DRAPER FIRST
November 2020
A Special Publication by City Journal, Draper City, and South Valley Chamber of Commerce
Savor cornbread, collard greens and catfish at Southern Kitchen By Linnea Lundgren | linnea.l@mycityjournals.com
J
ulius Thompson believes in the Golden Rule. He’s also a firm believer in the lesser-known, but closely related, “Chef’s Rule”: “Feed people the way you want to be fed,” says Thompson, the chef and owner of Sauce Boss Southern Kitchen. “You need to put love and energy into the food you prepare.” Equipped with a lot of energy (he’s also an author and dad to five kids) and a love of good cooking, Thompson delivers up Southern delights like fried chicken, shrimp and grits, and spiced corn with blackened butter for Draper residents to enjoy. “Southern cooking is a celebration of American cuisine,” Thompson said. Soul food, a cuisine developed in the American South, was born of necessity. Many dishes originated with enslaved West Africans who were brought against their will to America during the colonial period. They were given rations of cornmeal and “thrown the odd piece of meat”
Cornmeal-coated catfish with candied yams. (Photo by Jack Berry Photography)
by slaveowners, explained Thompson, with which they had to construct hearty meals in order to keep up work in the fields. Recipes were passed down generation to generation by example. “It’s [a cuisine] that came from pain and anguish, but turned into something that’s truly American, that’s celebrated and truly beautiful,” he said.
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