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This project was made possible by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council

Project Contributors:
John Hunter Allgood, John T. Edge, Amy Evans, Mary Beth Lasseter and Kendra Myers

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Kappa Sigma Fraternity: Johnny Brown, Cook

“[C]ooking is hard. It’s harder than it looks. It really is. It’s not easy. But…once you learn, it’s fun. Because you can always create something different.”

--Johnny Brown

What follows is a portion of the original interview that has been edited for length. To download the entire transcript in PDF form, please click here.

HOUSE: Kappa Sigma Fraternity at The University of Mississippi
SUBJECT: Johnny Brown, cook
DATE: April 6, 2004
LOCATION: Kappa Sigma Dining Room
INTERVIEWER: Amy Evans

Amy Evans: This Amy Evans on Tuesday, April sixth, two-thousand and four, and I’m at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house at the University of Mississippi with Johnny Brown. Johnny, would you mind stating your name and your age, if you don’t mind, for the record?

Johnny Brown: I’m Johnny Brown, thirty-six years old. I’ve worked for Kappa Sigma--almost four years now, and it’s a good place to work.

Okay. What’s your role here at Kappa Sigma?

Well, um, I cook breakfast. And I do lunch. And, uh—it’s just what I do.

Okay…And what, um—Mrs. Gough [Kappa Sigma housemother] was just telling me that you’re one of their [the fraternity member’s] favorites here.

Right.

Because you’ll cook anything they want. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Yeah. Uh, basically, when they come in the morning time, um, some—some of them want omelets. Uh, cheese eggs. Uh, French toast. I basically cook just about what they want.

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And where’d you learn to cook?

Well, I went to cooking school.

Did you?

Well, two years.

Where?

In Knoxville. It’s a class that they have up there. It’s not a school that they have year-round, but a—a—it’s like a, uh—school that they have—they hold a class up there this year, and next year they’ll come back and finish the class up. So, two years. That be it then.
Well, what made you want to go to cooking school?
Well, I like to cook. Uh, it’s pretty fun.

Was cooking school what you thought it would be?

Pretty hard. Real hard.

Hard, how?

You have to, um, mix a lot of stuff and, uh, you got to get the—basically, they put it out there and just learn how to cook it. They tell you what to cook, and you got to learn how to do it…And it’s not easy. It’s—it’s harder than what it—what it seems like and what it sounds. Uh-huh.

Before you went to cooking school you cooked a lot at home?

I did. I cooked a lot at home.

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Did you work anywhere, um, between cooking school and coming to Kappa Sigma?

Yeah, I did. Um, I worked at the Regency [Hotel] in Knoxville—the--the Hyatt Regency…I was a cook there and, um—uh, we cooked for probably [short pause] about two hundred peoples a night. And, um, it was—it was real fun. And, uh—I cooked there at the Regency, I cooked at a, um, s—steak house in Knoxville. And moved back here to Oxford and, um, cooked at Kappa Delta. A girl’s sorority. It was fun there too. So—basically, I been cooking for a while. About fift--About fifteen years.

How did you find out that there was an opening here on campus?

Well, um, I heard about it—just by mouth. Someone told me about it…And so I came and checked, and I talked to Ms. Gough, and she hired me.

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Well, what’s a typical day like here [at Kappa Sigma]?

Pretty busy. [Short pause] Pretty busy, um—pretty fun. Uh, the guys keep you laughing all the time. And, um, mess with you. Joke with you a lot. So—

What time do you start work in the morning?

Six in the morning.

And do most of the boys come down—what time for breakfast?

Uh, most of them come down around seven-thirty. Seven-thirty in the morning…And about quarter to nine, so—pretty busy most all morning.

And then do you start cooking lunch immediately after breakfast?

Uh, we do. I do. I start up lunch, and we get through lunch at one-thirty. So, it’s—pretty good.

Do you have roles in the kitchen? I know there are two other cooks—

Yeah…My role is, uh, breakfast, um, washing dishes and, um, I clean up after them—after lunch time and breakfast time so—basically, uh, kind of busy all day long…Up unto, uh, about a quarter [to] two.

Okay. And Ms. Gough was telling me that you have—there are about forty-five guys who live here and about a hundred and fifty members.

Right.

Um, and how—could you maybe speak to how working at a fraternity house—cooking at a fraternity house might be different, if at all, from working in the hotel business?

Well, for one thing, you have different peoples—look, the boys here, they, um, you know—it’s just a lot of different stuff. And some of the stuff kind of strange, and you have to make it up.

How do you mean?

