Want to cook Southern? Here are some techniques used by the best Southern cooks. Want to know why you should put sugar in a sour dish? Or why fat biscuits are better? Try these techniques to improve your down home cooking style.

Until she was in her 30s, Vivian Howard was ashamed of being from rural North Carolina, and the food she grew up eating felt embarrassing. Thankfully, a number of influential cooks, critics and restaurants ushered in a revival of Southern food — and Howard is among them. She’s a chef, restaurateur, writer and Peabody award-winning television host. Her new series, Somewhere South , began last month on PBS. Each of the six episodes explores a single dish, and how those foods reflect the history, evolution and people of the region.