The Independent from London, Greater London, England • 10

HOME M0NDAT4 JUNE 2007 THE INDEPENDENT THE INDEPENDENT MONDAY 4 JUN 200.7 HOME 11 THE QUEEN OF Soul European Jambalaya 10 Orleans. You can iw made or even SOUIL Soul European version. hj intysiced f. 4. in tablespoon of 7 FOO neaspoon cumin seeos if you have them; 400g easy-cook Amencan-y -nturmenc jMtrBptte.

theCajunSeasQn.ngandhaW yt 5 minute unt.Uhe. ln addtheChorizaCookw" faeranceandcoatwepan.i areWorred about tne thedishwftheA Minimum, and stir well, then aoaw SaUoftheseaJe blesandtheworchic Itaoiespuui. carta, K. Charita Jones's passion for food took her from the mean streets of Philadelphia to her own restaurant on Brighton seafront. Now, thanks to a televised roasting from Gordon Ramsay, she is publishing her own book of recipes.

Emily Dugan reports "PI7 inctotaste. InuS hoatandadO She had fed 30 foster children and thought she'd try out her 1 is making no attempt to play it and I'm really proud of it "They tried to get me to have a food stylist" she laughs, "but I didn't want it to be perfect, I wanted it tobe real" So the soul food disciple went to London for Jones says has been made famous for all the wrong reasons by KFG. "Fried chicken was one of the first things I learnt to says Jones. "There is no mystery to its preparation or cooking at alL" When Gordon Ramsay visited her restaurant he helped Momma Cherri reinvent a true stalwart of Southern cooking: the sweet potato. The salad he created, which uses a soured cream dressing, has been christened Cousin Gordon's Sweet Potato Salad, and is included in her new cookery book.

Jones, who came to Britain as a gospel singer, had no professional catering experience. She setup Momma Cherris Soul food Shack in Brighton in 2001 on pure She had fed 30 foster children over the years, and thought she'd try out her home-cooking on the public opening a -LA reveals the real ethos of soul food. Jones explains: "Soul food is about using what you have and not wasting a thing. If you cook a vegetable then you'll use the root, the stem and the leaves." In a time when healthy eating has become an obsession, some have been sceptical of Jones's hearty meals. But Momma Cherri does not go in for faddy cuisine should be about filling people up; You won't find any drizzle on my food.

You need to see it, and it should stick to your ribs." The fill-you-up philosophy is hardly surprising Her childhood was marked by poverty and hardship. She was beaten daily and finding enough clothes and food was a constant struggle. Even now she hates buying new things. I don't know how to buy anything, and I still go to charity shops for my clothes." Jones remamed defiant in the strictly segregated society of the 1950s. Ignoring rules that forbade her from drinking from "whites only" fountains.

She was furious when her family decided she was too youngto join them on the march for civil rights in Washington. Unlike many of her peers however, Jones managed to go through college, and it was as a gospel singer that she first came to the UK, aged 2a The stage career began somewhat inauspiciously. Jones worked asastage manager with a WestEndgospel musical called Little Willie Junior'sResurrection. The show dealt with be the history of gospel music, but no one considered how the title would my form a show, but not necessarily a business show Jones explains. "After two years it started to fall apart and I was ready to close the business." So when she got a letter from GordonRamsay's production company saying they were looking for strugingrestaurantsto turn around, Jones was quick to respond "I begged him to come, but when he tasted my food he couldn't see what the problem It Was onhrwhenhe sawhow the finances were going that he realised we needed help," Ramsay made sure the staff worked for their money, and the When Jones got a letter from Gordon Ramsay's producers she was quick to respond restaurant became one of the success stories of Gordon Ram-say'sKjtchenNightmaresm2m4.

As a result, Brighton has become host to a restaurant phe-nomenm that celebrates the culinary legacy ofthepre-civil rights era. Soul food comes from the home-cookingofAfncan slaves The best-known dishes are BBQ ribs, Jambalaya and fried chicken, but typical ingredients include black-eyed peas and sweet potataThe motto of her restaurant, "you might come in skinny but you aintgoin' out that OfflSttHUl iriniraraiTTO Growing up in a Philadelphia ghetto in segregated 1950s America, Charita Jones always knew the value of food. The oldest of four children of a single mother; she was responsible for cooking for the family: But no one could have predicted how far soul food would take the restaurateur now known as Momma CherrL Half a century later, Jones's fame has crossed the Atlantic. After taking Brighton by storm, and with a little help from Gordon Ramsay the queen of soul food is about to release her own cookery book and DVD. African-American cuisine, conceived in a distant and harsher age, has its own celebrity chef should be stressed, is not for those obsessed with dieting.

Jones's signature dish is jambalaya, a rice dish that "uses up whatever's in your First developed in New Orleans, it uses gumbo file, a green powder that comes from the American sassafras tree. It is usually made with chicken, but after some length research, Momma Cherri came up with her own fish and vegetable varieties. Another soul food staple is Southern fried chicken, which iLfi a week to be photographed cook- reCipeS On Xne ing every single recipe herself The DVD is coming out with PUDIIC her seven fevourite recipes, all filmed in one take. The fame is welcome but be received in Britain: "Every- Jones describes herself as "the one thought it was a sex show country's poorest celebrity So We used to get men leaving half far the proceeds from her tele-way through who had thought vision appearances have gone they were going to get pom" The sti back into the restaurant show was not a hit hut Jones de- Last year the business expand-cided to stay on in the country ed to include a second Brighton with her British husband, PhiL venue, Mommas Kg House, but Fbfawhile she carried on per- money is still tight forming, working as a backing DncethebookandDVD come singer for soul artists, including outall that may change Butbeing the AlabamaThree and Peter onthebrinkoffinancialsuccess (keen, But the next two decades seems unlikely to turnher head, were taken up children; first MK8 not about says her owntwo daughters, and then Jones, "I want to be able to do asuccessicnofdOfbsterchildren. what my mother wasn't able to Jones began festering because do for us, and leave something shewantedtoshowchfldrenthat behind for my children and grandchildren" youcanstiUgoplaces ifyouwork The book launch will be held hard at the October Gallery in Momma Cherri's has profited Bloomsbury tomorrow, It is like- from the same philosophy ly to be a somewhat unusual lit- The restaurant could not be erary occasion ul don't know further from closure and the much about book launches," forthcoming cookeiybool called chuckles Jones, but this is going Momma Cherri's Soul In a Bowl tobearealpartyJwantfriends, Cookbook, is the final sign that soul music and lots and lots and Charita Jones has made it She lots of food." and the Palace Pier.

Momma Cherri's quickly became a popular weekend spot, but the business wasashambles. Astaff of young people preferred to hang out at the restaurant rather than work, and Jones was in so much debt that her prices had rocketed. The advertising budget was spent largely on ailing publications Jones took pity on. Urgent help was required. Jones tried everything to get PR for the restaurant She even applied to the Channel 4 series Wife Swap, thinking she could use it to plug her business, but when she was turned down she began to consider dosing.

1 come from a theatrical background, so I know how to per mm vx.