The Taste of Country Cooking 50th Anniversary EditionA Cookbook
Foreword by Toni Tipton-Martin
The most beloved Southern cookbook of all time: a glorious celebration of seasonal eating that has shaped generations of home cooks, from “the first lady of Southern cooking” (NPR). Beautifully repackaged and redesigned, with a new foreword by Toni Tipton-Martin.
With the publication of The Taste of Country Cooking in 1976, Edna Lewis proclaimed the food of the American South one of the world’s great cuisines. From the field greens and salads of spring; pan-fried chicken and crushed peaches in summer; preserves and sweet potatoes for fall; and hearty soups and stews during the cold winter months, Miss Lewis (as she was almost universally known) extolled the virtues of the good food of her childhood, spent in a Virginia farming community founded by her grandfather and his friends after Emancipation.
A celebration of eating locally—decades before “farm to table” became common parlance—the book showcases the joys of cooking with the seasons.
The 150 accessible recipes in its pages include:
•Baked Virginia Ham, Buttered Jerusalem Artichokes, and Rhubarb Pie in Spring
•Green Tomato Preserves, Wilted Lettuce with Hot Vinegar Dressing, and Fresh Blackberry Cobbler in Summer
•Crispy Biscuits, Green Bean Salad with Sliced Tomatoes, and Country-Fried Apples in Fall
•Oyster Stew, Pan-Braised Spareribs, and Coconut Layer Cake in Winter
An affirmation of a distinctly American way of eating, fifty years after its publication, The Taste of Country Cooking remains the definitive book on Southern food.
“A classic, showing Americans the bounty of Southern cuisine and influencing generations.” —Melissa Clark, The New York Times
“Indispensable . . . An inspiration to all of us who are striving to protect both biodiversity and cultural diversity by cooking real food in season and honoring our heritage through the ritual of the table.” —Alice Waters, James Beard award-winning chef and founder/owner of Chez Panisse
“The empress of Southern cooking.” —The New Yorker
“An eloquent tribute to farm life, and the bonding power of food. . . . Essays, combined with simple yet elegant menus, transformed the way people looked at Southern cooking.” —NPR
“What Edna really teaches a cook is what you can’t find in a recipe. It’s respect. Respect for every ingredient. Respect for the recipe itself . . . It’s about reverence—an application of spiritual sincerity, faith, vulnerability, and humanity. And that’s the greatest gift she gives: a new way to think about the art of cooking.”—Alexander Smalls, Bon Appétit
“Lewis inspired the now-ubiquitous farm-to-table movement by championing the virtues of growing one’s own food and cooking with local, seasonal ingredients.” ——The Washington Post
“The grand dame of Southern cooking.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“It’s impossible to overstate the importance of Edna Lewis in the pantheon of American chefs.” —Food & Wine
“This book is my all-time favorite cookbook, always and forever. It’s such a seminal book for so many reasons. What has always felt so particular about this book was that no one else could have written it. It’s so tied to her experience, life, and voice. It appeals to her as a writer and a cook. I think it’s one of the most important cookbooks.” —Julia Turshen, Eater
“[A] masterpiece . . . widely hailed as one of the most important cookbooks of the twentieth century.” —Saveur
“One of the most influential figures in modern Southern cooking. . . . [A Taste of Country Cooking] is celebrated for its focus on the simplicity of Southern food and emphasis of farm-to-table eating.” —The New York Times
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