even need a dipping sauce, which is wild.
What’s one Southern ingredient you can’t imagine cooking without?
Probably okra. I think a lot of people have a weird relationship with okra just because it’s kind of slimy, but I embrace it. I love it.
What’s one food that instantly transports you back to your childhood?
Probably gumbo. My mom would make it on the weekends and I remember waking up to the smell of her cooking the trinity and the hot roux.
A few more rapid-fire questions. What is your favorite vegetable?
I can’t say cherry tomatoes because that’s technically a fruit…but if I’m being completely honest, potatoes.
Summer produce or fall produce?
Probably summer.
What is your ultimate comfort meal?
Mashed potatoes and gravy.
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