By Blake Bell
The dynamic duo of chef and Viking Cooking School instructor LeAnne Gault and culinary advocate and former chef Malcolm White came together Saturday in front of a packed house at Catfish Row Museum in downtown Vicksburg for the latest in this year’s Summer Chef Series.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen it quite this busy,” Catfish Row Museum Executive Director Linda Fondren said as more chairs were brought into the demonstration area prior to the presentation.
Gault, along with son Noah, presented a pair of dishes for the crowd, including Catfish Piccata and Elfo’s Special.
White, known to many from Hal and Mal’s, the Jackson institution he co-founded with his late brother Hal, as well as from his time running Tuminello’s Kitchen in Vicksburg and co-hosting “Deep South Dining” on Mississippi Public Broadcasting, said Gault brought her own special spin to the piccata dish.
“She’s made some traditional dishes with some non-traditional twists on them, which I’m so excited to dig in and explore,” White said. “Think about this, folks. Instead of using capers on this piccata, she’s using lady peas, which she pickled at home.”
Gault also prepared Elfo’s Special, which she said was inspired by one of Memphis chef John Grisanti’s signature dishes.
White said Gault’s Mississippi Delta pedigree has played a large role in the dishes she makes, a resume that includes time spent in Greenville, Greenwood, Indianola and Yazoo City.
White said the pair, who has collaborated on several culinary projects over the years, were both inspired by their time in the Delta.
“The great Greenville writer David Cohn once wrote that the Mississippi Delta begins in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel and ends at Catfish Row in Vicksburg,” he said. “Thus the name of this esteemed establishment.”
White and Gault’s offerings may have drawn a large crowd Saturday, but Fondren said, for anyone who missed the presentation, there is still time to get in on the Summer Chef Series in 2025. It will continue Saturday, July 26, as Chef Enrika Williams brings her signature style for “Bohemian Bites and Southern Roots.” Chef Taylor Bowen-Ricketts will close the season with “Southern Fresh: Tradition with a Twist” Saturday, Aug. 9.
