Southern Living: ‘Southern Chefs Reveal The Best Cooking Advice They've Ever Received From Their Moms’
By Aly Walansky | May 9th, 2025
For many chefs, their first experience in the kitchen was cooking with their mothers and grandmothers. It was these beloved female role models that taught important lessons some of the most celebrated chefs use in their kitchens and restaurants to this day. From old-school prep advice to using the right ingredients in the correct way, these are lessons that shaped the chefs they turned into today.
Darian "DJ" Jackson
Chef Darian "DJ" Jackson learned how to cook from two incredible women: his grandmother and his mother. "My grandmother had this almost magical rhythm in the kitchen. She never seemed rushed, yet everything was done quickly and flawlessly. I remember her teaching me how to scramble eggs when I was little—not just throwing them in a pan, but showing me how to shift the heat, high to medium to low and back again, then off. Years later, I saw Gordon Ramsay explain the same method on TV, and I realized my grandmother had been on that level all along. She didn’t use measurements, she cooked by instinct," he said.
Jackson's mother, on the other hand, was a master baker. "There was nothing she couldn’t bake. From her, I learned patience, precision, and how important it is to understand the rules before you bend them. She taught me that baking is science, but it’s also about energy. If your mind and heart aren't in sync while you’re baking, your food won’t land right. I was a heavy-footed kid, always running around—until I learned that even footsteps could ruin a cake rising in the oven. That’s how serious she was about care in the kitchen," said Jackson.
For Jackson's family, food wasn’t just survival, it was legacy. "We ran catering and baking businesses, and our reputation back home was built on what came out of our kitchens. Cooking wasn’t just about feeding people, it was about connection, pride, and purpose. That’s what they both gave me."
Chef Darian "DJ" Jackson of The Southern Gentleman at Buckhead Village in Atlanta, Georgia
Read the rest of the piece on Southern Living…