Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original

by Sara B. Franklin (Editor)

Overview

Edna Lewis (1916-2006) wrote some of America's most resonant, lyrical, and significant cookbooks, including the now classic The Taste of Country Cooking. Lewis cooked and wrote as a means to explore her memories of childhood on a farm in Freetown, Virginia, a community first founded by black families freed from slavery. With such observations as "we would gather wild honey from the hollow of oak trees to go with the hot biscuits and pick wild strawberries to go with the heavy cream," she commemorated the seasonal richness of southern food. After living many years in New York City, where she became a chef and a political activist, she returned to the South and continued to write. Her reputation as a trailblazer in the revival of regional cooking and as a progenitor of the farm-to-table movement continues to grow. In this first-ever critical appreciation of Lewis's work, food-world stars gather to reveal their own encounters with Edna Lewis. Together they penetrate the mythology around Lewis and illuminate her legacy for a new generation.

The essayists are Annemarie Ahearn, Mashama Bailey, Scott Alves Barton, Patricia E. Clark, Nathalie Dupree, John T. Edge, Megan Elias, John T. Hill (who provides iconic photographs of Lewis), Vivian Howard, Lily Kelting, Francis Lam, Jane Lear, Deborah Madison, Kim Severson, Ruth Lewis Smith, Toni Tipton-Martin, Michael W. Twitty, Alice Waters, Kevin West, Susan Rebecca White, Caroline Randall Williams, and Joe Yonan. Editor Sara B. Franklin provides an illuminating introduction to Lewis, and the volume closes graciously with afterwords by Lewis's sister, Ruth Lewis Smith, and niece, Nina Williams-Mbengue.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469663999
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	02/01/2021
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Sara B. Franklin is a writer and food studies scholar teaching at New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Filled with insights and anecdotes from chefs, food historians, journalists, and family members, Edna Lewis: At Home with an American Original is as close to meeting Miss Edna as one can get. Those who knew her and those who did not will be surprised, delighted, and at times even amazed by the depth and breadth of the twenty-three essays that form this comprehensive volume. Bravi tutti!—Jessica B. Harris, author of My Soul Looks Back: A Memoir

This is an important book. Most people with an interest in American cooking have heard of Miss Lewis, but here, for the first time, people who knew and loved this extraordinary woman—in person or through her work—explain, in moving detail, why she is still so important to us all."–-Ruth Reichl, author of My Kitchen Year and former editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine

Nothing compares to this book, a fine anthology and thoughtful tribute to Edna Lewis and her contributions to America's culinary heritage. It will introduce Lewis to a new generation of people who may not be familiar with her yet, and need to be.—Adrian Miller, author of The President's Kitchen Cabinet and the James Beard Award–winning Soul Food

This expansive and poignant anthology—featuring contemporary food writers and thinkers of diverse backgrounds and voices—beautifully honors and interprets the power and enduring legacy of Edna Lewis, a great American chef, cultural commentator, writer, and activist. A groundbreaking book that will bridge popular and academic audiences.—Marcie Cohen Ferris, author of The Edible South and Matzoh Ball Gumbo

These wonderfully diverse writers provide an excellent introduction to the life and work of Edna Lewis. Anyone who thinks about food from a southern perspective owes a debt to Lewis, and this book will make a fine companion to those tattered original editions of The Taste of Country Cooking that so many of us own.—Leni Sorensen, African American Research Historian Emerita, Thomas Jefferson Foundation, and director of Indigo House

Editorial Reviews

Recollections and analysis of [Edna] Lewis, a cornerstone of American cuisine.—Max Watman, The Wall Street Journal

By combining so many perspectives about her life and her cuisine, Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original doubles as an effective biography and a tribute from her range of acolytes.—Foreword Reviews

A compelling examination of Lewis' identity that will appeal to food historians, racial studies scholars, and anyone seeking to learn more about Southern food. A fascinating, prismatic look at the legacy of one of America's most beloved chefs.—Kirkus Reviews

[A] perfect traveling companion.—Southern Living

A beautiful ode to a grande dame of Southern cuisine.—Garden & Gun

This collection of essays by devotees of Miss Lewis (the title by which contemporaries showed their respect and love) serves as an appreciation of her life, her achievements, and her legacy.—Booklist, starred review

A delicious tribute to a doyenne of the culinary world. . . . Franklin casts a wide net with the many colorful people who encountered the legendary creator of The Taste of Country Cooking.—Patrik Henry Bass, Essence

Throughout this collection, Franklin meets and exceeds her goal of inviting readers to the table with Edna Lewis by presenting a nuanced portrait of her food and her life.—Journal of Southern History

[An] important look at Lewis's culinary legacy.—Eater

Effectively assembles a larger picture from the bits and pieces of [Lewis's] life that were scattered throughout her writings and transmitted by others. Though they're all very different, collectively the essays form a complete portrait of a woman who was ahead of her time—and who left an important legacy.—Food & Wine

From the Publisher

2018-01-28
A collection of essays on the life and influences of pioneering chef Edna Lewis (1916-2006).Editor Franklin, a food studies scholar, gathers the thoughts of a wide variety of contributors, including John T. Edge, Alice Waters, Michael W. Twitty, and others. Known for her poignant depictions of Southern folklore, Lewis was not one to shy away from other people's misconceptions and prejudices. She made it her mission to combine food culture with sociopolitical issues, to interweave notions of racial tolerance and peaceful cohabitation in the dishes she served and in the stories she told. Franklin divides the book into three parts. In the first, essayists recall their first impressions of Lewis. In the second part, writers reflect on the impact Lewis has had on the sociopolitical climate and how both her writing and cookbooks greatly contributed to the dialogue. In the third section, contributors evaluate Lewis' legacy in today's world—Twitty writes, "my purpose here is to look at the life of chef Lewis as a continuum of a specific culinary and cultural legacy rooted in a particular regional and familial past." Franklin's laudable project sheds much-needed light on the significance of this singular culinary figure. "There is something about the South," wrote Lewis in an essay, "that stimulates creativity in people, be they black or white writers, artists, cooks, builders, or primitives that pass away without knowing they were talented." It's precisely that creativity that Lewis captured and embodied and that many of the anthology's contributors highlight throughout. Regarding Lewis' Taste of Country Cooking, Patricia E. Clark writes, "Lewis as subject and author of her own work is rendered with an intimate familiarity and a peculiar anonymity all at once." Franklin's work is a compelling examination of Lewis' identity that will appeal to food historians, racial studies scholars, and anyone seeking to learn more about Southern food.A fascinating, prismatic look at the legacy of one of America's most beloved chefs.

Kirkus Reviews