Melissa Cookston is an American chef and author. She is the chef/owner of two restaurants, the author of two cookbooks, and a seven-time world American barbecue champion. In addition, Cookston has twice won top prize at the

Memphis in May Memphis in May International Festival is a month-long festival held in Memphis, Tennessee. The festival, which is saluting Ghana in 2022, honors a specific foreign country every year and features many events. The ''Beale Street Music Festival'' ...

American Barbecue World Championship and is the only female American barbecue world champion.

Life

Cookston was born in

Ruleville, Mississippi Ruleville is a city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, United States, in the Mississippi Delta region. The population was 3,007 at the 2010 census. It is the second-largest community in the rural county.Moye, J. Todd. '' Let the People Decide: B ...

in 1968. She grew up in

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 34,400 at the 2010 census. It is located in the area of historic cotton plantations and culture known as the Mississippi Delta. ...

and

Pontotoc, Mississippi Pontotoc is a city in, and the county seat of, Pontotoc County, Mississippi, located to the west of the much larger city of Tupelo. The population was 5,625 at the 2010 census. Pontotoc is a Chickasaw word that means, “Land of the Hanging Gr ...

Career

Melissa worked in food preparation for years. In 1996, she started cooking barbecue and began entering in competitions, winning many. In 2007, she and her husband quit their jobs and toured barbecue contests around the country. In 2011, they were able to open their first restaurant, Memphis BBQ Company, which has locations in Mississippi and Georgia. In October 2016, she opened her second restaurant, STEAK by Melissa, in

Southaven, Mississippi Southaven is a city in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. It is a principal city in Greater Memphis. The 2020 census reported a population of 54,648, making Southaven the third-largest city in Mississippi and the second most populous ...

. It closed in 2020. She also opened a catering/plate lunch restaurant in 2019 called Green Tomato Catering in Horn Lake, MS. She still serves as pitmaster of Yazoo's Delta Q barbecue team. In 2017, Cookston revealed that she had begun breeding her own hybrid pigs. Since 2012, she has appeared on TV shows such as ''

BBQ Pitmasters ''BBQ Pitmasters'' is an American reality television series which follows barbecue cooks as they compete for cash and prizes in barbecue cooking competitions. The series premiered on TLC on December 3, 2009. The eight-episode first season was fi ...

'', '' Chopped'', ''

CBS This Morning ''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987, to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012, to September 6, 2021. The program was aired from Monday through Saturday ...

'', and ''

The Kitchen The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary avant-garde performance and experimental art institution located at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was foun ...

'', ''

The American Barbecue Showdown ''Barbecue Showdown'' (originally titled ''The American Barbecue Showdown'') is a reality television series filmed in Covington, Georgia that premiered on Netflix on September 18, 2020. On August 9, 2021, Netflix renewed the series for a second se ...

'', among others.

Personal life

She currently lives in

Hernando, Mississippi Hernando is a city in, and the county seat of, DeSoto County, which is on the northwestern border of Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,090 at the 2010 census, up from 6,812 in 2000. DeSoto County is the second-most-populous count ...

with her husband, Pete, and her daughter, Lauren.

Bibliography

* ''Smokin in the Boy’s Room'' (2014) * ''Smokin’ Hot in the South'' (2016)

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cookston, Melissa 1968 births People from Greenville, Mississippi People from Hernando, Mississippi Chefs from Mississippi Living people American women writers American women chefs Barbecue chefs