Edna Lewis is one of the most important and influential American chefs. She celebrated Southern cooking and foodways in her seminal work, 1976’s The Taste Of Country Cooking, and helped inspire the farm-to-table movement. At her side for some of this journey was her niece, Nina, who not only got to enjoy her aunt’s food, but who typed up the manuscript for her groundbreaking cookbook as a young teen. Today, Nina Williams-Mbengue is a retired child welfare expert and a board member of The Edna Lewis Foundation. She joined chef, TV personality, and California Soul author Tanya Holland to reminisce about her experiences with her aunt and to talk about Edna’s life and legacy.

Thank you to Yes! Apples for supporting today's show.

This interview took place at the 2nd annual Cherry Bombe Cooks & Books festival at Ace Hotel Brooklyn. Our next event is the Cherry Bombe Jubilee conference. Get your ticket here.

Radio Cherry Bombe is recorded at Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center in New York City. Our theme song is by the band Tralala. Subscribe to our newsletter and check out past episodes and transcripts here.

More on Nina: Instagram, Listen to Nina on Radio Cherry Bombe from 2021
More on Tanya: Instagram, Check out Tanya’s new book, California Soul

Edna Lewis’s Life And Legacy, With Tanya Holland And Nina Williams-Mbengue Live At Cooks & Books