Edna Lewis

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

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

Lewis grew up in Freetown, Virginia, a granddaughter of an emancipated slave who helped start that small farming community. At the age of 16, she moved to New York City and in 1948 became a chef at the Cafe Nicholson on 58th Street, which was frequented by William Faulkner and Marlon Brando. In the 1950s and 1960s her fame as a chef spread, and she eventually published her highly acclaimed books. She has been called "the South's answer to Julia Child" [1].

Before she retired at the age of 75, she was working in Brooklyn's acclaimed Gage and Tollner restaurant.

Lewis died in her sleep at her home in Decatur, Georgia.