From the Mississippi Delta to Your Kitchen
Jan 05, 2021 05:04PM ● By Katrina Hall
Chef Karrin Jones is from Jackson, Mississippi and currently heads the kitchen at Walrus Oyster & Ale House in Columbia, Maryland. She expresses her creativity in well-built flavors, harkening back to the richness and simplicity of southern staples. The balance between her personal rhythm and culinary creativity is what she credits her success to. “The best chefs are managers who know how to cook. If you can't translate that camaraderie, that teamwork from the kitchen to the plate, it doesn’t work.” Chef Jones often found herself working in a male dominated environment. She cites that the negativity that came from the 'boys club' of cooking helped her truly focus on her craft. Jones used that negativity to fuel her passion, driving her to refine her culinary skills.
The avid jazz fan uses music to inspire her culinary creativity. When asked what she would cook for her favorite musician, Miles Davis, she describes a menu of “ Homemade burrata (Italian cow milk cheese), braised lamb shank atop gorgonzola polenta, and white bean and kale soup. Call me a Harlem renaissance woman, his music pulls on my creative side and allows me to come up with awesome menu ideas!” When at home in nearby Washington D.C., her favorite cuisine includes Italian and seafood dishes playing to her love for scallops. Chef Jones plans on exploring Columbia when pandemic restrictions loosen, spending her free time listening to old jazz records and hopefully, thinking of something delicious to share with us.