Innholdsfortegnelse for September - October 2017 i Louisiana Cookin'

ONE MY FAVORITE TRUISMS ABOUT LOUISIANANS is that we live to eat, and that while we’re eating one meal, we’re thinking about the next. In my time here, that’s been my experience. Whether in New Orleans, Breaux Bridge, Lake Charles, or Shreveport, folks here spend a lot of time pondering, shopping for, preparing, and gleefully dining on some of the best food in the world. Each year, Louisiana Cookin’ recognizes six chefs who have dedicated their lives to serving up meals that sustain, captivate, and inspire us. The 16th class of Chefs to Watch (page 31) is no different: they come from varying backgrounds, represent different corners of the state, and integrate Cajun and Creole techniques into their cuisines in unique ways. When selecting these chefs, we consider more than…

THE FRENCH MARKET has come to be one of New Orleans’ most popular tourist destinations, but at one time, it was the center of a system of more than 30 public markets throughout the city. Public markets once played an essential role in the daily lives of New Orleanians, who would purchase their groceries at neighborhood markets, but with the advent of grocery stores, most of the city’s public markets disappeared. Before the Spanish colonial government of New Orleans formally established the French Market in 1791, it was the site of a Native American trading post and later an informal marketplace where vendors sold food from stalls or carts. The Spanish intended the market to be a place where vendors could sell their goods under one roof, which allowed for…

When talking with Zach Engel, chef de cuisine at Shaya, it’s easy to see why he won the 2017 James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef of the Year. The young chef earned his chops in some of the most prestigious kitchens in the country by learning from the chefs mentoring him (James Beard Foundation award-winning chefs Alon Shaya and Michael Solomonov of Zahav in Philadelphia, to name a few). “I chose to work with these chefs because they set me up to do the kind of food I was always inspired by,” Zach says. “And the more I learned from them, the more I wanted to cook like them.” Ever since he was young, food has been an integral part of Zach’s life. A native of Orlando, Florida, he…

Like many New Orleanians, Carl Schaubhut was raised in a family that loved to cook. He recalls tugging on his grandparents’ aprons and trying foods like boudin noir and raw oysters for the first time, which encouraged an early interest in cooking that intensified as he grew up. After graduating from Louisiana State University, Carl helped to open Fire on Annunciation Street, then rose through the ranks of Commander’s Palace before he was named executive chef at Café Adelaide in 2013. Two years later, he and fellow Commander’s Palace alum Jean-Pierre Guidry opened their first restaurant, Bacobar, in Covington, where they serve internationally inspired street food with local influences. Following the success of Bacobar, Carl decided to fulfill his aspirations to open a restaurant in his hometown. DTB (short for…

We sometimes think we’ve seen it all when it comes to eating out in Louisiana, but every now and then, we’ll discover off-menu eats that take us by surprise. These are items customers can request, but are not explicitly offered on a restaurant’s regular menu or advertised as daily specials. Secret menus are not a new concept—diners have been ordering unlisted items from places like California’s In-N-Out Burger for years—but there is still a certain satisfaction that comes with ordering a dish that has been left off the standard menu. It gives diners the sense that they’re in the know. Plus, it’s fun to occasionally mix things up. Louisiana is no exception to the secret menu craze. At some restaurants, like Tujague’s, the “secret” menu item is one of the…

SOME CULINARY INNOVATIONS take years to hone and perfect, while others come in a flash. When we’re making a gumbo or jambalaya we’ll often brown the andouille until crispy (and then snack on it while we cook), but it wasn’t until we saw “Andouille Chips” on the menu at Wayne Jacob’s Smokehouse in LaPlace that we realized we’d been so close to a great new appetizer. At the restaurant, the crispy chips are served with Creole mustard, but here we whipped up a spicy beer-cheese dip. ANDOUILLE CHIPS AND BEER-CHEESE DIP MAKES 10 TO 12 SERVINGS 1 pound andouille sausage, cut on an angle into ¼-inch pieces 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour ¾ cup whole milk ½ cup pilsner 1 tablespoon Creole mustard ¾ teaspoon kosher salt…

YOU COULD SAY SUMMER IS OVER in Louisiana, but as we all know, summer lasts a very long time in our state. So, if you do not feel like heating up the kitchen, this is a great time to do what I do: let somebody else cook! I am still eating my way across the state so I can report back to you and help you find the best of the best. Let’s talk food! THE DOORS ARE OPEN For anyone in Baton Rouge wondering what that delightful aroma is just behind the Louisiana Culinary Institute, it happens to be BRQ, a recently opened barbecue restaurant where 2010 Chef to Watch Justin Ferguson slow smokes meats for up to 16 hours. That results in a cut-it-with-a-fork tender brisket, or a…

