< Back to Oral History project: SFA Founders Oral History Project
ORAL HISTORY
Norma Jean Darden
Norma Jean Darden is the author, along with her sister, of Spoonbread and Strawberry Wine: Recipes and Reminiscences of a Family. Their memoir-cum-cookbook underscores the import of family by way of food.
A native of North Carolina, Ms. Darden is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College. Now a resident of New York City, she owns Spoonbread Catering and two restaurants, Miss Maude’s and Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too.
In addition to her talents in the kitchen, Darden is an accomplished actress. She has produced a one-woman play, Spoonbread and Strawberry Wine, inspired by her book of the same name. In 1998, Darden performed her play at the inaugural Southern Foodways Symposium in Oxford, Mississippi.
