Day: April 1, 2021

Martha Lou Gadsden, Charleston soul food legend, has died

Mitchell R. Lajoie 3 weeks ago
Martha Lou Gadsden, a self-taught chef who served up iconic soul food that made her a Charleston culinary legend, has died. She was 91. Martha Lou’s Kitchen, her restaurant just outside of downtown Charleston, became an institution in Charleston’s Southern food scene. It closed in September 2020.

Martha Lou Gadsden, a self-taught chef who served up iconic soul food that made her a Charleston culinary legend, has died. She was 91. Martha Lou’s Kitchen, her restaurant just outside of downtown Charleston, became an institution in Charleston’s Southern food scene. It closed in September 2020.


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Charleston, S.C.

Martha Lou Gadsden, a self-taught chef whose “roll-your-eyes-it’s-so-good” soul food made her a Charleston culinary legend, has died. She was 91.

Gadsden died Thursday morning, her oldest daughter Joyce Taylor confirmed to a local news station. No cause of death was given.

In 1983, Gadsden opened Martha Lou’s Kitchen inside a modest Pepto-pink building at 1068 Morrison Drive, just north of downtown Charleston. Her unassuming restaurant would become an institution in Charleston’s food scene.

Gadsden was 53 when she opened her restaurant. She had no formal culinary training, but she knew what she was doing.

In a 2013

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Freezer burn is not dangerous, but it’s not appealing either

Mitchell R. Lajoie 3 weeks ago

The Washington Post Food staff and food writer Katie Workman recently answered questions about all things edible. Here are edited excerpts from that chat.

Q: What is freezer burn, really? What does it do chemically to food? Does it change actual taste, or just texture? Is it dangerous to eat food with freezer burn, or just unpleasant? Is there any way of cooking food that has been freezer-burned to check to see if it might be OK in something? Oh, do I have a specific example? Yes, of course. I found some sausage meat in my freezer. No idea how long it had been there, but I defrosted it in the fridge and now it still feels a little . . . spongy? As sausage it has a high fat content, so should I just try frying it up to see if it will create edible sausage crumbles?

A: Very

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