T—to fit their taste and, um—some want a hot sauce omelet. You know, stuff like that. You know. You have to make it up to fit their tastes…You know, so it’s—its real different.

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Do you like this better than the hotel business? Or the same?

Yeah, because you have a little more freedom…And, you know, it’s—it’s more fun. It’s in the open. You—you don’t have to be so barred down with it.

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So what kind of relationship do you have with the pledges and the—the members here?

We have a good--good relationship. Yeah. Uh, basically, I’m friends with—basically, all of them. But—w—basically, there’s one, um, that I see a lot. And, uh, I leave at, uh, two so many times I don’t see ‘cause they come to dinner time. They don’t come to lunch or breakfast so--But, uh—I enjoy them. I’m pretty good friends with them.

Um-hmm. Do you have some good stories…about your time here after four years?

[Laughs. Short pause] Yeah, I probably couldn’t say it on tape though. [Laughs] but it’s good—

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Do you cook at home?

Yes, I do. Um, I’m basically the one to cook at home. I do.

What kind of things do you cook at home?

Well, I cook, um, lasagna. I cook a lot of, um, vegetables and stuff like that. And uh—quiche. Uh, different kind of pies and cakes.

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Um, and so what do you do during the summer when the house is closed?

Well, I’ve done some—I’ve done some—sometimes I—sometimes I work in the summertime. And, um, uh, I work out a lot. I teach martial arts…Tullahoma [Mississippi]. And I have tournaments a lot so, uh, basically—that’s what I do in the summertime.

Are any of the members here—have they taken martial arts classes from you?

No. No, they haven’t. No, they haven’t. Um, I’ve got a couple guys I jog with in the morning time that’s here—uh, like I jog two miles before I come to work every morning so—I work—a couple guys.  Um-hmm.

Well, what’s the favorite part about your job here?

What the favorite part is, uh [short pause] is—it’s stress free. Yeah. Stress-free and, um, I get along with everybody, you know…You always got something to laugh about. [Short pause] So—that’s what I like about it.

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Okay. Um, are there many special events that y’all prepare food for over [course of] the year.

Yes, we have a lot of, uh, dinners here for the parents and, uh, we have, um, s—uh, banquets here too. We c—a lot of banquets that we cook for here…And, uh, we—like for the [foot]ball games we do the food for the ball games and everything. So we basically do a lot. A lot. It’s pretty good.

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And after four years, are there any, um, guys that you keep in touch with? That come back to visit you or the kitchen?

Yeah. Um, um-hmm. They do. They did. Uh, there about—there’s three of them that I know for sure that keep in touch with me. So. Yeah. And they’re, uh, good friends to have. Pretty good.

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What are some other favorite foods that the guys have?

Um, like, um, little fruit pies. Stuff like that. Uh, honey buns. Donut type stuff. They like that. Ms. Gough was also saying that, um, you know, she does the ordering—OR you all share the responsibility of ordering for the kitchen…And, um, that the menu doesn’t really change a whole lot, and you kind of stay with the—the standard that the guys like….to serve so many—so many people. Um—

Right.--are there things that if you had your, you know, run of the kitchen that you would serve or like to try?

Yeah. I probably would, uh, um, do a lot of pasta dishes. Pasta and, um, probably a lot of protein dishes too. I would. I—I would do that. And [short pause] that’s what I’d probably do. And I would change it up a lot—the menu up a lot. And try to try something different. And, you know, just see—just see what they like.

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Well, back to your own family a little bit, um, did your father cook when you were growing up?

No, my father didn’t cook…but my mom—my mom, she did cook. She cooked. For twenty years. And, um, she—

Professionally, you mean?

Yes, she did.

Where did she cook?

Well, she cooked—well, when we was in Knoxville, uh, we—she had a little restaurant she ran for a long time.

What was that?

It was, um, Little Brown House.

What kind of food was it?

It was like, uh, more of a s—southern food, you know. And—chicken, a lot of vegetables, stuff like that. Pies. So—it was—did it for a while. And she ran—just—just retired from it.

Did you spend a lot of time in there?

A whole lot.

Would you say that’s where you learned to cook?

Well, basically—pro—probably so. But I—I say that a lot. I watched—I watched—so, I believe so.

Okay. Um, do expect your—do you expect any of your [own] children—your boys will have cooking in their genes and follow your footsteps?

Probably so. But I—I would tell them to, um—cooking is hard. It’s—it’s harder than it looks. It really is. It’s not easy. But it—but—once you learn, it’s fun. Because you can always create something different. So. But, uh, yeah. That’d be good if they did. You know? Be a chef.

To download the entire transcript in PDF form, please click here.