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Jeff Henderson

Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, from Cocaine to Foie Gras Hardcover – Bargain Price, March 1, 2007

by Jeff Henderson (Author)

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Jeff Henderson was just another inner-city black kid born into a world of poverty and limited options, where crime seemed to provide the only way to get out. Raised mostly by his single mother, who struggled just to keep food on the table, Jeff dreamed big. He had to get out and he soon did by turning to what so many in his community did: dealing drugs. But Jeff was no ordinary drug dealer; by twenty-one, he was one of the top cocaine dealers in San Diego, making up to $35,000 a week. Two years later he was indicted on federal drug trafficking charges and sentenced to almost twenty years in prison. Before he knew what had hit him, he was looking at spending most of his life behind bars. The street life had been the only one he'd ever known and even incarcerated he was too hardheaded to realize that no good would come of it.

That is, until he was assigned to one of the least desirable prison jobs: washing dishes. That job helped turn his whole life around. It gave him access to the prison kitchen and he became fascinated watching his fellow prisoners cook for the thousands of other inmates and prison officials. Henderson learned to cook in prison. Not cocaine, but food. And his dream was born: Once outside, he would become a chef.

It was a tough, seemingly impossible journey for an ex-con. Few chefs would give him the opportunity to cook in their restaurants. And once hired, he endured racism and sabotage in the kitchen. But Henderson refused to accept rejection. Driven by a dream and an unshakable will to succeed, Chef Jeff worked hard to overcome unimaginable adversity and eventually reached the top of his profession, becoming executive chef at Café Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Alive with the energy of the streets, the sober reality of prison, and the visceral thrill of being inside the fast-paced kitchens of great restaurants, Cooked is an intense, intimate tale of crime, punishment, and redemption—a deeply poignant story of how the worst wrong can lead to the most extraordinary right.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

William Morrow
Publication date

March 1, 2007
Dimensions

6 x 0.97 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0061153907
ISBN-13

978-0061153907
See all details

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

How one of San Diego's most successful cocaine dealers became an award-winning chef [...] is the question that drives this sporadically inspired memoir. Henderson got his start dealing when his family moved to San Diego and he fell in with two street thugs. At age 25, after amassing a small fortune in drug money, Henderson was arrested, convicted and sentenced to 19 years in prison; once there, he discovered a love for cooking that gave him much-needed direction. After serving nine years, Henderson got an early release and began a series of grueling, occasionally demeaning jobs in kitchens, eventually working his way up to leading roles in Caesars Palace Hotel and elsewhere. Unfortunately, Henderson's story rings truest before he turns to the culinary; the fascinating level of detail in his description of the drug trade dissipates when it comes to the intricacies of working in and running a kitchen, lending his redemption a hollow feel. In addition, Henderson's casual reference to methods and equipment particular to the industry may leave amateur foodies nonplussed. While Henderson's achievements deserve recognition, this rushed retelling makes it difficult to fully appreciate his hard work.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Juggling coarsest street talk with purest narrative prose, Henderson relates his near-miraculous transformation from a thuggish Los Angeles drug dealer to an acclaimed Las Vegas chef--the Food Network meets Trainspotting. Introduced to a world of crime by his larcenous grandfather, Henderson descends from petty theft to big-time drug dealing, generating a cash flow that nets him fast cars and fancy houses. The law finally catches up with him, and he finds himself facing a long term in grim federal prison. Almost inadvertently, he starts working in the prison kitchen and discovers both a talent and a passion for making good food. Early release lets him pursue his dream and reconnect with a loving family. This tale of hard-won redemption juxtaposes the worlds of haute cuisine and illicit drugs, slyly exploring the parallels between manufacturing a batch of crack cocaine and sauteing foie gras. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow; First Edition (March 1, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061153907
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061153907
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.97 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,396,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,984 in Culinary Biographies & Memoirs
- #8,463 in Black & African American Biographies
- #8,878 in Deals in Books

Customer Reviews:
234 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		82%
4 star		12%
3 star		3%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Veronica Hickman

Love Love Love!!!

Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2020

Verified Purchase

Wow!! Is all I can say. I'm so glad I came across this book. It was from my dad (who is also a Chef) As a city girl from the urban environment - I understood Chef Jeff in so many ways. Especially since growing up with brothers, friends, & family who did or is doing jail time. I love how raw and detailed this book was. I literally did not want to put it down but I took a few breaks so I would not read through it so fast. Chef Jeff just make you see how ANYTHING is possible no matter the road blocks YOU CAN DO IT!!! & He proved that. It also just shows how majority of everyone from the urban environment including myself do not have it easy. We have it a lot harder. We see violence often, we sometimes are on empty stomachs, we do not have the best role models all the time, etc. The list can go on and on. BUT, that does not define our FUTURE. Thank you sooooo much Chef Jeff for inspiring me and everyone else. I'm so happy and proud of all your accomplishments. You deserve it all!!!!! Best of luck with everything!!!!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

