Come Cook with Us! Kitchn’s November Pick for Cookbook Club Is “The Taste of Country Cooking” by Edna Lewis
Hi, friends and fellow Cookbook Club-ers! We’re only about halfway through the month of The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen, and it’s been a joy to cook through so far. I personally love how so many of the recipes are interconnected: The wild rice pilaf (p 84) asks you to make homemade corn stock (p 170), and the three sisters mash (p 43) requires you to make the cedar-braised beans (p 36) and cooked hominy (p 31).
While you’re enjoying Sean Sherman’s cookbook, I wanted to announce that for November’s cookbook, we’re diving into The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis. Read on to see why we chose this book, and learn how you can participate.
Want to follow along with Kitchn’s digital Cookbook Club? Here’s how to participate.
- Get the book! You can buy the book on Amazon, Bookshop, or look for it at your local library; while some libraries are currently closed, you may be able to access a digital copy. Also consider buying from your local bookstore!
- Join Kitchn Cookbook Club Facebook group. This is our private space for all of you to talk about the book, ask questions, and chat about what you’re cooking. Click here to join! It’s very active.
- Share a recipe review on Instagram and tag with #kitchncookbookclub. Make a recipe from The Taste of Country Cooking. Post a photo of your dish on Instagram, with a short review of the recipe in the caption.
Why The Taste of Country Cooking Is Our Cookbook Pick for November
Edna Lewis’ The Taste of Country Cooking was first published in 1976, and in those 40 plus years it has become an American classic. The book is a celebration of the author’s hometown of Freetown, Virginia — a farming town that was founded by previously enslaved people after the Civil War. It is a cookbook about time, place, and good ingredients — but really it’s an ode to her community and her childhood.
“Whenever I go back to visit my sisters and brothers, we relive old times, remembering the past,” Lewis explains in her introduction, when talking about Freetown. “And when we share again in gathering wild strawberries, canning, rendering lard, finding walnuts, picking persimmons, making fruitcake, I realize how much the bond that held us had to do with food.”
The Taste of Country Cooking is organized into seasons, and each season is broken out into various menus. In “spring” we’re greeted with a menu for “a hearty midday dinner,” and in “fall” we get a menu for a “race day picnic.” Each menu paints a scene and includes a trove of delicious things to make. There is so much personality in each recipe, and Lewis’ writing makes you feel like you’re talking with an old friend.
While I have read through parts of The Taste of Country Cooking, it’s been some time since I’ve made anything from the book. And with the seasons changing, and a lot of stress in the air with COVID-19 and the election, we wanted to slow down just a little and cook through something that feels like home, wherever that may be.
Get the Book
- Buy the book on Amazon.
- Buy the book on Bookshop.
- Find the book at your local library (While some libraries are currently closed, you may be able to access a digital copy.)
- Also consider buying from your local bookstore!
Because this cookbook is organized by season, I think I’m going to start next month by cooking through the “fall” section. I don’t normally love pancakes, but I’ve heard wonderful things about the sour-milk griddle cakes with blueberry sauce. I also want to try to make Lewis’ parker house rolls for Thanksgiving this year, alongside her green bean salad with sliced tomatoes.
In addition to highlighting a few recipes from the book next month, we’ll also hear from a few writers about what this cookbook means to them, and the recipes that they love. I’m looking forward to cooking with you all in November! And if you don’t already have this classic on your bookshelf, I hope you’ll make a little room.
— Ariel Knutson, Features Director