Cooking with Rare Books: Foods of The Edna Lewis Cookbook

KENNESAW, Ga. | Mar 7, 2022

KSU Honors student Camilla Stegall explores spring foods featured in The Edna Lewis Cookbook

Welcome back to the Cookery Corner! Today we’ll dive more deeply into The Edna Lewis Cookbook (1972). If you missed my introductory post about Edna Lewis.

The Edna Lewis Cookbook begins with an introduction into the life of Lewis from Freetown to the writing of the book with Evangeline Peterson. The next sections of the book focus on tips and tricks for the kitchen. Peterson writes “Some Notes on the Use of This Book” which explains the choice of some ingredients in the recipes and cooking equipment suggestions. This is followed by “Some Notes and Comments on Baking” which gives particularly helpful information on how to measure flour and in-depth instructions on how to make and bake pie crust. Then follow the recipes! 


The recipes in The Edna Lewis Cookbook are French- and Southern-based. The interestingly combined pairing of such recipes is featured on the dust jacket inside-flap, “here are Apple Brown Betty and Crêpes Suzettes; Southern Spoon Bread and Quiche Lorraine; Roast Ribs of Pork and Coquilles St. Jacques; Baked Virginia Ham and Roast Pheasant with Wild Rice and White Grapes; Blueberry Pie and Meringue Torte; and many, many more.” Lewis pondered the connections between the cooking of Freetown, Virginia, and the European continent, particularly after William Faulkner, during her Café Nicholson days, asked her if she had previously lived in France. Lewis believes that perhaps the connections of Orange County, Virginia, home of Thomas Jefferson as well as Freetown, to Jefferson’s French traveling influenced the diets of not only the Jeffersons but her ancestors as well.

Spring menus from the Edna Lewis Cookbook courtesy of the Bentley Rare Book Museum
Now that we know what sort of recipes to expect in The Edna Lewis Cookbook, let’s take a closer look! The recipes are divided into seasonal menus, which also include special buffet menus. Additionally, there is a whole Christmas section. Because it’s almost spring, we’ll investigate a few of the Spring Dinner menus. These menus are luscious! The first features:  

Cold Poached Lobster with Special Sauce 
Roast Rack of Spring Lamb with Herb Butter 
Asparagus with Browned Bread Crumbs 
SautĂ©ed Potato Balls 
Bibb Lettuce and Watercress Salad with French Dressing 
French Bread 
Assorted Cheeses 
Baba au Rhum with Whipped Cream and Strawberries 
Coffee 

My personal favorite menu features: 

Poulet Ă  la crème (chicken in a cream sauce) 
White Rice 
Mixed Green Salad with French Dressing 
Fresh Strawberries in Lemon Juice 
Sunday Night Cake OR Caramel Almond Cookies 
Coffee 

There are many tempting dessert recipes in The Edna Lewis Cookbook, including “Profiterole Filled with Whipped Cream and Custard and Served with Hot Chocolate Sauce,” “Strawberry Tart,” and “Sunday Night Cake.” If these desserts sound delectable to you, make an appointment with the Bentley Rare Book Museum to read The Edna Lewis Cookbook. 

 

Recipe and illustration from The Edna Lewis Cookbook courtesy of the Bentley Rare Book Museum

Thank you for stopping by the Cookery Corner! 
 
For more information about Edna Lewis check out the following sources: 

Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original edited by Sara B. Franklin 
Edna Lewis’s cookbooks: The Edna Lewis Cookbook, The Taste of Country Cooking, The Pursuit of Flavor, and The Gift of Southern Cooking 

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