IN NEW ORLEANS’ RIVERBEND NEIGHBORHOOD, visitors will find Carrollton Market, a contemporary yet relaxed bistro with bold Southern cuisine and craft cocktails. Chef Jason Goodenough opened the restaurant in 2014 with the goal of putting out great food shaped by Louisiana’s seasonal bounty. “All we care about is putting out the best quality food as possible, influenced by all over, but focusing strongly on the ingredients and seasonality down here. We really try to avoid ubiquity,” Jason says, adding, “I want to have a unique style, but really, at the end of the day, what matters to us is that the food has to be absolutely delicious. Every bite, every component of every dish needs to be delicious.” Jason always knew he wanted to be a chef. While he was…

From a young age, Meg Bickford knew she wanted to be a chef. Growing up in a South Louisiana family, she was exposed early on to a love for food that has permeated her life’s work. “Everybody was always in the kitchen,” Meg says. “Cooking was very much what brought us all together. I was really inspired by the way food can bring people together and the way food can make people feel. That is pretty much why I do it.” After Meg graduated from the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University, she joined the team at Commander’s Palace. Under 2004 Chef to Watch Tory McPhail, Meg worked her way up the line to become the restaurant’s first-ever female sous chef, and in 2015, she became the…

“Our menus are inspired by what’s in season at that moment, which may not be around in two days, let alone two weeks,” says Ryan Trahan, chef-owner of Dark Roux in Lafayette. At the hyper-seasonal restaurant, Ryan and his staff work with farmers to source the freshest, highest-quality ingredients they can find within a 200-mile radius of Lafayette. If it isn’t local, they don’t buy it. They make as much as they can in house, including pickles, pasta, and charcuterie. Although Ryan grew up working at the 1950s-style diner his family owns in Crowley, it wasn’t until he was waiting tables while attending the University of Louisiana at Lafayette that he realized he wanted to be a chef. “I was already cooking at home seven nights a week, reading cookbooks…

IN NEW ORLEANS, DINING OUT IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE FOOD, but the overall experience and the way it makes you feel. Few understand this better than Upperline restaurateur JoAnn Clevenger, who has brought happiness to countless customers through gracious hospitality and sublime cuisine. As the Uptown restaurant prepares to celebrate its 35th birthday in January, Upperline continues to provide the same impeccable service and warm environment that have made it a beloved institution in the Crescent City. As anyone who has visited Upperline knows, JoAnn is its heart and soul. With her round glasses, bun, and signature dress adorned with her Girl Scout and parrot pins, she is a fixture at the Creole bistro, where she regales guests with stories and makes them feel at home. Raised with an…

GENERATIONS OF FAMILIES throughout Louisiana have used cane syrup to enhance the flavor of everything from boudin to desserts. Similar to many folks of Cajun heritage, Bob Romero grew up with cane syrup on his family table in place of white sugar. Today, Bob and his family are carrying on the age-old tradition with Three Brothers Farm in Youngsville, where they harvest sugarcane for raw sugar and cane syrup. Although the farm has been in Bob’s family since 1944, when his grandfather purchased it from the original owner, it wasn’t until recently that they got into the sugar business. When Bob took over the farm in 1997, he began producing fig preserves, which he sold at New Orleans’ Crescent City Farmers Market. The preserves were also used for the sweet…

“THAT SMELL [OF TRINITY HITTING THE HOT ROUX] SAYS NEW ORLEANS TO ME MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE. IT‘S SUCH A SPECIAL PART OF OUR CULTURE. I COULD EAT GUMBO EVERY DAY.”—CHEF SUSAN SPICER WHEN IT COMES TO CHEF-DRIVEN COOKBOOKS, there are a few major categories. Some are snapshots of the chef’s life at a particular moment, while others are sprawling tomes. New Orleans Chef Susan Spicer’s Crescent City Cooking (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007), originally released 10 years ago, is a loving memoir of sorts, which follows her culinary development from its beginnings in the 1980s through some of her current recipes from her French Quarter restaurant, Bayona. Food trends come and go, but since its publishing, this collection has held its own and earned a spot on any serious New…

ST. TAMMANY CRAB FESTIVAL September 9–10 • Slidell IN LOUISIANA, WE ARE LUCKY to have fresh seafood available at all times, but there are sweet spots throughout the year for certain species. In the summer and early fall, we are blessed with an abundance of blue crabs. The St. Tammany Crab Festival celebrates the crustacean at Slidell’s Heritage Park with two days full of live music, local cuisine, and activities for visitors of all ages. Hungry visitors can expect boiled crabs, in addition to various crab dishes and Cajun and Creole classics. This year’s music lineup will feature performances from Amanda Shaw, Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. & The Zydeco Twisters, Category 6, guitarist Leo Nocentelli of The Meters, and more. Visitors will also be able to enjoy boat rides on neighboring…

