I got to talk to the inimitable Emily Meggett for this week’s episode of Food with Mark Bittman — Miss Emily, as she’s known to some — along with Kayla Stewart, whom many of you are familiar with, who is wonderful and writes for us regularly. (Kayla is the co-writer on Miss Emily’s new book, Gullah Geechee Home Cooking.)
Miss Emily is 89 years old. She is the matriarch of the Gullah community on Edisto Island in South Carolina — 42 miles south of Charleston and home to just 2000 people — and grew up in a house with her grandmother, uncle and aunt, sister, and seven cousins. I really loved reading about her upbringing and how she learned to cook, but I loved talking with her even more.
“When I really learned how to cook,” she told me, “the lady that taught me said that if I didn’t do it right, she’d throw it out and I’d have to do it over. She said you do it until you get it right, and I got it right.”
I’ll say.
Please listen, subscribe, and review. And we’d love to hear your food-related questions, as we’d like to start doing live Q&A: Email us: food@markbittman.com. The recipe featured in this week’s episode, Shrimp and Macaroni Salad, is here.
Thank you, as always. — Mark
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