In Pursuit of Flavor

From the “Julia Child of Southern Cuisine”—recently feted on Top Chef—a seasonal cookbook of Southern classics. Through almost 200 delicious recipes, plus notes and special boxes on important ingredients (from black-eyed peas and Virginia hams to Peking ducks and oysters), and personally developed cooking techniques, Lewis—one of the pioneers of Southern cooking and author of The Taste of Country Cooking—shows home cooks how to get the best flavor from the foods they cook. Following the seasons, and drawing on her childhood in Freetown, Virginia—a farming community founded by her grandfather after emancipation—Lewis recreates some of the simple good dishes she grew up on. Every recipe—from Oyster Stew with Salsify to Damson Plum Pie—is illuminated with her remarkable cooking insights, and the whole book—with its charming illustrations—is flavored with the kind of personal warmth that makes it a joy to cook with Edna Lewis at your side.