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Oral Histories

The SFA oral history program documents life stories from the American South. Collecting these stories, we honor the people whose labor defines the region. If you would like to contribute to SFA’s oral history collections, please send your ideas for oral history along with your CV or Resume and a portfolio of prior oral history work to info@southernfoodways.org.

< Back to Oral History project: Charleston Chewies

< Back to Oral History project: Southern Baking

ORAL HISTORY

Emma Cromedy

Emma Cromedy’s first foray into baking was with her Easy Bake Oven, and this Charleston, South Carolina native, has been baking ever since. She began to perfect family recipes in middle and high school, and that’s also when she began collecting recipes, including her first one for chewies. She left the South Carolina Lowcountry and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, to work in the financial industry, but she could not shake the baking bug. Eventually, Emma started a side business called the Southerncakequeen to bring Charleston desserts to Charlotte. She moved back home in 2017 and became the co-owner of Carolima’s Lowcountry Cuisine with her sister, Sameka Jenkins. Carolima’s features Emma’s adapted chewies recipes on its catering menu, and the company also ships chewies nationwide.

Date of interview:
2023-06-08

Interviewer:
Stephanie Burt

Photographer:
Jonathan Cooper

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