MY TAILGATE PARTIES at Louisiana State University always feature a bubbling cast-iron cauldron of something special. Every Louisiana flavor from jambalaya and seafood gumbo to red beans and crawfish étouffée has graced our 15-gallon pot, but sometimes we switch it up a bit. One of my favorite game-day traditions on campus is that of “cooking our opponent’s mascot.” Cochon de lait tops the menu when we face the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, and we feast on fowl when the University of South Carolina Gamecocks come to town. When LSU plays the University of Florida, gator is the dish of the day. There are lots of ways to cook alligator. Some people roast it whole on a rotisserie spit, mostly for the spectacle of having a gator spinning above open flames.…

FORKS, STRANGERS TO THE TABLE FOR MUCH OF HUMAN HISTORY, BECAME UBIQUITOUS AFTER THE 18TH CENTURY. THERE WERE TINES ON HANDLES FOR EVERY KIND OF FOOD. THESE SILVER SARDINE AND ANCHOVY FORKS ARE 19TH CENTURY. THE ESSENTIAL CULINARY TOOLS have ancient lineages and mostly evolved as pragmatic responses to specific needs. There is one, however, which came to the table quite late and, unlike its siblings, was not strictly necessary. In truth, it was probably as much fashion as facility, vanity rather than utility. To cut meat, quite obviously, a sharp blade and a way to grasp it was needed. To take soup, a small scoop ergonomically attached to a handle was required, but to move morsels to the mouth, well, that was quite another thing. If something eatable could…

Since being named Bayou Roux’s executive chef in March, Blake Phillips has taken the opportunity to showcase his culinary creativity with a locally inspired menu of contemporary Southern cuisine. Dishes like Pimento Cheese Beignets, Blue Crab Fried Green Tomatoes with Daikon Slaw, and Sriracha Black-Eyed Pea Hummus make up a menu of Southern classics with a modern flair. “It’s a lot of classic-style dishes that are done with a touch of Southern influence and a touch of French-style cooking,” he says. Blake, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Austin, Texas, worked for years in New Orleans and Colorado before returning to his hometown of Monroe to accept the executive chef position at Restaurant Sage. Now at Bayou Roux, Blake enjoys using local ingredients like turnips, daikon radishes,…

Denham Springs native Allie Bookman has always had a passion for baking. As a child, Allie baked with her mother. “We didn’t always have dinner plans, but we always knew what we were going to have for dessert,” Allie says. That lifelong passion culminated in Cupcake Allie, her sweets shop in Baton Rouge. Allie graduated from Louisiana State University and worked in other fields before opening her bakery. While launching Cupcake Allie, she worked as a flight attendant and baked on her days off. Since opening four years ago, Cupcake Allie has captivated the Capital City with traditional flavors, like Golden Vanilla and Birthday Cake, and creative flavors, like Strawberry Balsamic or Gumbo. Allie draws inspiration for new flavors from local ingredients and partnerships, as well as the travel and…

WHILE NEW ORLEANIANS REVEL in their beignets and café au lait, old-school Cajuns have Oreilles de Cochon. Literal-minded French-speakers may blush at the idea of ‘pigs’ ears’ pastries, but in truth, these crunchy-fried confections only share the shape of their namesake. These oreilles come with pecans and a spiced rum sauce, but countless other versions are served throughout Acadiana, including beignet-inspired boudin-stuffed Oreilles de Cochon at Cafe Des Amis in Breaux Bridge. It may take some practice to get the twirl just right while frying, but these little pastries are quite forgiving and certainly will be a delicious home-style treat. OREILLES DE COCHON Cajun Pigs’ Ears Pastries MAKES 12 1½ cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon sugar ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ⅔ cup whole milk Vegetable oil, for…

“YOU WANT TO GET THE PAN REALLY HOT, [AND] I SIFT ALL MY DRY INGREDIENTS AT LEAST ONCE, WHICH HELPS MAKE [THE CORNBREAD] LIGHTER.”—CHEF ALEX HARRELL AS ONE OF THE PRIMARY ELEMENTS of Southern cuisine, cornbread has a hallowed spot in many hearts around Louisiana. At Angeline, nestled in the heart of the French Quarter (where Scott Boswell once wowed diners at Stella!), 2013 Chef to Watch Alex Harrell serves steamy, tender cornbread that at once honors his family’s traditions, and makes the most of exceptional products from Louisiana and the Gulf region—including an heirloom corn from Alabama, a whole wheat flour from central Louisiana, and handmade salt from Lafayette. Q How does this cornbread fit in with your cooking at Angeline? We specifically set out to use as many…