Cornelius Lathan, caterer, cooking show personality and master of the pop-up — a temporary setup showcasing one’s culinary talents — hails from Chattanooga’s Oak Grove neighborhood and began his culinary career as a personal chef in homes and businesses around the Scenic City. As his creativity and word of his talent spread, business started booming, and he started a catering company, Rileigh & Company. But when he introduced his love of cooking to the world via YouTube TV and social media (Instagram and Facebook), his love of soul food and other fare became an instant hit.
Here, he talks about his family roots and the traditions of African American cooking as America celebrates Black History Month.
Q: Do you come from a family of cooks?
A: My grandmother was a great cook. She specialized in soul food, but the memories about the food and cooks from her childhood began to fade as she got older, and she actually didn’t speak much about it. My dad’s side resides in Grenada, Mississippi, but a lot of that side I’ve never met, so that part of my identity is still unknown. I feel like I’m still in search of my culinary identity.
Q: Who had the biggest influence on your decision to pursue a culinary career?
A: There were two people actually. First, my uncle Ed Barnes. He was the first person to ever taste my food and instill in me the confidence I needed early in life to take on such a career. Secondly, I would have to say my oldest daughter, Rileigh. When she was born, it lit a fire in me, and at that moment I had to really dive deep and decide what it was that I wanted to do in my life and what I could create to leave behind for her and my future kids so they would have some sort of head start at life.
Q: Have you received any formal culinary training?
A: I took a nine-month culinary program that was offered as a diploma program from Culinard (now closed). They taught me the basics, like making sauces and stocks. But a lot of my training came from self-research, on-the-job training and staging, an unpaid internship a cook takes to learn new techniques.
Q: What’s one of your earliest memories of cooking?
A: I remember this like it was yesterday. My sister, Kanesha, and I were at the house with my Uncle Ed, and we wanted something sweet. I remember getting on the computer and searching for funnel cake recipes. When we found that we had all the ingredients to make it, we did, and from what I remember, they were great!
Q: When did you start your cooking show, and what is your specialty?
A: I started my cooking show in 2020 in the heart of the pandemic when everyone was on lockdown. I don’t really have a specialty for the show — it’s just me having fun with no rules and teaching people how to make awesome dishes in a fraction of the time in their home kitchens.
Q: February is Black History Month, so are you styling any of your menus around historically African American foods?
A: No, because for 365 days a year, I make it my duty to incorporate my roots and heritage into every dish that I create. It’s the only way I know how to cook and express myself as an African American chef. Whatever the ethnicity of the dish, you will always see some traces of my heritage in the dish.
Q: Tell me about your pop-ups. Where all have you had them?
A: My pop-ups are awesome. The majority of the time they take place at the Kitchen Incubator of Chattanooga. That’s where my chef commissary is located and the location that I and a dozen other chefs call home. The pop-ups act as a takeout restaurant. In the warmer months, we set up tables and tents in the parking lot so you can sit outside and enjoy your meals. The pop-ups are pretty big events where we can see foot traffic from a couple hundred people to even thousands depending on the days and menus being offered.
Q: Do the pop-ups help you with your cooking show or vice versa? How do they complement each other?
A: They actually have. If I make an item on my cooking show and it’s a hit, the viewers often ask me to make that dish for the pop-up so they can purchase it. Honestly, that’s how the pop-ups began because of my most-popular video on YouTube. People saw the video and wanted to try the dish, so I gave the viewers what they wanted.
Q: What kinds of events have you catered?
A: I’ve been fortunate enough to cater for big banks in the city, weddings, parties, the city of Chattanooga, the mayor and Hamilton County Schools, to name a few. My cooking style is very versatile. so I can pretty much cater any event. If you need catering, I’m your guy.
Q: What’s the one cooking tool in your kitchen that would be hard to live without?
A: The spoon — it’s so versatile. You can flip, baste, mix, fold, etc. with a big spoon. The spoon, in my opinion, is the most neglected kitchen tool, but for me it’s most definitely one I can’t live without.
Q: Is there an ingredient or spice that you’re liking these days, and how are you using it?
A: It’s not new, but I feel it doesn’t get its due justice: Okra. It tastes amazing and is by far one of the best vegetables ever. It can also act as a thickener for soups and gumbos. In my eyes, okra is the king of vegetables.
Q: What food is your guilty pleasure?
A: Barbecue ribs, okra — prepared any way — Jamaican jerk chicken and jerk ox tails. I can literally eat those items every day of my life and never get bored.
Q: What’s your dream dinner? Who would be at the table with you?
A: My Uncle Ed, chef Kwame Onwuachi (restaurateur and executive producer at Food & Wine magazine), chef Sean Brock (Nashville chef and restaurateur) and chef Michael Caines (executive chef at Michelin-starred Lympstone Manor in Devon, England. And chef B.J. Dennis would be cooking and serving us dinner because I feel the cuisine he specializes in is the cuisine that represents the world: Gullah/Geechee. In my opinion, that cuisine is rooted far beyond the Charleston, South Carolina, coast. It’s rooted in every continent in the world.
Q: Is there a food trend that’s being overdone these days?
A: I don’t believe so. I’ve honestly been enjoying all the trends, and as a chef, I feel they keep me sharp. It’s always good to see what everyone else is enjoying.
Q: Describe your favorite date night out in town.
A: My wife and I would have dinner prepared by me on a rooftop somewhere or a nice place under the stars. As for the menu, I don’t know what it would be, but it would most definitely be something delicious.
Charleston-Inspired Shrimp and Grits
This recipe is on the catering menu for Cornelius Lathan’s Rileigh & Company.
For the grits:
1 cup Geechee Boy grits (or other stone-ground grits)
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups whole milk
For the shrimp and gravy:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
Granulated garlic, two taste
Granulated onion, to taste
Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning, to taste
2 ounces country ham or beef smoked sausage
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 pound (16-20 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined
To finish:
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
Put the grits in a container with enough water to cover. Cover the container, and refrigerate overnight.
Use a fine-mesh sieve to skim off any hulls or chaff from the surface of the water, being careful not to disturb the water too much so that none of the bits sink back into the grits. Strain out water, and transfer the grits to a large saucepan. Add chicken stock and milk, and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula or a wire whisk.
Cook, stirring often, until grits are very soft and tender, about 1 hour. Taste the grits every 15 minutes or so to check their progress.
For shrimp and gravy: Make a roux with butter and flour, then add 2 cups of chicken stock to create a velouté. Season to taste with salt, granulated garlic, granulated onion and a sprinkle of Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning.
In a separate skillet, sauté beef sausage or country ham in a teaspoon of canola oil. Once browned, add to the velouté along with the shrimp, and cook, stirring gently until shrimp is cooked completely, about 3 minutes.
To finish and plate: Remove the grits from the heat, and stir in the salt, butter and cheeses. Give them a good stir, plate and garnish with green onions.
Contact Anne Braly at abraly@timesfreepress.com or annebraly.com.