Synopses & Reviews
"Nowhere else have I found the passion for flavor that encompasses the lives of Louisianians, day in and day out," writes Emeril Lagasse. In
Louisiana Real & Rustic, the prize winning New Orleans chef, cookbook author, and television cooking personality presents the great dishes of his adopted state in 150 down-home recipes--authentic versions of some of Americas favorite regional dishes, gathered from generations of Louisiana cooks. Fricassees, itouffies and grillades, meat pies and oyster fries, red beans and rice, and jambalayas and gumbos in endless, mouthwatering variety--each recipe is spiced with the unabashed joy of cooking and eating that makes every Louisiana meal a feast.
On a delicious tour of back roads and bayous, from country cabins in Acadia to the refined town houses of Creole aristocracy, Emeril, accompanied by co-author Marcelle Bienvenu, finds that Louisiana is more than a geographical state--it's a culinary state of grace.
Louisiana's colorful history has made it an extraordinary culinary crossroads, where the cooking customs of France, Spain, Africa, and the Caribbean meld into a unique New World Cuisine. In charming tales and tempting recipes, Emeril traces the roots of Creole and Acadian (or "Cajun") dishes, and honors the pioneer cooks who blended traditional tastes and techniques with the region's native ingredients. He shows how gumbos can use French roux, African okra, or fili from the indigenous Indians and he features Chicken and Oyster, Duck and Wild Mushroom, Shrimp and Okra, and Rabbit, or even collards, kale, mustard, and turnips. Emeril's explorations reveal that the spirit of culinary improvisation still thrives today. "Nowhere else have I found the passion for flavor that encompasses the lives of Louisianians, day in and day out," writes Emeril Lagasse. In Louisiana Real & Rustic, the prize winning New Orleans chef, cookbook author, and television cooking personality presents the great dishes of his adopted state in 150 down-home recipes--authentic versions of some of Americas favorite regional dishes, gathered from generations of Louisiana cooks. Fricassees, itouffies and grillades, meat pies and oyster fries, red beans and rice, and jambalayas and gumbos in endless, mouthwatering variety--each recipe is spiced with the unabashed joy of cooking and eating that makes every Louisiana meal a feast.
On a delicious tour of back roads and bayous, from country cabins in Acadia to the refined town houses of Creole aristocracy, Emeril, accompanied by co-author Marcelle Bienvenu, finds that Louisiana is more than a geographical state--it's a culinary state of grace.
Louisiana's colorful history has made it an extraordinary culinary crossroads, where the cooking customs of France, Spain, Africa, and the Caribbean meld into a unique New World Cuisine. In charming tales and tempting recipes, Emeril traces the roots of Creole and Acadian (or "Cajun") dishes, and honors the pioneer cooks who blended traditional tastes and techniques with the region's native ingredients. He shows how gumbos can use French roux, African okra, or fili from the indigenous Indians and he features Chicken and Oyster, Duck and Wild Mushroom, Shrimp and Okra, and Rabbit, or even collards, kale, mustard, and turnips. Emeril's explorations reveal that the spirit of culinary improvisation still thrives today.
Synopsis
Lagasse introduces readers to the Creole tradition with an American twist. This guide includes 175 recipes that reflect the heart of Louisiana cooking and ingredients that reflect its soul. Includes 58 photos.
About the Author
Emeril Lagasse is the chef/proprietor of two New Orleans restaurants: Emeril's and Nola (an acronym for New Orleans, Louisiana) and most recently, he opened Emeril's New Orleans Fish House in Las Vegas's MGM Grand Hotel.
Emeril is also a national television personality, hosting Television Food Network's highest-rated program, "The Essence of Emeril," and he has also become an established cookbook author, sharing his inventive cuisine in Emeril's New New Orleans Cooking and taking the backroads through the bayou to uncover Louisiana Real & Rustic.
Emeril, who is of Portugese and French Canadian heritage, grew up in the small town of Fall River, Massachusetts, where he worked in a local Portuguese bakery and learned the art of bread baking and pastry. As a teenager he turned down a music scholarship to follow his dream of cooking and worked his way through the culinary program at Johnson and Wales University, from which he received an honorary doctorate. Emeril trained in France and then returned to work in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. Persuaded to move to the Big Easy, Emeril fell in love with New Orleans and worked as executive chef at the legendary Commander's Palace for seven and a half years before opening his own restaurants.
Marcelle Bienvenu
Born and raised on the Bayou Teche, Marcelle Bienvenu, graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and worked as a feature writer for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. She operated her own restaurant, Ches Marcelle, near Lafayette, Louisiana and has worked for many of the top restaurants in New Orleans. Marcelle currently writes for several Louisiana publications including: Louisiana Life Magazine, Teche News and Times of Acadiana. She has co-authored two cookbooks with EmerilLagasse and is the sole author of many other books. Bienvenu still resides on the Bayou Teche in St. Martinville, Louisiana.