An American Legend

Writings and recipes from the great Edna Lewis. Also, an unforgettable southern waffle, an eye-opening old menu and a new tool for cooks. Plus lagniappe.

The other day somebody asked me to list my favorite cookbooks and I found myself going on about my battered old edition of Edna Lewis’ The Taste of Country Cooking. It turns out that, unbeknownst to me, the fiftieth anniversary edition of the book is about to be issued with a new introduction by my friend Toni Tipton-Martin. (The thirtieth anniversary edition had a preface by Judith Jones and an introduction by Alice Waters. )

I first met Edna Lewis in the early seventies, and like most people was immediately taken with her extraordinary beauty and straightforward intelligence. There really was no one like her - which is why one of the first things I did on becoming editor of Gourmet Magazine was ask one of my favorite writers, Chang-rae Lee, to profile her. You can find that here.

Seven years later, in 2008, editor Jane Lear was offered an unpublished Edna Lewis essay; thrilled, we decided to build an entire issue around it. Here’s what I wrote at the time.

After reading this you will, of course, want to read What is Southern. You will find it here. That issue is one I am very proud of; be sure to click on the recipes, because every one of them is a winner.

Sadly Miss Lewis is no longer with us. But her great friend - and the person she lived with during the last years of her life - Scott Peacock is very much alive. If you want to learn to make biscuits Miss Lewis would approve of, you must sign up for Scott’s biscuit experience.

Your life will never be the same.

This menu, from the seminal Oakland restaurant Bay Wolf, dates from sometime in the seventies, right around the time I first met Edna Lewis. (Bay Wolf closed in 2017 after a 40 year run.) It’s a great example of how excited food people were about regional American cuisines. After years of considering the hamburger to be America’s major contribution to the culinary canon we began seriously studying the local foods found in different parts of the country.

We had a lot to learn. First there was the excitement about California cuisine, followed very closely by Cajun (thank you Paul Prudhomme). Gradually we began to discover that, thanks to both the climate and the ethnic groups who settled the area, each American region has a different cuisine. But nowhere, in my opinion, is the food as exciting as it is in the south, because so many different cultures have left their mark upon it.

These waffles always make me think of Edna Lewis. They are so light they seem to float off the griddle and hover in the air. Then they dissolve the instant they hit the tongue.

Many thanks to Anson Mills, whose 13 colonies rice waffle flour is unlike anything I’ve used before. Like Sean Brock (with whom they’ve partnered), Anson Mills has embarked on a quest to bring back the heirloom crops of the antebellum Carolina rice kitchen. They’ve searched through seed libraries, looking for southern crops that disappeared with the industrialization of American farms, and brought them back. Take a look through their site; this is agricultural history at its most intriguing.

This rice flour is specifically intended for waffles, which were extremely popular in the old south, and often served at dinner with fried chicken. Personally, I prefer them in a starring role at breakfast. A perfect way to start the day.

Note: If you’re not using the Anson Mills rice flour, substitute 3/4 cup rice flour mixed with 3/4 cup pastry flour.

Rice Waffles
(adapted from Fannie Farmer and Anson Mills)
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1/2 teaspoon plus one tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups Anson Mills 13 colony rice flour (or 3/4 cup ordinary rice flour plus 3/4 cup pastry flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup whole milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar in 1/2 cup warm water (be sure the water is not too hot or it will kill the yeast). Set aside.

Whisk the flour, salt, and remaining tablespoon of sugar in a large bowl.

Slowly melt half a stick of butter, allowing it to turn a slight, nut-like brown. Remove from the heat and stir in the milk. When it’s cool enough to stick your finger in, add the yeast mixture.

Stir the liquids into the flour, mixing well. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave on the counter to rise overnight.

The next morning, stir in an egg and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. If the batter feels a bit thick, add up to 2 tablespoons more milk.

Pour batter into a hot waffle iron: how much batter you use will depend on the size of your iron, but in my old-fashioned cast iron waffle iron it makes about 7 waffles.

Eat with maple syrup, apple syrup or, in true southern fashion, sorghum. Or simply eat the waffles piping hot, unadorned, with your fingers.

A little lagniappe….

In 2009 Francis Lam wrote a wonderful story about a master roaster in a Toronto suburb at Ho Ho BBQ. Today he sent me a link to this amazing video of the same technique being practiced in Hong Kong.

If you’ve been reading La Briffe for a while you know that I’m a big fan of the glass Any Day containers which are some of the most useful tools in my kitchen. They go easily from refrigerator to freezer to oven - and they make attractive serving bowls as well.

Now the Anyday people have come up with a new tool: Anydeli. This is how they describe their latest product. Anydeli keeps everything people love about plastic deli containers — while making them microwave-safe, freezer-safe, and dishwasher-safe, too.

Use them to store leftovers, portion ingredients, freeze soups, pack lunches, and so much more.

And this is what I say: another great addition to my kitchen.

I had a long conversation with Chris Kimball about all manner of subjects, including the state of modern foodwriting. If you’re curious you can find it here.