In conversation with Valerie Erwin

Charleston, South Carolina–based Kardea Brown hosts the Food Network’s Delicious Miss Brown and OWN’s The Great Soul Food Cookoff. She also is the creator of the pop-up New Gullah Supper Club, where her cuisine pays homage to her grandmother’s cooking and her Gullah/Geechee heritage, which describes a distinct African American group that has preserved much of its West African culture in the coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia. She has also appeared on Beat Bobby Flay, Chopped Junior, and Family Food Showdown, among other culinary programs. In her first ever cookbook, Brown shares her multi-generational recipes for Low Country favorites, accentuated with helpful tips, family anecdotes, and beautiful photos.

The longtime owner of the Low Country-inspired restaurant Geechee Girl, longtime Philly chef Valerie Erwin was also the general manager of the innovative EAT Café. These ventures have been featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Magazine, and on The Food Network and NPR. She currently managers Farm to Families, a produce access program for children; serves on the board of C-CAP, a culinary scholarship program for high school students; and is a member of the board of the anti-homelessness organization Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network.