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Edna Lewis, a self-taught purist of Southern regional flavors and ingredients, learned to prepare food "by growing up with people who were great cooks." Nearing 80, she recalls her culinary life as a journey back to the simple foods and traditions of a rural childhood. Lewis is the granddaughter of a slave who helped found the community of Freetown, Va., where she was born.
Title: Consulting chef, Harry's Farmer's Market, Alpharetta, Ga.
Birthdate: April 13, 1916.
Hometown: Freetown, Va.
Formal culinary education: Self-taught.
Career highlights: Opening chef, Cafe Nicholson, Manhattan; executive chef, Fearrington House, Chapel Hill, N.C.; and Gage & Tollner, Brooklyn, N.Y.
What made you quit Gage & Tollner while it was enjoying such good reviews?
When I went with Gage & Toller in 1989, I told them I'd work until I reached 75. So, in fact, I retired. But it was actually a year later when I left.
How did you get to Harry's Farmer's Market [a rapidly-expanding Atlanta-based retail chain that markets prepared foods]?
Scott Peacock [co-founder, with Lewis, of the Society for the Revival and Preservation of Southern Cooking] is the research and development chef at Harry's. He's creating a line...