Dora Charles was Paula Deen’s "soul sister."
The food mogul's cook was a key part of Deen’s team for 22 years.
The pair often sweated side by side in the kitchen of Lady & Sons, Deen's flagship restaurant in Savannah, according to a story published Monday by the New York Times.
Charles and Deen's birthdays are a day apart, and they celebrated together.
Charles even attended Deen’s wedding.
The long relationship would be challenged, however, when employees sued Deen for sexual harassment and racial discrimination.
Not knowing what it would mean to her career and relationship with Deen, Charles filed claims that she, too, had witnessed racism under Deen’s watch. She also claimed personal suffering.
"It's just time that everybody knows that Paula Deen don't treat me the way they think she treat me," Charles told the Times.
Charles left Deen's restaurant, and later received a settlement from the lawsuit.
And now, after years of working in the shadows, Charles is starting a new chapter in her career.
On Sept. 8, Charles will release "A Real Southern Cook: In Her Savannah Kitchen," a collection of recipes that, in many ways, were the foundation for Deen's empire.
Deen’s latest cookbook, “Paula Deen Cuts the Fat,” will be released on the same day.
Although the two “soul sisters” are estranged, the respect they have for each other doesn’t appear to have faded — Deen sent flowers upon learning about the book contract.
For her part, Charles recognizes Deen for the role she played in her career: "Without Paula, this book would not exist."
This complicated relationship is not unlike that of the "talented but invisible" black cooks and their antebellum mistresses, described in "The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks" by Toni Tipton-Martin.
Tipton-Martin believes Charles' cookbook "gives us the view into that kitchen where white and black hands came together. She is claiming her role in a way that previous generations had to be passive participants and watch their success from the outside."
Charles said that Deen once told her, “Stick with me, Dora, and I promise you one day if I get rich you’ll get rich.”
It is still uncertain if Charles, who worked for $10 an hour for several years, will reap huge financial gain.
But for now, Charles acknowledges that God has opened a door for her, and she plans to "stand tall and walk through it."
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