posted October 25, 2008
Many people in the Chattanooga area know Kent Whitaker as the Deck Chef, or that local guy that writes cookbooks and goes on Food Network. Mr. Whitaker now has eight titles out ranging from cookbooks to kids books.
“Most are cookbooks that preserve regional food history or deal with tailgating, grilling or my favorite subject, barbecue. Now the Tennessee Hometown Cookbook as well as the Georgia Hometown Cookbooks are available.”
That genre of writing may be changing slightly for the East Ridge culinary expert. Mr. Whitaker is asking for help from military veterans of all services for a new project that deals with military cooking.
According to Mr. Whitaker, the new project combines his love for cooking, preserving food history and cooking with stories from veterans about military cooking.
“It’s a bit different, but so far very fun to work on,” Mr. Whitaker said.
“Ally and I were visiting our son Macee, who is an Army Cadet at North Georgia College and State University. He is in the National Guard as well. We were eating lunch and talking about food and military cooking when we started to remember some of the stories my father had told about Army food. Ally talked about her dads favorite stories as well. before long several people had chimed in on the subject.
“One man leaned back and told us about how good his food was on a sub. Another talked about beans and more beans in Germany after the war. One man mentioned the military chefs winning a competition recently on food network and another said good food in the military was like the term ‘Military Intelligence,’ it just don’t happen that often .”
Mr. Whitaker said he quickly decided to start writing things down.
“I talked with a few veterans we knew and even posted a few questions on military boards on the Internet. The response has been pretty fun. My favorite letter so far is from a nice lady who was able to eat with Winston Churchill during WWII. Another veteran emailed me about the time he told a cook to make his eggs the however would be easiest. The cook handed back a plate with two eggs till in the shell.”
While many of these stories are fun, Mr. Whitaker stresses that he has already decided not to focus only on humor. “There are some great men and women who served this country in the past, present and now as cooks, chefs and food service people. Stories and memories about this topic are often funny. I want to pay respect to all of these people who served.”
Mr. Whitaker said that right now he is collecting stories, recipes, photos and more from anyone interested in helping. “I am in the gathering process now. Any help would be appreciated. People that were in any service, family members that remember a loved one’s favorite story, a picture of cooks, camp food... anything along those lines are the type of thing I am looking for. I see this project combining my normal cookbook style with history, humor, pictures and more. I have even gotten recipes from retired cooks and military chefs.
“Ally and I have already decided that if this project is picked up by one of his publishers that we will make sure that a portion of the proceeds go as a donation to either the USO or to the Cadet Corps at North Georgia. We are not sure how that works yet, but we are going to make sure we can do something.”
Mr. Whitaker said people are free to email him stories or ask him questions at thedeckchef@hotmail.com or mail stories to Kent Whitaker 17 Wando Drive – East Ridge, Tn., 37412.
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