Catherine Jessee

Catherine Jessee
Title: Assistant Digital Food Editor
Education: University of Virginia, University of Mississippi
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Expertise: Recipe Testing, Recipe Developing, Appalachian Foodways and Culture

Catherine Jessee is an Assistant Digital Food Editor at Southern Living. She is a writer, editor, and recipe developer with a passion for Appalachian foodways, culture, and history. Her work has appeared in publications like Allrecipes, EatingWell, Food & Wine, Real Simple, Serious Eats, and Southern Living, among others. Whether it's diving into the history of wild onions or grazing the potluck table at an old-time music jam, she's always thinking about how to make recipes work and stories sing.

Experience

Catherine received a B.A. in American Studies from the University of Virginia and M.A. in Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi, where she worked as a line cook at Tarasque Cucina and served as a Nathalie Dupree Graduate Fellow with the Southern Foodways Alliance.

Her Masters Thesis “The Wild Asleep: A Cultural and Environmental History of Ramps” collected oral histories and interviews with foragers, cooks, and avid eaters of wild onions across Southern Appalachia and beyond. She earned the Department of English Graduate Writing Award in the research category.

About Southern Living

Southern Living, a Dotdash Meredith Brand, celebrates the food, homes, places, and culture of the South. We reach 7.2 million readers a month. Our content is written by experienced journalists and fact checked for accuracy. Learn more about us and our editorial guidelines.

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