The Best Of New Orleans: A Cookbook

Cajun and Creole cooking are arguably the most distinctive and original regional American cuisines. Brooke Dojny has assembled 40 classic recipes that evoke French, Louisianan, African, Choctaw Indian, and other influences to create a culinary gumbo filled with spices, local produce, seafood and fish. 40 photos.

A mingling of French, Caribbean, African, Spanish, and Native American influences has created the unique culture of New Orleans, from Mardi Gras to the blues. And like the city itself, the cuisine of New Orleans is an exuberant, creative mix, evoking the legacy of three continents. Step into any Cajun or Creole kitchen and you will experience an extraordinary blend of Old World and New.

In "The Best of New Orleans," food expert Brooke Dojny has selected the finest dishes of south Louisiana in their most classic guises. From a base of French culinary principles, enlivened by a dash of American ingenuity, come thick spicy gumbos and jambalayas, barbecued and blackened seafood, fiery andouille sausages, superb Sweet Potato Pie and luscious Bananas Foster. Each recipe includes advice on special cooking techniques, and a glossary describes and defines everything from filE powder to cayenne, grillade to courtbouillon. Color photographs of the finished dishes and of New Orleans itself capture the joie de vivre of this most irresistible of cuisines.