When Gregory Jolliff was a teenager growing up on Oak Street in Greenwood, his mom put him in charge of her treasure chest - the spice cabinet.
The teenager had to keep the jars and bottles precisely aligned, with the labels facing outward.
"I had lot of them - all your basils and thymes, a variety," said his mother, Deloise Jolliff-Howse. "I was not just your salt and pepper cook."
Neither is her son, but he is a cook. In fact, Greg Jolliff, now of Scottsdale, Ariz., is an award-winning executive chef whose specialty is Caribbean cuisine.
"Caribbean food is very similar to creole. The spices are very similar. What they call callaloo is like collard greens to us," Jolliff said.
The Greenwood native has lived elsewhere for 24 years, and his mom now lives in Michigan City, Ind., where she works as a registered nurse.
But they remain close to their family in Greenwood, including Jolliff's "Aunt Net," Minetta Coleman, who works for the Greenwood Public School District.
Coleman beams when she talks about her nephew and his accomplishments.
Coleman says Jolliff "was raised right and has gone far."
Jolliff, 42, moved to Scottsdale in 2001 to become executive chef of the golf resort Troon North, which has a restaurant, Callaloo, that serves Caribbean food.
He also is the western regional executive chef for Troon Golf, which manages golf courses and clubhouses throughout the world.
"Right now, I have a staff under me of say, 15, for the western side of the country. I have seven states and 47 properties on my plate, so to speak," Jolliff said.
"I actually cook here, do research and development, and I travel."
Jolliff also puts on special events, such as a dinner for 400 in California last year. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the host.
The governor made a big impression."He is kind of short, but he is wide. He is huge," Jolliff said.
Over the years, the chef has cooked for or put together events for plenty of other celebrities, including Will Smith, Sophia Loren, Michael Jordan, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Quincy Jones and Halle Berry.
Maya Angelou, the poet, has visited Troon North, as has Mick Jagger.
The rock star had a helicopter on the driving range, and Angelou autographed a book of her poetry for Jolliff.
"We talked maybe 45 minutes," the chef said.
When Jolliff was a student in Greenwood, he had other things on his plate.
As a senior at Greenwood High School, he was a member of the football team and in the band.
For the band, he played trumpet and percussion, starting in the ninth grade.
For the team, he played quarterback, starting as a senior. The Bulldogs won the District III-Class AA championship that year.
Coach Hollis Rutter encouraged Jolliff to tryout when he noticed Jolliff in the gym one day. "I was throwing a football with a friend," Jolliff said.
So he wore two uniforms on game nights.
"I didn't just perform during halftime," Jolliff said. He traveled with the band to competitions. "If we had a contest, I would leave with the band but play in the games on Friday nights."
From Greenwood High, he went to Mississippi Delta Community College and later to Oregon Tech, in southern Oregon.
He was a business major who minored in accounting. He played ball, studied and worked in restaurants, including McDonald's in Greenwood.
Jolliff said, "I started out as a burger cook and then got
promoted to the drive-through my freshman year at Moorhead."
He washed dishes at the bistro in Oregon. Then, a line cook couldn't work one night. So Jolliff filled in, and stayed there.
But he didn't really get cooking until an uncle with a large landscaping business in Los Angeles offered Jolliff a long term position with his firm.
But the uncle also thought Jolliff was gifted as a cook and helped Jolliff go to culinary school instead.
Jolliff studied at the Los Angeles Culinary Institute, Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and the California Sushi Academy.
He has worked as an executive chef for hotels such as the world famous Claremont Resort and Spa in Berkeley, Calif.
At Troon North, General Manager Mike Henritze describes Jolliff as a great chef and leader and as "a terrific team player."
He also says Jolliff is a superstar.
"It's a combination of work ethic, personality and talent," Henritze said.
And good taste. Henritze said Jolliff puts Southern cuisine on the menu at the resort, and in fact, his his favorite dish is "Mike's Biscuits and Gravy."
Recently, said Jolliff, he put together a corporate luncheon in Scottsdale.
It had a Southern theme and included "smoky cheddar grits with spicy shrimp and tasso (spicy smoked pork) gravy."
He also served a mango salad with sweet onions and a "mint julep vinaigrette." This combines an ounce of bourbon with rice wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, fresh mint and cilantro and "a squeeze of lemon with freshly cracked black pepper and kosher salt."
He said, "I love this. This is like art. This is a way to express yourself."
Jolliff now has a wife and four children - three in college and one in high school. He says it is important for young people to learn to do their best.
"Stay positive," Jolliff said. "You have to be dedicated, and by the age of 25, you have to know what you want to do with your life because time goes by fast, and nobody's going to wait for you to catch up."
Jolliff said one day he was talking to a Troon executive who asked, "What drives you?"
The answer was "perfection."
