Cookbook du jour: A world of flavors from Savannah

In its own way, Savannah has a cuisine as distinct as that of New Orleans — "rich with the produce of its many waterways, heady with elements of the South African Gold Coast, Mediterranean southern France and Greece, the Sephardic Jewish cooking of Iberia and even the cuisines of China and Southeast Asia," says Southern-cooking authority Damon Lee Fowler.

Fowler illuminates the home cooking of the city he calls home in The Savannah Cookbook (Gibbs Smith, $29.95). From pepper sherry to the cocktail pastries called angel wings, from Chatham Artillery punch to syllabub, from breakfast shrimp to shrimp-and-corn pudding, the recipes reflect the city’s grace, elegance and complex heritage.

Savannah sponge cake

This cake, says Fowler, "is deceptively easy to make as long as you use a light hand for the mixing and a slow oven for the baking." It can be served dusted with powdered sugar as a tea cake or coffeecake; as a dessert with berries or peaches; or in trifles or charlottes or strawberry shortcake.

Serves 4 to 6

1 large lemon

5 large eggs

1 cup sugar

4 ounces cake {fllig}our (about 1 light cup, sifted or whisked before measuring)

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 300 degrees. Butter and {fllig}our a 9-inch cake pan.

2. Grate the rind from the lemon into a small glass bowl. Juice the lemon through a strainer into the bowl and set aside to steep.

3. Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a clean glass, stainless-steel or copper bowl and the yolks in a large mixing bowl. Beat the yolks until they are {fllig}uffy and light. Gradually beat in the sugar a little at a time; then beat in the lemon zest and juice.

4. Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff but still glossy. Fold them into the yolk and sugar batter. Sift or whisk the {fllig}our until it is very light and lump-free, then fold it in a little at a time by sifting it over the top of the batter.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven until golden and set (a straw or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean), about 45 minutes.

Nutritional analysis per serving, based on 4: 392 calories, 6 grams fat, 74 grams carbohydrates, 10 grams protein, 265 milligrams cholesterol, 89 milligrams sodium, trace dietary fiber, 15 percent of calories from fat.