The Bishop and his Purple Reign.

With a love of the color purple and a flair for the luxurious, I suspected this Bishop had more going on behind the scenes than his parishioners knew.

Getting a call from a clergy woman one afternoon was something new. I had not yet cooked for anyone leading a religious sect, so I didn’t know what to expect other than simply thinking that a wife was calling to have me cook for her and her husband, who happened to be a bishop.

Gladys asked if I traveled from Durham to a more rural area of North Carolina where they lived, about 35 minutes drive from my house. I told her that I could as I had a few more clients out her way that would make the drive worthwhile. Besides making weekly meals for her and her husband, she also asked if I could sometimes cater parties that they held for some of the boys at their parrish. Again, I told her I most certainly could. We set a day and time for me to drive out to do the initial interview.

Driving to their house through the country on a warm Spring day I noticed how remotely they seemed to live. Upon approaching their development, I saw acres of land between large mansions, each their own island with open fields and long driveways.

As I pulled onto the long winding path that lead up to their house I noticed how emmense it actually was. I was taken aback a bit wondering how a bishop could afford to live in such a huge house, as well as wondering if they had had children to help fill the space at one time. There had been no mention of any kids, except the catering question for the “boys from the church” visiting occasionally.

I rang the doorbell at 9 am. A petite woman in her fifties opened the huge door. “You must be the chef, " she said. “I’m Gladys. Come on in, “ I followed her to the large kitchen. There was a bank of windows along the sink area that looked out over a huge open field. I suspected I would probably see deer at some point while cooking at their house. She showed me around, opening cabinets and doors that were fairly well stocked with both cooking equipment as well as food stuffs. I would definitely have everything I needed to make them some wonderful meals.

We sat at the large wooden round table on the other side of the kitchen island and I asked if her husband would be joining us. She explained that he was upstairs finishing some business and that he would be down shortly. I began the basic intake questions while we waited for him. We had gotten to the second page when her husband walked into the kitchen. Gladys immediately stood up and said, “Chef, this is the Bishop.” I reached out my hand to shake his hand and smiled saying, “Nice to meet you Bishop”. The Bishop was a short man, in his late sixties I guessed, who was dressed from head to toe in a three piece suit, all completely in various shades of deep purples. Even his socked feet were wearing adorned in purple. Just then, a young man, maybe in his early twenties, came in holding a purple hat, brown shoes and a black cane with a very fancy golden handle. “Bishop, I picked out these for today’s outfit, “ the young man said. “Very nice, Micheal, “ replied the Bishop, looking over the offerings. Gladys, in the meantime, was still standing at attention not looking relaxed at all. The Bishop then introduced me to Michael. “Chef, you might see my assistant here most days. His name is Michael.” “Hello Micheal,” I replied. He gave me a quick nod of his head and left the room along with the Bishop following behind him. “The Bishop has to finish dressing. He should be done soon,” Gladys said while sitting back down.

As we continued on with the questionnaire, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the Bishop was in the living room next to the kitchen sitting on what looked like a Baroque style throne, encrusted with gold and velvet, with young Michael kneeling in front of him lacing the Bishops shoes. Strange, I thought, then the Bishop entered the room again. Gladys again stood up while holding her hands clasped together in front of her while looking down. “Will you be joining us now Bishop?,” she asked. “Yes, I have a few minutes before I have to leave,” he said. He sat down next to Gladys and then she sat. He then started rattling off all his favorite dishes. “I like ribs, but they have to be covered in a good BBQ sauce. Make me chicken of any kind. Not too fond of fish. Oh, but I can eat a ton of shrimp, but my doctor says I shouldn’t. If you make me vegetables I prefer canned ones. Better flavor that the fresh ones, I think.” I was furiously writing down all of his suggestions. “Do you both like a lot of the same things?” I asked because I hadn’t heard Gladys chime in while the Bishop was giving me his likes. Gladys squeaked out a, “This is mainly for the Bishop. I’ll eat whatever he chooses.” I was beginning to see the dynamic between them. “Ok, who should I send the menu to then?” I asked. Gladys answered that she would be the contact and would go over the menu with the Bishop. This short interview then ended with the Bishop standing up with Michael standing quietly in the doorway to the kitchen holding the Bishop’s hat and cane. “Come here Chef. I want to show you our extra refrigerator in the garage, in case you need the space,“ said the Bishop while walking towards a door off the kitchen, Michael following quickly. I followed them into the 4 car garage where I saw a dark purple Bentley as well as a silver Rolls Royce. WTF?! I thought…how is a Bishop living THIS large? “Here is the other fridge Chef,” the Bishop quipped while Micheal was putting the hat on top of the Bishops head. “Perfect Bishop!” Michael said smiling while giving his hat a little tilt. “Ok Chef, I will see you next week,“ the Bishop called while getting into the back seat of the Bentley as Michael held his door for him. The assistant then got into the driver’s seat and off they went. Was Michael his butler and chauffeur? I wondered. I also noticed no real husband-wife relationship between Gladys and the Bishop. She addressed him as “Bishop”, not by his name, which I never knew. She stood at attention when he walked into the room. It all seemed very, very strange to me. We set a date for the following week and a preliminary menu. All the Bishops favorites.

