A Kingly kitchen

Southern Living, Oct 1995 by Gee, Denise

The King of Rock 'n' Roll's legendary appetite for showiness ultimately was surpassed by a notorious appetite for food.

But since his death in 1977, has Elvis Presley's reputed love for jelly doughnuts been blown out of proportion? You bet your grilled peanut butter-and-banana sandwiches, says Mary Jenkins Langston, one of Elvis's cooks from 1963 to 1977.

Though more than 240 books have been written about her former employer (including her own, Elvis Memories Beyond Graceland Gates), she's out to set the record straight.

"I never saw him even once eat a jelly doughnut," Mary maintains. "But you know, he did have quite a sweet tooth--just like any country boy." In addition to his favorite cakes and pies, Elvis craved heaping helpings of homemade vegetable soup, crowder peas, collard greens, creamed potatoes, roast beef, ham; burger steaks, and ham steaks (all cut into bite-size pieces).

He also loved "big, country-style breakfasts-say, a plate of about four or five scrambled eggs, a half-pound of sausage or maybe bacon extra-crisp--but not burned, like some've said--and, let's see, about five or six buttermilk biscuits," Mary says. "I think that was about it."

Are there other juicy tidbits? "Well," Mary says, almost whispering, "Elvis didn't like seafood at all. He wouldn't let us cook it whenever he was in the house. And he didn't care for food with bones in it either, like fried chicken. He liked it boneless."

Graceland's kitchen, located just off the dining room, had been closed to the public while Elvis's aunt Delta Biggs lived at the mansion until her death in 1993. Now it's open to the public. And like any mid-seventies kitchen (it was last renovated by Elvis in 1974), it features shades of harvest gold and avocado green, dark wood paneling, fruit-themed decor, glaring casino-style carpeting. and the usual chunky appliances--even surveillance monitors on one of the countertops. (Well, maybe not all the usual appliances--"Elvis liked to keep up with what everyone was doing around the house," a Graceland tour guide explains.)

"I'm glad folks will see the kitchen," Mary says. "It looks good, like when I was in there-Elvis too."

Graceland Mansion: 3734 Elvis Presley Blvd., Memphis, TN 38116. Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily (winter hours); closed on Tuesday from November through February. Admission: Tickets to the mansion only are $9 adults, $8.10 seniors, $4.75 ages 5-12; platinum tours (including mansion, car museum, airplanes, and more) are $17 adults, $15.30 seniors, and $11 ages 5-12. For additional information: telephone 1-800-238-2000.