Buxton Books is honored to welcome Emily Meggett - the Matriarch of Edisto Island - in conversation with Toni Tipton-Martin - author, historian and James Beard Award winner - into the bookstore to celebrate Ms. Emily’s new book, Gullah Geechee Home Cooking, the preeminent Gullah cookbook on Sunday, May 1 at 1pm.
This event is SOLD OUT.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
The first major Gullah Geechee cookbook from The Matriarch of Edisto Island, who provides delicious recipes and the history of an treasured American community. The history of the Gullah and Geechee people stretches back centuries, when enslaved members of this community were historically isolated from the rest of the South because of their location on the Sea Islands of coastal South Carolina and Georgia. Today, this Lowcountry community represents the most direct living link to the traditional culture, language, and foodways of their West African ancestors. Ms. Emily’s house is a place of pilgrimage for anyone with an interest in Gullah Geechee food. Meggett’s Gullah food is rich and flavorful, though it is also often lighter and more seasonal than other types of Southern cooking.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
At 89 years old, and with more than 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Ms. Emily is a respected elder in the Gullah community of South Carolina. She has lived on Edisto Island all her life, and even at her age, still cooks for hundreds of people out of her hallowed home kitchen. This cookbook includes not only delicious and accessible recipes, but also snippets of the Meggett family history on Edisto Island, which stretches back into the 19th century. Rich in both flavor and history, Ms. Emily’s Gullah Geechee Home Cooking is a testament to the syncretism of West African and American cultures that makes her home of Edisto Island so unique.
Please join us to witness these two remarkable women in conversation. Guests will have the opportunity to ask questions during a Q&A at the end of the program, mingle with the authors, and sample some bites from Ms. Emily’s cookbook.