The following week I showed up at the mansion at 9 am, ringing the doorbell with groceries in tow. No one answered. I rang again, waiting another 5 minutes. Nothing. I then called Gladys. She was at the church and said that the Bishop should be home and that she would call him. After a few minutes the door opened with the Bishop standing there in an open plush white robe, boxers exposed. “Oh, hello Chef,” the Bishop said as he turned to walk away. “Good Morning” I said feeling more than a little uncomfortable. “I’ll be upstairs getting dressed. Find your way to the kitchen , please,” he yelled as he wandered back into the house.

I had been in the kitchen cooking for about an hour when I heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen. “OHHH! It smells SOOO good in here!” exclaimed the Bishop, again dressed in a three piece suit in hues of lavender and mauve. “Thank you!”, I replied smiling while stirring the cheese sauce I made for their mac and cheese casserole. Just then the Bishop’s assistant, Michael, came in holding a pair of violet colored socks and black shoes in one hand as well as his cane, a bowler looking hat and a striped indigo tie draped over his other arm. “Bishop, I chose these for you today,” said Michael. “Hmmm, let me see,” said the Bishop as he walked towards Michael. “No, I don’t like these socks. Please find me another pair,” snapped the Bishop. “Yes, sir,” Michael said as he turned to leave the room quickly. “Hey Chef, do you have a minute for me to show you something special in my house?” asked the Bishop, a slight smile on his face. “Its been a labor of love and I had some ideas about parties that I might like you to cater,” he said. “Sure, just let me turn off this burner,” I responded, laying down my kitchen towel I had draped over my left shoulder.

I assumed he was going to show me some sort of grand dining room, but when I followed him through from the kitchen into what looked like a mud room where he pressed a panel on the wall. I was confused and feeling again a little uncomfortable standing in this small room so close to him. The wall looked like wide bead board, but when he pressed one of the panels a secret door popped out that was seemingly undetectable before. I would have never known there was a doorway there had I walked past that wall. “Pretty neat, huh?” the Bishop said slyly. “Wow!” I exclaimed, now wondering where this would lead to. The Bishop flicked a light switch and we walked down a flight of wide, deep purple carpeted stairs. I was expecting a “man-cave” as we walked down, but to my surprise I entered a large open room that was definitely not “man-cave” at all. I first noticed the four large Greek looking columns painted gold. Between the columns were long purple curtains, draped back and tied with large tassels to expose an interior room behind the sheer curtains. Inside the was an exceptionally deep sectional sofa upholstered in a mauve velvet, pillows of all shades of purple with accents of gold scattered the length of the seating area which wrapped around the entire space. It could easily seat 20 people, possibly with each person laying down as well. The walls were covered in mirrors and on the floor a massive fluffy shag looking area rug in lavender. “Woah!” I exclaimed. “This is amazing!” I stammered, immediately thinking why would a Bishop need some sort of secret harem-style room hidden in his house. “I want to do some entertaining in here,” he said. “Its been a dream having this built. I’ve always wanted to have a secret den where I could host a lot of people,” he said while he looked around smiling. “Oh, you most certainly could fit a bunch of people down here,” I said. Just then he walked over to a panel on the wall and hit a switch with turned on a surround sound system, Luther Vandrose’s “Here and Now” blasting through the speakers. “What a great song!” the Bishop yelled, while starting to sway to the love ballad. I was feeling uncomfortable again, but tried to stay calm. He then hit another button and the lights became automated in an undulating dance of getting brighter and lower in different areas behind the seating area, timed to the music. It was almost like being in a club. I wondered exactly WHAT kind of entertaining was he looking to do. “I should get back up to the kitchen,” I said. “But thanks for showing me this!” The bishop turned off the lightshow and the music and I followed him up the stairs.

