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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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Sigma Chi Fraternity: Willette Booker, Cook

“[Every Friday] is Fried Friday; that’s what we call it--Fried Friday…Tomorrow [for example] we have macaroni and cheese wedges--I will deep fry them. It’s--it’s breaded. It’s a breaded macaroni and cheese and it’s real good.”

--Willette Booker

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: Sigma Chi Fraternity at The University of Mississippi
SUBJECT: Willette Booker, cook
DATE: April 22, 2004
LOCATION: Sigma Chi kitchen
INTERVIEWER: Mary Beth Lasseter

Mary Beth Lasseter: Testing, one, two, three. Today is Thursday, April 22nd I do believe. This is Mary Beth Lasseter and I at the Sigma Chi House on the campus at the University of Mississippi back here in the kitchen to do an oral history as part of the Southern Foodways Alliance Oral History Project. May I get your name for the record?

Willette Booker: Willette Booker.

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So; where are you from? And you can work while you do this.

Oh I’m waiting on my grill to get hot. [I’m from] here--you know Mississippi, right here in Oxford.

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So how did you come to work in the Sigma Chi House?

Well I used to work at ATO House and then I left ATO and came over here.

So how long have you been on campus?

Oh I’ve been on campus--I’ve been here for four years. I worked for ATO for two years. Then I worked at [Inaudible] Johnson Company; I worked there for about three years as their cashier.

So how did you move--how did you get involved in the Greek houses?

More money. [Laughs] You know more money.

Really; how did you find out about the opening?

Well a friend told me about it when I was at ATO and then in the summertime I just looked for something else and I just [inaudible].

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Do you like working here?

I love to cook. I love to cook.

What do you like to cook?

I cook anything.

Do you cook at home?

Yeah; sometimes--mostly on the weekend, but not the weekdays.

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So when you cook up here, do you cook things that you would cook at home or is this unlike--?

Yeah; because there are a lot of things that I don’t eat, my husband will eat, and I will cook it.

How has your job changed, or what is your typical day like, I guess would be a better question?

Busy--busy, busy, busy. [Laughs]

When do you come in?

I come in at nine in the morning and get off at six in the evening.

And what do you do while you’re here?

Most things I do is see what’s on the menu and then decide to have [inaudible] or whatever in the freezer or [inaudible] I can get out of and set that up and just start preparing it. It’s a job.

So do you cook breakfast?

No, I don’t cook breakfast; another lady named Debra cooks breakfast. And she do the salad bar and then depending on what I have for lunch, she’ll help me out with my lunch before I get in, depending on what I have. Like if I have spaghetti, she’ll brown the beef for me or charcoal it or something like that; or hamburger special, you know she’ll put that hamburger in for me. So if it’s something that I just can’t do within about an hour and a half to two hours, she’ll kind of do it for me.

Is that usually how much time that you spend cooking a meal?

Yes; I get started now when I come in and lunch is at 11. So I have from 9 to 11 to have it ready to be put on the line for them to go. A lot of time I have it ready before they even get in here.

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Okay; what did y’all have for lunch today?

Something easy--we had Hot Pockets and Stove House Pizza. And then we had spaghetti last night; so I put that out, plus I made spaghetti and the few vegetables that we had. So it was kind of easy today.

Do y’all serve a lot of pre-made foods or--?

We cook all our food.

From scratch?

Yes, yes; even the Sloppy Joe. [Laughs]

And how do you do that?

Well we add ketchup, Worcestershire Sauce, and brown sugar.

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So tell me about how you get along with [the boys].

Oh I love them; they are a wonderful group. Some are--but most of them, they are--they are group--like I love these guys. I really do. I really do. They respect me; they really do.

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Well do they ever come and hang out with you in the kitchen or--?

Some of them do; some of them.

And do they have any favorites? I see you’re cooking hamburgers tonight.

We have hamburgers every Thursday. If it had been raining, we would have been out there on that grill. So we have hamburgers every Thursday. They love spicy chicken sandwiches--love spicy--they could have that every day.

And how do you do those?

Deep fry them in the fryer.

