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Monday, February 13, 2006
Edna Lewis and the Gift of Southern Cooking
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just about all of us who are passionate about Southern food were saddened to learn of the death on Monday of Edna Lewis, one of the country’s greatest treasures of gastronomy. John T. Edge, the director of the Southern Foodways Alliance and our regular guest blogger, was among them and filed this:
“When I learned that Edna Lewis had passed, I called my wife. Blair gasped. And then she told me that she was – at that very moment – in the midst of making “Good Chocolate Cakeâ€? from The Gift of Southern Cooking, the book Ms. Lewis wrote with Watershed chef Scott Peacock, her colleague and caretaker. Blair and I will savor that cake on Valentines Day.
Back when I lived in Atlanta, I took cooking classes from Ms. Lewis. But Blair never had the pleasure of meeting her. Like many admirers, Blair came to know the Virginia-born woman who called Atlanta home by way of her recipes.
Among the recipes Blair has made her own, my favorite is Ms. Lewis’s catfish stew, also from The Gift of Southern Cooking. It’s brothy. It’s chunked with potatoes. It’s spiked with tomatoes. It’s swimming with pearlescent farm-raised catfish. And it’s flat-out delicious. “
Over the course of a long and distinguished career, Ms. Lewis gave much to many. She gave freely. She gave warmly. Please tell us which Edna Lewis recipe matters most to you, which dish conjures her spirit. Or if you have a personal memory about her you would like to share, we would love to read about that, too.
The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Bethel Baptist Church in Unionville, Va. Flowers and cards can be sent to Satchell’s Funeral Services, 118 E. Church Street, Orange, VA 22960, 540-672-4490. Donations can be sent to Bethel Baptist Church, 12387 Marquis Road, Unionville, VA 22567.
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