B. Wolinsky

Screwed by His Community, Saved by Work

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2014

Verified Purchase

It’s clear to me now what Jeff Henderson’s problem was, and it had nothing to do with drugs. His problem was that his father was a lousy role mode, always preaching that his clients were stupid and he had the right to steal from them. Young Jeff learned that hard work was for suckers and real men helped themselves to whatever they wanted. The boy’s mother was a welder, and while you’d think that’s a real macho job, you’re right. Problem was that in Jeff’s neighborhood, people were derided for doing real work. Worse, the men on her job site treated her like s***. They didn’t want a woman doing a man’s job. Jeff’s mother was the better role model, but thanks to sexist attitudes, his hustling father won. Jeff ended up losing.

Cooked is not so much a book about a chef as it is about proving yourself in work. He goes to jail barely out of his teens, never had a real job, but he learns to cook in a restaurant kitchen. Fresh out of jail, he finds that his father has pilfered the money he’d given him for safekeeping and his “tough black guy” attitude won’t work in a kitchen. The Mexican cooks, heavily represented in the culinary business, aren’t about to take it from him. You can feel their hostility from the get go. But the Mexican cooks are only in it as a job to make money. Jeff Henderson intends to turn it into a career, so as you guessed, he quickly moves on to another restaurant.

Cooking in restaurants is probably a great job for kids who can’t sit still. Unfortunately the training has to be paid for and few public schools have a really good culinary program. Henderson got his for free, but unfortunately he had to be in jail first. Marcus Samuelson got his free of charge, because in Sweden there are great trade schools. Here in the USA, the trade high school got killed by political correctness. Tell a kid he should forego college to become a chef, and his parents will scream bloody murder.

Something tells me that if Jeff Henderson had pursued a career in cooking while still in high school, he would never have gotten into drug dealing.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Getting Absorbed by Cooked

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2008

Verified Purchase

I first heard about Jeff Henderson from his television show The Chef Jeff Project in which Henderson, who spent 10 years in jail for drug trafficking, mentors troubled young adults in the area of fine cooking with the hope of steering them in the right direction and hooking them up for jobs.

My expectations for the book were not high, as I feared this celebrity chef had simply "told his story" to a ghost writer who did a quick job to make a book for money.

My presumption couldn't have been farther from the truth. As I later found out, Henderson began conceiving of the book, and writing it himself, decades ago in prison, haunted by the guilt that selling drugs to people on the streets was not a victimless crime but one of such devastation that he someday wanted to redeem himself and atone for his wrongs by imparting a powerful story of his self-reinvention and ultimate redemption.

His writing voice is powerful and authentic as he explains his rise as a drug dealer, his struggles in prison, and his excruciating post-prison growing pains as he uses all of his might to transform himself into a world-class chef (which he does), develop his personality into a leader, a mentor, and a statesman, disavowing his past criminal ways, and his dedication to his family and community.

This book is free of cant and sanctimonious self-aggrandizement. Henderson tells the story straight with no affectations. He uses his real voice, street vernacular and all. For me, hearing his story was even more powerful because I listened to the audio version, which Henderson reads himself. His voice has all the power such a compelling tale of transformation deserves. Highly recommended.

9 people found this helpful

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Denmark

Exceptional

Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2016

Verified Purchase

I do not believe there is an excessive amount of cursing in the book. To relate to these youngsters out here (those on the street and those not on the street) this is the language they use and/or hear every day. He has written an exceptional book; and he has shown that he is an exceptional man. I know that he will continue to thrive. We just all have to find our passion in life and thank God he found his albeit after being locked up. Let's expose our young people to all that we can so that they can find their passion before the street lays claim to them.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Awesome

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2007

Verified Purchase

I loved this book and would recommend it to familes that have youth in their homes, especially with drug crimes so high in our communities. I have a son that is currently serving a 11 year Federal sentence for crack cocaine and will share this book with him and his children. This is a great book to teach youth in Boys and Girls Club that what they see as far as drugs and living the good life, will come to an end. I work in the school system and ask youth on a regular basis what they want to be when they grow up, most boys say a drug dealer, that's what my father was. I ask where is father now, "in prison" but, I will be smarter than him and not get caught. I tell them from personal experience not what someone told me but they will end up one of two places in jail or dead, and to choose a more promising career, and to remember the choice is yours.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

joe_d

Good value

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 11, 2020

Verified Purchase

The item was described as exactly what it was.. It was absolutely perfect and it was delivered very quickly.

luc

Compelling

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 8, 2014

Verified Purchase

Well all this to demonstrate that a man cannot satisfy himself with this deceptive, dishonest demeanour at his peril.
Love God, work hard , have real life principles and appreciate life with what you have.

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