Long After Elvis Presley Has Left The Building, His Culinary Legacy Lives On
Today, January 8, 2019—what would have been Elvis Presley's 85th birthday—we look back at the culinary legacy The King left.
If you sift through the six thousand-something books that turn up as results when you search “Elvis Presley” on Amazon—the biographies, the song books, the Where’s Elvis? Waldo knock-offs—you’ll start to notice something sort of funny. The King's life's work was in music (you don’t get that nickname by chance), but his legacy reflects another passion: food.
Dozens of cookbooks explicitly dedicated to Elvis's favorite dishes and tomes on the history of his eating habits exist—from punny tributes like Are You Hungry Tonight? and All Cooked Up to the official Presley Family Cookbook featuring recipes and anecdotes from former Graceland head cook Nancy Rooks. The majority of these were published after the singer’s untimely death in 1977, but Elvis’s eating habits began making headlines well before he had left the building, if you will.
Throughout his career, Elvis put out hit gastro-inspired singles like “Crawfish,” “Cotton Candyland," and "Ito Eats." He was often seen on camera devouring a cheeseburger or slurping a milkshake and regaled reporters with stories about his voracious appetite. Perhaps most famously, he employed enough personal chefs to keep both his Graceland and California home kitchens up and running 24 hours a day.
Eateries around the country and then the globe soon caught on—and even in the age of wellness bowls, green juice, and yoga retreats, homages to the King’s calorie-laden inclinations remain on menus: grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches, fried dill pickles, and fluffy coconut layer cake. Some even verge on over-the-top kitsch, like the bacon and banana sundae that's served with a pickle spear at the old-timey Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain.
According to Angie Marchese, Graceland’s current Vice President of Archives and Exhibits, Elvis’s lasting culinary impact is as much about connection to place as it is about palate-pleasing flavors. “It’s such a personal thing if you think about it,” notes Marchese. “The food you like describes who you are as a person. He enjoyed the foods he grew up on and food brings back memories, especially in the South. Food represents family gatherings, conversation, and good times.”
Now a major tourist attraction, Elvis’s former Memphis mansion itself has developed into a mecca of Elvis-style cuisine, complete with a guesthouse and five full-scale restaurants, each appropriately named after a member of the Presley family.
According to Marchese, the best barbecue in Memphis can be found Vernon's Smokehouse, named after Elvis's dad, in Graceland's Elvis Presley Memphis Entertainment Complex. Gladys' Diner, a retro, '50s diner, is named after his mom; Minnie Mae’s Sweets is after his grandmother; EP's Bar and Grill is for Elvis Presley himself; and Delta's, which serves more upscale meals, is named after Elvis’s Aunt Delta.
There’s something to be said about a person who opts for straight forward, no-nonsense family cuisine when they’re clearly wealthy enough to afford multiple private jets. The fact that Elvis publicly eschewed Champagne and caviar for peanut butter and banana Wonder Bread sandwiches and bacon grease grounded him in the prevailing image of wholesome relatability, regardless of his fondness for rhinestone jumpsuits and provocative dance moves.
“He enjoyed good ole’ Southern cooking that everyone in the South was raised on,” continues Marchese. “Elvis never forgot his roots.”
Another compelling aspect of Elvis’s edible footprint? His go-to indulgences were, quite simply, a lot of fun. And that appeal has broadened the King’s culinary legacy to encompass Elvis-inspired products you won't find in the pages of one of the cookbooks dedicated to him.
“The brandy rode with the King in essence,” says Copper & Kings American Brandy founder (and big time Elvis fan) Joe Heron describing Riding with the King, a limited edition expression his distillery debuted last August in conjunction with Elvis Week. “Essentially the concept is an American Brandy matured in King Estate Grenache Syrah Mourvedre barrels. We took the thought further by getting watercolorist Britany Baker to do an oil painting of the plush red velvet chair inside Elvis Presley’s abandoned Lockheed Jetstar.”
Despite not being much of a drinker—legend has it Elvis got near-fatally sick after knocking back an entire bottle of peach brandy as a teenager and never went near the devil’s drink again—Heron saw his rock and roll idol as perfectly embodying the expression’s intended ethos.
“The American Brandy is sexy and supple, has hips and swagger, and rocks, just like Elvis,” he notes. “We wanted to reflect the best of Elvis, to imbue his free spirit in our own spirit. We wanted to reflect the joy, talent, creativity, and of course, confidence.”
Setting his sights beyond the fried potato sandwiches and a mountainous sundae known as Twelve Flavor Ice Cream Dessert (“Some days this is all Elvis would have during the day,” writes Presley Family Cookbook author and former Graceland cook Nancy Rooks) allowed Heron to preach the King’s gospel to a new and different market, ensuring his continued relevance for years to come. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about what Elvis loved to consume, it’s about the man behind the belly.
“I think his culinary legacy is less auspicious—the food equivalent of a sequined onesie, and obviously not very good for him,” says Heron. “But the legend of Elvis encompasses not only the beautiful music but also the gusto with which he approached his life, food included.”
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