The classic cookbook from "the first lady of Southern cooking" (NPR),
featuring a new foreword by the James Beard Award-winning chef
Mashama Bailey
Decades before cornbread, shrimp and grits, and peach cobbler were
mainstays on menus everywhere, Edna Lewis was pioneering the celebration
of seasonal food as a distinctly American cuisine.
In this James Beard Foundation Cookbook Hall of Fame-inducted cookbook,
Miss Lewis (as she was almost universally known) shares the recipes of
her childhood, spent in a Virginia farming community founded by her
grandfather and his friends after emancipation, as well as those that
made her one of the most revered American chefs of all time.
Interspersed throughout are personal anecdotes, cooking insights, notes
on important Southern ingredients, and personally developed techniques
for maximizing flavor.
Across six charmingly illustrated chapters--From the Gardens and
Orchards; From the Farmyard; From the Lakes, Steams, and Oceans; For the
Cupboard; From the Bread Oven and Griddle; and The Taste of
Old-fashioned Desserts--encompassing almost 200 recipes, Miss Lewis
captures the spirit of the South. From Whipped Cornmeal with Okra;
Pan-Braised Spareribs; and Benne Seed Biscuits to Thirteen-Bean Soup;
Pumpkin with Sautéed Onions and Herbs; a Salad of Whole Tomatoes
Garnished with Green Beans and Scallions; and Raspberry Pie Garnished
with Whipped Cream, In Pursuit of Flavor is a modern classic and a
timeless compendium of Southern cooking at its very best.
