From prison food to gourmet cuisine, ‘Chef Jeff’ shares kitchen secrets with NC inmates

Josh Shaffer
·4 min read
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“Chef Jeff” Henderson strode into the tiny kitchen of the Orange County prison and showed a half-dozen inmates how to prepare his famous “jailhouse tuna” — a recipe that starts with croutons made from a bag of crushed Doritos.

As the would-be gourmets looked on in their prison-blue uniforms Wednesday, “Chef Jeff” demonstrated how to fashion a kitchen knife out of the folded lid of an albacore can — a prison-friendly tool for dicing red onions, dill pickles and cilantro.

And while he sprinkled his invention with balsamic vinegar — the only ingredient not available in a prison commissary — he explained that this make-do method is good not only for a flavorful meal behind bars, but also a step toward a richer life.

He should know. He learned it all in prison.

‘Bureau of Prison recipes’

“Half of these recipes are federal Bureau of Prison recipes,” said Henderson, holding up his best-selling book “Chef Jeff Cooks.” “These are my famous cinnamon rolls. I call them Correctional Cinnamon Rolls.”

In January, Orange Correctional Center in Hillsborough will restart its pandemic-stalled culinary arts program, which teaches cooking skills to 15 inmates looking for job skills on the outside. The classes provided through Durham Tech Community College add to the job-prep mindset already in place at the minimum-security prison, where most of the 200 inmates leave for work-release jobs each day.

“Chef Jeff” Henderson shows inmate Bernard Massenburg how to dice onions and cilantro using a folded tuna can lid as a knife, a trick he learned while in prison himself.
“Chef Jeff” Henderson shows inmate Bernard Massenburg how to dice onions and cilantro using a folded tuna can lid as a knife, a trick he learned while in prison himself.

“Chef Jeff” made a perfect guide for that journey, having grown up selling crack in Los Angeles and San Diego, making $35,000 a week as a drug dealer, coming to prison with scars from stab wounds.

He landed on dish-washing duty after a stint in “the hole,” but soon found that inmates eat better in the kitchen, especially by keeping a secret pot on the back burner or stuffing food for later in their tighty-whitey underwear.

Inside, he said, he stayed out of trouble on “the yard” by staying in the kitchen. In about 1991, he committed a murder behind bars — his old self, he explained.

From behind bars to top kitchens

But then came a transformation and quick success at the end of Henderson’s 10-year sentence: the first Black chef de cuisine at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, then executive chef at Cafe Bellagio, then best-selling cookbook author who is a favorite of Oprah Winfrey.

“I’ve taken this prison seasoning into some of the top resort hotel restaurants in the world,” he said, holding a jar of his secret creation, which may or may not have had some help from Top Ramen. “I’ve cooked for celebrities, and they didn’t even know this was prison seasoning. So I’m all about flipping game.”

“Chef Jeff” Henderson shows off his “jailhouse tuna” recipe, made entirely from ingredients available in a prison commissary -- except balsamic vinegar. He visited Orange Correctional Center, where a culinary arts program restarts soon.
“Chef Jeff” Henderson shows off his “jailhouse tuna” recipe, made entirely from ingredients available in a prison commissary -- except balsamic vinegar. He visited Orange Correctional Center, where a culinary arts program restarts soon.

For his Orange County demonstration, Henderson met a pair of inmates with long experience in prison kitchens: Joseph Perry, who will be released in January after 50 years, and Bernard Massenburg, not far behind him with 39 years.

As top NC corrections officials looked on, “Chef Jeff” appointed Massenburg sous chef, handing him a tuna lid and a pickle: “You’re doing small dice, brother. I don’t want them this long.”

He had Perry squeeze lemons over the tuna, but he offered little instruction: “Pop, you know how to work that fork. Fifty years in the system, you’ve seen a lot.”

‘I can taste the flavors’

Once the pair helped him mix the tuna with the cilantro, onions and pickles, he showed them how to dress it up with avocado and drizzle it with balsamic vinegar.

And once finished, he held up a spoon to Brooke Wheeler, a state corrections superintendent, who raved.

“I can taste the different flavors,” she said. “I love the Doritos idea. The onions are diced beautifully — not too big, not too small.”

When he was young, “Chef Jeff” told the inmates, he was just the kid who talked too much — often scolded for it. Now, as a speaker, he can earn $25,000 for a single speech — earnings that led to his house in Las Vegas with his wife and six children, where he can enjoy the swimming pool he always wished for.

Inmates rarely hear praise, he said. Hearing “well done” in a prison kitchen can furnish the confidence to succeed outside — all the more reason to take advantage of job training inside.

“Man, you better soak this up,” Henderson said. “You go out in this world and you don’t bring your A-game, if you don’t hit top-notch, you ain’t going to make it.”

Just weeks from release, Perry smiled back.

“I’m already investing in me,” he said. “I’m going to invest more.”