"Nowhere else have I found the passion for flavor that encompasses the lives of Louisianians, day in and day out, " writes Emiril Lagasse. In "Louisiana Red and 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 America's favorite regional dishes, gathered from generations of Louisiana cooks. Fricassees, etouffees and grillades, meat pies and oyster fries, red beans and rice, and jambalayas and gumbos in in endless, mouthwatering variety - each recipe is spiced with the unabashed joy of cooking and eating that makes every Louisiana meal a feast.

Reviews

Even before his hit show on the TV Food Network and his New Orleans facsimile in Las Vegas (Emeril's New Orleans Fish House), the chef/owner of Emeril's and NOLA's in the Big Easy was a personality. His warm enthusiasm is present in the pages of his latest friendly, punchy book. Quickly covering some standard Louisiana ingredients like roux and Emeril's Worcestershire Sauce, he then moves on to classics like Crawfish Bisque (complete with stuffed crawfish heads) and Chicken and Dumplings. Notes to the recipes explain the origins of food‘such as the native American roots of Natchitoches Meat Pies‘and are exuberantly spiked with comments like, "Mon cher, c'est bon, oui." Not for the fat-phobic are such dishes as Praline Cream Pie (a stick of butter in the graham-cracker crust, five egg yolks in the filling, a cup of heavy cream in the topping and crumbled pralines in all three layers) and the Peacemaker sandwich (a baguette split down the middle, slathered with butter and filled with fried oysters and tartar sauce). But this is authentic fare, delivered with irresistible conviction. (Sept.)

Lagasse is the chef/owner of two well-known restaurants in New Orleans, Emeril's and Nola's (as well as another Emeril's in Las Vegas) and the host of a very popular show on the TV Food Network. His first cookbook, Emeril's New New Orleans Cooking (LJ 3/15/93), showcased the innovative food he was serving at his restaurants, a sort of "fusion Creole cooking." This time he explores Louisiana's Cajun and Creole classics and other favorites: Crawfish Bisque, Chicken-Andouille Hash, Praline Cream Pie. Coauthor Bienvenu is a Louisiana native, and some of the recipes for homey dishes come from her extended family. For most collections.

"If some like it hot, Lagasse likes it hotter. The New Orleans chef, who spices up the TV Food Network nightly, shows off his fiery jambalaya and piquant andouille sausages, along with French-inspired Creole onion soup and daube glacee among other bayou specials in this Whoo! Bam! cookbook." -- "People"