And tomorrow is Friday isn’t it?

Fried Friday; that’s what we call it--Fried Friday. [Laughs] They know about Fried Fridays.

Tell me about that. What’s on tap tomorrow?

Tomorrow we have macaroni and cheese wedges--I will deep fry them.

How do you do that?

It’s--it’s breaded. It’s a breaded macaroni and cheese and it’s real good; it tastes just like macaroni and cheese…They come already prepared. They have a crust on them like having macaroni and cheese on the inside. It got a real nice crust to it; and they going to have chicken nuggets and they going to have corn dog nuggets and they going to have a surprise; so that’s usually on my Fried Friday.

Sounds good; how does working here at the Sigma Chi House compare to working in the ATO House? Is it the same or different?

Well it’s--this kitchen is bigger. In a way it’s different--it’s different. We have more boys over here than they did at the ATO; so it’s real different.

Do you keep in touch with the people you used to work with over there?

Uh-hm; I go over there and visit them every now and then. Every chance I get, I’ll go over and visit them.

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Well how do you think working in a place like this compares to working in a restaurant? I mean do you think it’s busier or crazier or--?

I imagine it is--it is because I’ve worked at both buildings in the summer time and I’m like, uh-uh [Laughs], and that they prepare about the same thing every day, but it’s--it’s busy and you never know how many people are coming and you have to constantly run into each other--this and that; so I rather be here than at a restaurant.

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Well who taught you how to cook?

My mom.

Tell me about your mom.

My momma always had been a cook. I just used to stay in the kitchen with her--when she in the in the kitchen cooking, I’d just stay in the kitchen with her, just lining up different--different things for her. So I learned from my momma, and then as I grew up and in high school we had a class called Occupational Foods and that’s like a two-year class, but it’s three hours. It’s like a two-year class; so I took that up; after you know watching my momma and wanting to be in the kitchen with her; so that kind of helped along a lot until she about when she [inaudible].

So when you were at school, did you know you wanted to cook?

Yeah; I did. I did. And then I worked at--after I got out of high school, I worked at Diana’s Confection and that taught me a lot.

What’s that?

[Diana’s Confection]--she’s gone out of business now. It used to be a cake painter--cake pastry thing; but she do all kinds of cakes, cookies, candies--I mean just everything.

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How do you like working on campus? Do you just--do you spend a lot of time up here when you’re not at work?

Nope; I avoid campus when I’m not at work. [Laughs] The only time I might come through here is when I’m going out by Wal-Mart, if I come out through this way--go by Wal-Mart or if I’m going like toward my mom house, sometimes I come to, but other than that--no campus.

Why not?

Uh-uh. These students drive crazy. These students drive crazy and I try to avoid them.

Now, do you keep in touch with the boys after they graduate at all?

I ask about them or they’ll let me know such and such doin’ such and such; so you know if I see some of the guys and I know they know, I pretty much try to. I try to ask around.

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I would love to have my own business one day if I stop being lazy.

What kind of business would you run?

It would pretty much be more or less like a fast food and you know [inaudible]. Something like--nothing like a restaurant; you know nothing like that--just something like a fast food with--.

Yeah; what would you serve? Would you have like a food specialty or--?

Yes; I have--yeah; I would. I’d have something [I served; like if I served--had burgers and make mashed potatoes and gravy, you know something like that; that will be for one day and then you know just have something that day, like on a Monday--by Sunday, I want to serve that every Monday. You know every now and then it might change up, but I want to serve something like that--like on Monday and then like on Thursday--maybe [inaudible] you know and then people like fried catfish, you know--just something simple.

Yeah; do you think you could talk your siblings into helping you out?

No, because I love being in the kitchen by myself…I love being in the kitchen by myself. They can be like, “Willette, can I help?” I’ll be like, “No; get out of my kitchen. I’ll do it on my own.” So they pretty much know not to ask if they can help when I’m doing something ‘cause I know what I’m doing and I know where things is and I just go right [straight to it] instead of walking over you. You’re in my way; go sit down and [inaudible].

What do you like best about cooking?

I just love cooking; I just love it. I really do.

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