Edna Lewis

Edna Lewis (April 13 1916 — February 13 2006) was an African-American chef and author best known for her books on traditional Southern cuisine.

Early life and career

Lewis was born in the small farming settlement of Freetown, Virginia, a granddaughter of an emancipated slave who helped start the community. She was one of eight children. She left Freetown at age 16, after her father died, and moved to Washington and eventually to New York City. [ [http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/chefbiographi2/p/ednalewisbio.htm Gourmet Food biography] ] . When she arrived in New York, an acquaintance found her a job in a Brooklyn laundry, where she was assigned to an ironing board. She had never ironed and lasted three hours before she was dismissed. She soon found work as a seamstress, and copied Christian Dior dresses for Dorcas Avedon, then the wife of Richard Avedon. She made a dress for Marilyn Monroe, as well as the African-inspired dresses for which she became well-known. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/national/14lewis.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 New York Times 14 February 2006] ] .

She also worked for the communist newspaper "The Daily Worker", was involved in political demonstrations, and campaigned for Franklin D. Roosevelt. [ [http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/chefbiographi2/p/ednalewisbio.htm Gourmet Food biography] ] .

Café Nicholson and cookbook fame

In New York City, she married Steve Kingston, a retired merchant seaman and a communist. Shortly afterward, she met John Nicholson, an antiques dealer who in 1949 decided to open a restaurant on 58th Street, on the East Side of Manhattan. She became the cook, preparing cheese soufflés and roast chicken. Café Nicholson became an instant success among bohemians and artists. The restaurant was frequented by William Faulkner, Marlon Brando, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Gloria Vanderbilt, Marlene Dietrich, and Diana Vreeland. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/national/14lewis.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 New York Times 14 February 2006] ] . Lewis remained at the restaurant until the late 1950s.

In the late 1960s, she broke her leg and was temporarily forced to stop cooking professionally. With encouragement from Judith Jones, the cookbook editor at Knopf who also edited Julia Child, she turned her handwritten pages into "The Edna Lewis Cookbook" (1972). This was followed by "The Taste of Country Cooking" in 1976. The book is considered a classic study of Southern cooking. In 1979, Craig Claiborne of "The New York Times" said the book "may well be the most entertaining regional cookbook in America." [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/national/14lewis.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 New York Times 14 February 2006] ] .

Later career

In a 1989 interview with "The New York Times", Lewis said: "As a child in Virginia, I thought all food tasted delicious. After growing up, I didn't think food tasted the same, so it has been my lifelong effort to try and recapture those good flavors of the past." [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/national/14lewis.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 Ibid.] ] .

After "The Taste of Country Cooking" was published, Lewis returned to restaurants, most notably to Gage and Tollner in Brooklyn. She worked there for five years before retiring in the mid-90s. She co-founded the Society for the Revival and Preservation of Southern Food, a precursor to the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA).

Lewis also lived and worked in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina. She died peacefully in her sleep at her home in Decatur, Georgia in 2006. She has been called "the South's answer to Julia Child" [ [http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/obits/stories/0214oblewis.html AJC.com obituaries] ] .

Published works

* "The Edna Lewis Cookbook" (1972)
* "The Taste of Country Cooking" (1976)
* "In Pursuit of Flavor" (1988)
* "The Gift of Southern Cooking" (2003), co-authored with Scott Peacock

Awards and honors

* 1986 — Named Who’s Who in American Cooking by "Cook’s Magazine"
* 1990 — Lifetime Achievement Award, International Association of Culinary Professionals
* 1995 — James Beard Living Legend Award (their first such award.)
* 1999 — Named Grande Dame by Les Dames d’Escoffier, an international organization of female culinary professionals.
* 1999 — Lifetime Achievement Award from Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) (their first such award.)
* 2002 — Barbara Tropp President's Award, Women Chefs & Restaurateurs
* 2003 — Inducted into the KitchenAid Cookbook Hall of Fame (James Beard)
* 2004 — "The Gift of Southern Cooking" nominated for James Beard Award and IACP Award

References

External links

* http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itsv/0704/ijse/taste.htmObituary (UK Independent newspaper) http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article346919.ece