Jackson Free Press

For Martha Foose, cooking isn't just about the food. It's about the company, the memories and the art of eating well.

The Yazoo City native combines French and Southern cuisine in her first cookbook, "Screen Doors and Sweet Tea" (Clarkson Potter, 2009, $32.50), and her recently released "A Southerly Course"(Clarkson Potter, 2011, $32.50). Foose will prepare a dish and tell audiences about her recipes April 26 at Millsaps College during the college's art and lecture series.

Foose learned how to bake at La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles under the tutelage of Nancy Silverton and Sumi Change. A few years later, she received formal training at the French culinary school Ecole Lenotre. When she returned to Mississippi, Foose then opened the Bottletree Bakery in Oxford. After another stint working as a food editor for Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks in Minnesota, she returned to Mississippi again to serve as executive chef of the Viking Cooking School and opened Mockingbird Bakery in Greenwood.


In 2009, "Screen Doors and Sweet Tea" received a James Beard awards for American Cooking. Foose pairs stories about the Delta and the South with her recipes and gives a unique spin on traditional southern cuisine such as curried sweet potato soup, Chinese grocery roast pork and chile lime skirt steak.

See Foose at 7 p.m. April 26 in the Academic Complex at Millsaps College. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students; free for Millsaps students with an I.D. For more information, call 601-974-1130.