Gaze upon the countenance of Miss Edna Lewis, 1916-2006.
She was, and remains, the grand dame of southern cooking, that's who. Much like Zora Neale Hurston, who was a grand dame of southern letters, coming late to mainstream fame.
Judith Jones, vice president and senior editor at Knopf, was courting Miss Lewis at the same time she had discovered and was courting another little known cook, Julia Child. That was in the sixties; they both wrote books.
As current food trends are having a field day with fried chicken, (everyone's featuring it, including Thomas Keller at Ad Hoc) surely hers is the gold standard of that dish. Her recipe, and much about her, can be found in the documentary film, Fried Chicken and Sweet Potato Pie, by bbarash Productions LLC, a small, award-winning multi-media production company, posted on Gourmet.com.
She eventually engaged in an extraordinary, long term relationship with Scott Peacock, former owner of Watershed Restaurant in Atlanta. What an unlikely pair! I'm going there in October to visit a friend, and we're going to feast on fried chicken at Watershed, saving room for her most famous, simple caramel cake, another food trend this year. (great recipe in September, 2010 issue of Food and Wine "Best Recipes From The New South") Peacock speaks of one epiphany he had in working with her, that he learned "creativity can be about stripping things away, not adding things." Well. Every photographer knows that. but, how refreshing to think of food that way. Check back the first week in October for my review!
Enjoy her legacy. What a woman. What a story.
What a gift left behind.
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