Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin'
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Life lessons from the queen of Southern cuisine
INTERVIEW BY ALISON HOOD First there was the catering business and the Savannah restaurant, then the best-selling cookbooks, the Food Network shows and her own magazine (Cooking with Paula Deen). Now the Southern cook who built a mini-empire on trans fats offers a no-holds-barred memoir, Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin', a book that'll leave you hankerin' for fried chicken and biscuits. Writing a memoir can be a slippery slope (just ask James Frey). Truth is tricky when memory is involved, but there's no bull-bleep here: Deen's story is straightforward, bluntly honest and served up with trademark Southern spice (and her favorite recipes). "My God has a sense of humor even if what I say has a four-letter word in it," she proclaims. Expletives aside, Cookin' is a hoot, a read that'll grab hold of you "like white on rice" as you devour Deen's rags-to-riches tale. Deen had happy childhood hours in her Grandmomma Paul's kitchen and carefree summers spent at her grandparents' resort; then came her high school cheerleading days, followed by a difficult marriage to an alcoholic husband. There's heartbreak as she struggles with her parents' untimely deaths and a crippling agoraphobia. There's divorce and poverty, and two hungry kids to support. But, always, there's the cookin'. Desperate, Deen did the one thing she knew she could do. With only $200, she launched The Bag Lady, peddling homemade sandwiches to office workers. In short order, the hardworking mother went from selling sandwiches to sit-down service, starting two successful restaurants, meeting influential people, and eventually winding up on the Food Network as the undisputed queen of Southern cuisine, and host of "Paula's Home Cooking." Oozing Southern warmth and charm, Deen proved so popular with viewers that the Food Network added a second show, "Paula's Party," taped in front of a live audience. Paula's talented sons, Jamie and Bobby Deen, have expanded the family empire by launching a show of their own, "Road Tasted." The Deen family is even credited with boosting tourism in Savannah, where more than 1,000 fans a day line up to eat at their restaurant, The Lady & Sons. The Paula Deen bus tour and popular cooking classes also attract swarms of fans. Along the way to success, Deen found fairy-tale romance. In 2004, she married former tugboat pilot Michael Anthony Groover, whom she describes as "a fifth generation Wilmington Island boy." In her memoir, Deen is frank about her shortcomings and grateful for her good fortune. "I'm livin' proof that the American dream is alive and well . . . that you can be an imperfect person and still end up with so much fun in your life you can hardly stand it," she writes. Due to hit bookstore shelves in April, It Ain't All About the Cookin' is a testament to the power of love, perseverance and family. It's also a mini primer on restaurant ownership, and a guide to the beguiling secrets of Southern charm and Southern food.  What's cooking With more than four million cookbooks sold, Paula Deen has managed to tap into the American love for comfort food—and butter (Paula's favorite ingredient). You'll want to add all four cookbooks to your collection: • Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics (Random House, $29.95, ISBN 9781400064557) compiles all the recipes from Paula's first two cookbooks, The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook and The Lady & Sons, Too!
• Paula Deen & Friends (Simon & Schuster, $25, ISBN 9780743267229), party fare, Southern style. • The Lady & Sons Just Desserts (Simon & Schuster, $24, ISBN 9780743290203), sweet temptations, made with plenty of butter. Alison Hood is a writer in San Rafael, California. |
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• Paula Deen Celebrates! (Simon & Schuster, $26, ISBN 9780743278119), special recipes for special occasions.