Louisiana

A guide to the unique tastes of New Orleans' world-renowned gumbos and soups. GOURMET MAGAZINE'S FEBRUARY 2009 COOKBOOK CLUB SELECTION. FEATURED ALTERNATE FOR THE GOOD COOK BOOK CLUB. Award-winning culinary enthusiast Kit Wohl continues her celebration of New Orleans style and taste with dozens of signature gumbo and soup recipes. From Arnaud's Oysters Stewed in Cream to Chef John Folse's Smoked Wood Duck and Andouille Gumbo, Wohl collects the secrets from the Crescent City's most famous restaurants and chefs, including Leah Chase, John Besh, and Kevin Vizard. From fish to fowl and broths to bisques, each recipe is accompanied by a New Orleans anecdote, a touch of history, and gorgeous photography.

Louisiana is famous for its culinary delights, and the state's rich medley of treats and confections proves its sweet tooth. Creative bakers improvised traditional recipes during days of rationing to create gateau de sirop (syrup cake) and bread pudding. Early customers of Lea's Lunchroom's pies in central Louisiana included outlaws Bonnie and Clyde, who dropped by while they were on the run. During the 1950s, singers Hank Williams Sr. and Elvis Presley hung out at Shreveport's Southern Maid Donuts after performing at the popular Louisiana Hayride country music broadcast. Author Dixie Poché dives into the recipes and history behind such beloved regional specialties as Mardi Gras king cake, flaming Bananas Foster, Cajun Country's pain perdu and many more.

New Orleans celebrates better than any other city. It's our way of doing just about anything. Perfect for gatherings, holidays, Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, and more, this gorgeous cookbook offers more than fifty festive recipes from famous New Orleans restaurants, along with photographs, history, musings, and stories. These classic Crescent City celebration recipes are knockouts for the eye and the taste buds.

These fifty recipes are an invitation to New Orleans-style celebrations with the tastes that enliven any gathering. Contemporary and classic dishes for the city's unique events all come to the party. Festival recipes are a riff on stuffed crawfish bread, crawfish pasta, and meat pies. Consider Mardi Gras served with pots of fried chicken gumbo and jambalaya. For saints' feast days, Chef Emeril Lagasse offers Italian Cookies. Even the other-worldly spirits of New Orleans can feast on Chef John Folse's Death by Gumbo.

Reveillon, St. Patrick's Day, and Seafood Festival menus feature Turducken, Boysie's Eggplant Shrimp, and Redfish on the Halfshell. Gumbo z'Herbs from Dooky Chase's, Blue Crab Beignets from La Petite Grocery, and Creole Onion Soup from Arnaud's delight the senses and the spirit. Desserts shine with Sucré's shimmering King Cake. The chefs comprise an honor roll of New Orleans' best. From highfalutin to down home, they create the greatest neighborhood food in America. We know this to be true-that's a promise.

In New Orleans, it's often been said that people don't eat to live; they live to eat. Famous for its culinary delights and the pride it takes in its diverse cooking heritage, this is a city of food and a city for food lovers. So, it makes perfect sense that New Orleanians, known for living in and savoring the moment, would glean such a multitude of delicious recipes enjoyed at thousands of dinner tables each night. In addition to dishes from today's best chefs, Wohl has added classic restaurants and establishments no longer with us. The inclusion of these establishments demonstrates how influential they have been and how favorite recipes continue to permeate today's menus, not only in New Orleans, but throughout the country. This gorgeously photographed book celebrates the city's renowned seafood and shares how to make these great recipes. The 45 recipes compiled feature signature dishes, accompanied by history, stories, and photographs to make cooking New Orleans-style just what dining New Orleans-style has always been-an unforgettable, unmatchable experience.

The cuisine of Southeast Louisiana is informed by a unique landscape. Defined by water--Vermillion Bay to the west, marshlands to the east, the Mississippi River to the north and the Gulf Coast to the south--the scenery transitions from verdant swamps to open seas stocked with diverse wildlife. The indigenous Cajun cuisine is a cultural blend three centuries in the making, with traces of American Indian, French, German, Italian and African heritage. To feed themselves and bourgeoning markets, locals built formidable aquaculture empires. Eventually, the area became less isolated, offering more opportunity while threatening traditions. With interviews and family recipes, authors Addie K. and Jeremy Martin present the history behind this enchanting culinary tradition.

The hunt for red crawfish is the thing, the raison d'etre, of Acadian spring. Introduced to Louisiana by the swamp dwellers of the Atchafalaya Basin, the crawfish is a regional favorite that has spurred a $210 million industry. Whole families work at the same fisheries, and annual crawfish festivals dominate the social calendar. More importantly, no matter the occasion, folks take their boils seriously: they'll endure line cutters, heat and humidity, mosquitoes and high gas prices to procure crawfish for their families' annual backyard boils or their corporate picnics. Join author Sam Irwin as he tells the story--complete with recipes and tall tales--of Louisiana's favorite crustacean: the crawfish.

A collection of appetizers from the world's favorite city for food. This gift cookbook is a compilation of favorite hors d'oeuvres from renowned New Orleans restaurants and chefs. Beautiful photographs accompanied by musings run concurrent with recipes from some of New Orleans' finest restaurants and most-skilled chefs. Classic recipes such as Antoine's Crabmeat Imperial, Cochon's Watermelon Rind Pickles, and Restaurant Cuv'e's Shrimp Remoulade Napoleon accompany some new favorites such as Dickie Brennan's Bourbon House Oyster Shooters and Restaurant August's Honey Island Chanterelle Tart.