Pages of the Past

Flavor is the New Black

In Pursuit of Flavor by Edna Lewis, published in 1988, invites readers on a culinary journey that transcends mere recipes, delving into the soulful essence of Southern cuisine beginning in her youth in Freetown, Virginia Edna Lewis, a celebrated chef, and culinary historian, emphasizes her passion for techniques, traditions, flavors, and stories while growing up on a farm. It provides a collection of recipes but also serves as a cultural exploration, highlighting the deep-rooted connections between food and community. Lewis’s commitment to the heart of the land not only reflects a deep respect for nature but also indicates the transformative power of using quality, farm-fresh elements in cooking. In Pursuit of Flavors is more than a cookbook; it is a celebration and tradition, a testament to the power of food in fostering connections, and a heartfelt homage to the flavors that define a region and a people.

Flavor From the Farm

The celebration of fresh, seasonal ingredients and the farm-to-table is the overarching theme In Pursuit of Flavor. “From the Gardens and Orchards” illustrates the way Edna Lewis enjoyed life on the farm, if the ingredients were not fresh or it was not in the right season they were not getting eaten. Lewis explains that “growing up, we ate only what was ripe and fresh at the moment...” (7) eating fresh was not new for her in a way it was her only way of eating. She explains that she grew up during a time where she knew how everything was supposed to taste because she was used to eating fresh things straight out of the ground and enjoying the pleasant taste of freshness. Not just with vegetables, but also with the meats from animals that either her family raised or someone in her community raised would only be eaten during the correct season—if it were not the right season the family would not slaughter that animal. For the best quality of these meats, you would eat chicken all year around then, “pork was slaughtered in the winter, eaten fresh soon after, then preserved to use for the rest of the year...Game birds were eaten in the autumn and winter: rabbits and squirrels all year around...We butchered hogs early in the winter when it was cold enough to hang the freshly killed animals for a few days without spoiling” (Lewis, 67). Lewis expresses her love through food by abiding to the freshness of ingredients—for it is what offers the best flavor, which to Lewis, is everything.

More than Just Fried Chicken

A cuisine is a style or method of cooking, especially as characteristic of a particular country, region, or establishment—throughout history African-American Southern food had long had a negative stigma that is attached to it. These traditional dishes that have come from Black ancestors are often looked at as inherently unhealthy, Black Southern food is sometimes homogenized, as if it's a singular, uniform cuisine, and some also suggest that Black Southern cuisine lacks culinary sophistication compared to other cuisines. Throughout In Pursuit of Flavor Edna Lewis explores the traditional ingredients and techniques found in Southern cooking and culture. When talking about greens she goes into detail about how “Greens are a dish that most Southerners would walk a mile for...If a neighbor fell ill during the winter, friends would search the countryside to uncover some wild cress growing in the lowlands along streams...” (Lewis 18) She uses the traditional ways of using smoked pork shoulders to add more flavor to the cooked greens, and she highlights the freshness of them when they are picked, and how beneficial it is when it comes to people that are ill in the wintertime. In the book Eating While Black Scholar P. Williams-Forson explains what it is like eating as a black person—in the chapter “Worry about Yourself,” she asserts that, “Yes, we have cultural similarities, peculiarities, and patterns, but how we approach these are as different and varied as the people. This is yet another reason we have to be more broadly inclusive when we discuss culture and recognize not just ‘similarity’ and ‘difference’ but variation.” (Williams-Forson, 14) Despite diverse backgrounds, we all have different stories and different stories—Edna Lewis takes her time not to explain the stereotypical recipes, but instead explain the ingredients that are staples in Southern cuisine.

Reclaiming the land

The connection that Edna Lewis makes with land is not just culinary but also cultural, as it reflects the history of Southern agriculture and the relationship between food, community, and environment. Historically in the US, African-Americans greatly suffered working in the fields, first under slavery and later as sharecroppers. Black farmer Leah Penniman acknowledges the trauma that comes with new Black farmers. In Farming While Black, the act of growing food “bears witness to the racial atrocities committed against black people, reflect upon the ways they have internalized this trauma, and explore strategies for personal healing and resistance so that we can reclaim our sacred belonging to land and self” (Penniman 270). Lewis had earlier reclaimed the agricultural heritage of the American South, a narrative that intertwines the flavors of the region with the stories of those who have tilled its soil. She celebrates the essence of the land, highlighting the significance of locally sourced, seasonal ingredients without surrounding her book with the problems that were once had. In a way Penniman and Lewis are both helping the new black generation grasp, “that Black Lives Matter is about reclaiming our own sense of value and identity in the context of intergenerational Black community and in the spirit of love” (Penniman, 271). Do not just think of the flavor as in the development that goes into a dish but view it as someone's identity that they are enhancing each step of the way. Lewis's flavor is her identity that recreating for herself and her own life—her flavor becomes a powerful testament to the importance of preserving and cherishing the agricultural traditions that form the bedrock of Southern cuisine.

Sources

Lewis, Edna, et al. In Pursuit of Flavor. Updated ed., Alfred A. Knopf, 2019.

Penniman, Leah, and Karen Washington. Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018.

Williams-Forson, Psyche A. Eating While Black: Food Shaming and Race in America. University of North Carolina Press, 2022.