By C1 Staff
SACRAMENTO — Russell Batiste grew up cooking Thanksgiving meals in his family’s kitchen in Louisiana, and this Thanksgiving he’s bringing those lessons to inmates in California.
The Californian reports that Batiste is the food manager overseeing the meals of 4900 inmates at the Correctional Training Facility 5 miles north of Soledad. He expects inmates to enjoy themselves.
“They know it’s going to be a good meal,” said Batiste. “They look forward to it.”
His staff consists of 18 professional chefs and 16 inmate chefs, using 2,000 pounds of roast turkey to make Thanksgiving happen.
The menu includes mashed potatoes with gravy, cornbread dressing, green salad with dressing, candied yams, peas and carrots, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, holiday pie and sherbert, sugar-free beverage, chicken patty, vegetarian beans and margarine.
Batiste served 19 years in the military before arriving at CTF. He’s a winner of the Phillip A. Connelly Award, a high honor in the Army food service world. He’s worked for the Department of Corrections for 20 years.
Though his No. 2 chef will be in charge this year, Batiste will be in regular contact with staff to make sure everything is going smoothly.