Research Catalog

Title

California soul : an American epic of cooking and survival / Keith Corbin with Kevin Alexander.

Author

Corbin, Keith, 1980-

Publication

New York : Random House, [2022]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

Alexander, Kevin (Food writer)

Description

x, 306 pages : illustrations; 22 cm

Summary

"Before becoming executive chef and part owner of the California soul food restaurant Alta Adams in West LA, Keith Corbin had spent a quarter of his life in prison. Renowned as the best cook of crack cocaine in Los Angeles, Corbin more or less raised himself on the streets of Watts, learning to cook crack when he was only thirteen. He knew he was doing it right if it had the consistency of the roux his granny made for her gumbo. It was a violent business-one that eventually landed Corbin in prison, where his skills at the stove gained him a reputation for making good food out of the normally unbearable prison diet. When after his release he takes a job as a line cook in a famous chef's new restaurant, Corbin is ready to lay low and leave gang life behind. Little did he know, his skill at the stove coupled with his determination to escape a life in the streets would eventually catapult him into the kitchens of some of the most acclaimed restaurants around the country, cooking food by day, crack by night just to get by. But success would change that, and in California Soul, Corbin shares the remarkable story of his culinary initiation. From swapping oxtail recipes with Jay-Z to packing heat at brunch and becoming a press-friendly human-interest piece for well-meaning gentrifiers, Corbin's story challenges the stereotype of rags-to-riches success and shows that as a Black man in America, there is no magic door to mainstream respectability. And even if there was, Corbin's not so sure he'd want to walk through it. Told in an unforgettable voice from a rising culinary star unlike any before, California Soul is the astonishing true story of Corbin's journey from the streets and back again, and a testament to the lifechanging power of making the most with what you're given"--

Subject

• Corbin, Keith, 1980-
• Cooks > California > Biography
• African American cooks > Los Angeles > Biography
• African Americans > Los Angeles > Biography
• Street life > Los Angeles > Anecdotes
• African American cooks
• African Americans
• Cooks
• Street life
• California
• California > Los Angeles
• United States

Genre/Form

• Anecdotes.
• Autobiographies.
• Biographies.

Contents

Family business -- What's going on -- Kitchen -- Dear mama -- How much a dollar cost -- Collect calls -- I got the keys -- I seen a man die -- Free game -- This is America -- Lord knows -- Perfect timing -- City 2 city -- Takeover -- The setup -- Dedication -- Substance -- I do this.

Call Number

Sc D 23-411

ISBN

• 9780593243824
• 059324382X
• 9780593243831 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

2022002253

OCLC

• 1293449481
• 1293449481

Author

Corbin, Keith, 1980- author.

Title

California soul : an American epic of cooking and survival / Keith Corbin with Kevin Alexander.

Publisher

New York : Random House, [2022]

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Local Subject

Black author.

Added Author

Alexander, Kevin (Food writer), author.

Research Call Number

Sc D 23-411