Cooking with Heart and Soul

Long before Isaac Hayes became the voice of "Chef" on the wildly popular and irreverent television show South Park, he was a food lover. His fondest and most enduring memories are those associated with his Tennessee boyhood and helping his grandmother to prepare traditional Southern soul food. Before becoming an Academy Award-winning composer, Hayes was a short-order cook. And somewhere in a career spanning more than four decades, he was a single father who cooked for five children and shared recipes with friends, professional chefs, and family. The commercial successes in music, film, television, and radio came and went and came again-but always there was the food.

Cooking with Heart and Soul is pure Isaac Hayes-one part hot buttered soul, one part chocolate salty balls, and a big helping of comfort. It's a mix of traditional home cooking and healthy eating, with a touch of the gourmet-and lots of stories from a life lived to the fullest. This is a rare collection of recipes and reminiscences that reveals Isaac's passionate and eclectic interests from soul food and soul music to superstars and super-nutrients. It is as inspiring and satisfying as his Mama's Fried Cream Corn recipe.