The Real Edna Lewis: A Conversation With Her Niece, Nina Williams-Mbengue

Radio Cherry Bombe

Edna Lewis might be the most important American chef ever and few people knew her like her niece, Nina Williams-Mbengue. Nina was just 12 years old when she helped her Aunt Edna by typing up the notes for Edna’s landmark cookbook, TheTaste of Country Cooking. The 1976 book inspired the farm-to-table movement of later years, codified the classics of Southern cuisine, and documented the foodways of Freetown, Virginia, the settlement founded by Edna’s grandfather and other individuals who had been freed from chattel slavery. Nina shares what her aunt was really like, her memories of summers spent in Freetown, and what Edna would think of the legacy she left behind. Don’t miss this special episode.

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Visit https://cherrybombe.com/nina-mbengue-transcript for a transcript of this episode.