The Touching Story Behind This Famous Cookbook That Chefs Love

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Few cookbooks can be found on every chef's bookshelf, but Edna Lewis' "The Taste of Country Cooking" is typically part of the best talent's repertoire. Lewis is one of the many women who changed the food industry forever, earning a place alongside icons like Julia Child and Bewei Yang Chao. First published in 1976, Lewis' "The Taste of Country Cooking" was a pioneering work, showcasing America's Southern cuisine in a whole new light. Before Edna Lewis, Southern food was too often dismissed as heavy or unsophisticated. Folks assumed the dishes were all rich in cream and low in nutrients, but that couldn't be farther from the truth, and Lewis set out to change that notion in the '70s.

Edna, often lovingly called Miss Lewis, found a passion for cooking when she was just a kid. She grew up on a small farm in Freetown, Virginia, amongst a community of freed slaves that her grandfather helped bring together. She learned the importance of fresh produce and how to use it. We know Southern food is all about buttery biscuits and cornbread, which Edna never argued, but she did prioritize veggies harvested right from the farm and doughs made by scratch. Lewis really emphasized how important joy and love are when cooking; it's an ingredient.

This cookbook made history. Lewis's warm voice shares intimate stories of celebratory dinners on Emancipation Day and Christmas Eve, all bringing family together. "The Taste of Country Cooking" breaks recipes down by season, emphasizing fresh seasonal produce just as Lewis learned during her days on the farm. It's filled with decades' worth of Lewis's culinary knowledge, including over 30 different menus featuring recipes for reinvented classics like steamed whole hominy, corn pone, and sausage cakes. Edna Lewis could take something as simple as sauteed scallions and turn it into a five-star dish.

Lewis' beloved cookbook will hit the shelves again in 2026 with a shiny new cover, celebrating 50 years of Southern cooking. The latest edition of "The Taste of Country Cooking" features a foreword by the one and only Alice Waters, who speaks on how Edna Lewis inspired her career in the culinary arts, particularly her influence on the farm-to-table movement. This cookbook became a manual for inspired Southern cooking and an institution in American food culture. The chef, author, and teacher had a lot of nicknames throughout her 40-something-year-long culinary career. From the "Mother of Soul Food" to the "First Lady of Southern Cooking," Edna Lewis was a chef's chef. Lewis wrote to honor her heritage and celebrate simple, good food grown and cooked by hand.