Momma Cherri was born Charita Jones in Philadelphia and cooked for her entire family using her auntie’s recipes from a very young age. Food became an integral part of family life – indeed Charita has two children of her own and has fostered over 40 others through the years, so food has always been hugely important to her.

Charita moved to England in the late 1970 , formed an all-girl group called The Street Angels and had a Top 30 hit. Her life was transformed overnight when her soul food restaurant was featured in Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. He loved her, her food, and her restaurant, but hated the way she ran her business. Now a stunning success, Momma Cherri’s Soul Shack continues to thrive while her career as a celebrity TV chef goes on in leaps and bounds. She is a regular on both ITV’s Saturday Cooks and BBC’s Saturday Kitchen.

Her first book is a wonderfully colourful collection of soul food, “God's own comfort food". With its roots in African-American cuisine, soul food joyously celebrates hearty, spicy home cooking. The book showcases a great array of soul food classics, given a unique twist by Momma Cherri. Written in Momma's evocative and forthright style, the book provides insights into the origins of soul food and stresses the importance of fresh, affordable food cooked with passion and flavour. From fried chicken, ribs, jambalaya, gumbo, prawns, black-eye peas, sweet potatoes, mash, cornbread, key lime pie, pecan pie, pancakes and waffles, it’s all in there.