We went back to the kitchen where Michael was waiting with a different color of socks. The Bishop then walked into the room with the throne looking chair where Michael knelt before him putting socks and shoes on the older man’s feet. Then the Bishop came back into the kitchen where Michael was putting a tie on the Bishop while the Bishop stated all the things they had to get done that day. “Yes, sir,” was the most I heard from Michael. They left out the garage door and I was left to continue cooking. And also left to wonder about the secret room of this Bishop.

I did cook for a number of times more for the Bishop and his wife. I catered one gathering for 12 young men and the Bishop, a big cookout affair with BBQ and all the traditional sides, but I was never asked to cater a party for the secret harem room, although I wanted to. I still wonder about how he lived so lavishly, how large his parrish was and if the weekly collection plate passed around paid for it all.

Until next week, Thanks so much for following along on this journey! If you enjoy Secrets and Spice please make sure you subscribe to get each weeks story emailed directly to you. Also, if you would like access to any of my recipes please consider a paid subscription. It’s one of the perks of becoming a paid supporter. (it’s only $5 a month or $50 for the year)

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Thank you again,

- Shirlé

**All names, places and occupations have been changed to protect the identity of all clients.

Please leave a comment or two…I’d love to hear from you!

A Shout Out to this Weeks Paid Supporters:

A very special shout out to the following paid subscribers:

Robinlee Garber, Chef Lynn Warlick Wells, Jake Brokaw, Miyuki Furtado and Spanky Wilson, . A special shout out to new paid subscribers Myra Ruppe Schwartz, Lisa Deemer Sethi and Claudia L Sanders, Laurel Estabrooks and Leela Montella,! Thank you all soooo much for your support!

-Leela is a person I have known since kindergarten. She has made a lovely life for her and her family and I love watching her kids success stories.

-Myra is an old NC friend who I recently got to see here in beautiful Lisbon with her partner Scott. Maybe someday they will become expats in this fair land.

-Robinlee is a childhood friend and all around renaissance woman, living and playing music in Chicago.

-Chef Lynn is a fellow Personal Chef buddy and owner of Thyme Well Spent, Personal Chef Service, based out of Greensboro NC. When not cooking for clients or food styling for cookbooks, she can be found hobnobbing with tastemakers and culinary shakers all over the country.

-Jake and his wife Brigitte have long been huge supporters of my cooking and are also huge supporters of the arts in Baltimore, Maryland. Jake also has an Orthopedic practice I have had to use a few times.

-Miyuki has been a lifelong friend and bandmate of mine from days long past. He’s also one of the best fathers and husbands I know and has raised one of the coolest kids, his daughter Mino along with his sweet wife Tricia. Miyuki currently plays music in his Alt-Country band, Divining Rod. You can listen to Divining Rod out on all music platforms. (Chef Lynn, I think you would LOVE his music!)

-Spanky has been a huge supporter of my cooking from my NC days. When not fire fighting you might find Spanky hiking the Appalachian trail.

-Lisa has been in my life since the early 90’s. She’s a huge music supporter and a lover of all things delicious.

-Claudia is an old friend from my days in North Carolina. I met Claudia at a pig pull back in 1998, when I first moved to Chapel Hill. Since then, Claudia has started a successful Personal Chef business, Good Intentions Personal Chef Service in the Hillsborough area, as well as serving the Durham and Chapel Hill area.

-Laurel Estabrooks is a new expat friend, recently becoming a Portuguese resident. Parabens!! Someday I hope to meet up face to face. Muito Obrigada Laurel!!

Thank you all sooo much for supporting me in this endeavor. I am truly grateful for you.

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