Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen by Paul Prudhomme

Here for the first time, the famous food of Louisiana is presented in a cookbook written by a great creative chef who is himself world-famous. The extraordinary Cajun and Creole cooking of South Louisiana, a cornerstone of Southern cooking, has roots going back over two hundred years, and today it is the one really vital, growing regional cuisine in America. No one is more responsible than Paul Prudhomme for preserving and expanding the Louisiana tradition, which he inherited from his own Cajun background. Chef Prudhomme’s incredibly good food has brought people from all over America and the world to his restaurant, K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen, in New Orleans, a landmark for authentic Louisiana cooking. To set down his recipes for home cooks, however, he did not work in the restaurant. In a small test kitchen, equipped with a home-size stove and utensils normal for a home kitchen, he retested every recipe two and three times to get exactly the results he wanted. Logical though this is, it was an unprecedented way for a chef to write a cookbook. But Paul Prudhomme started cooking in his mother’s kitchen when he was a youngster. To him, the difference between home and restaurant procedures is obvious and had to be taken into account. So here, in explicit detail, are recipes for the great traditional dishes―from classic gumbo recipes to unforgettable jambalayas, Shrimp Creole, Turtle Soup, Cajun "Popcorn," Crawfish Etouffee, Pecan Pie, and dozens more―each refined by the skill and genius of Chef Prudhomme so that they are at once authentic and modern in their methods. Read more