Written by Rosemary Mantini | 01 March 2010

Article Index
Tidbits - My New Orleans - The Cookbook
Beignets
All Pages

My New Orleans - The Cookbook by chef John Besh is an ode to New Orleans. Besh recounts the city's pre-Katrina life, and juxtaposes them against the destruction and decimation that ensued because of Katrina. His love affair with this city is endearing. The stories he tells of his youth and the human cost of Katrina are quite compelling. Besh explains that immediately after Katrina, his staff had dwindled to 4 from 167. But, he didn't close up shop. Instead, he and his remaining staff began cooking and handing out food to anyone in need. This cookbook is more than a collection of recipes; the beautiful, large-scale photos and 374 pages make it an appealing coffee table book.

I have mouthwatering memories of the food I had in New Orleans. Red Beans and rice, shrimp, mock turtle soup and, of course, beignets … every restaurant in New Orleans seemed to revel in showcasing the best the city could offer. It was a foodie's paradise, and will be again. Besh's cookbook made me wonder if it was possible to achieve those same flavours at home. Certainly, some authentic ingredients, like filé and fresh crawfish, would be difficult, if not impossible, to come by. I decided to make three recipes: Hot and Spicy Lemongrass Shrimp Soup and Shrimp Creole because I happened to have a few pounds of shrimp on hand, and Beignets for dessert.

The Hot and Spicy Lemongrass Shrimp soup lists a lot of ingredients, but pulling it all together was actually pretty simple. It required about 15 minutes of prep time to slice, dice and make the shrimp stock (which was also very easy). The shrimp creole was classic and redolent with the flavours of tomato, celery and sweet pepper. As for the beignets, I've seen a few different recipes over the years. I don't know which is the authentic one, but Besh's interpretation is quite tasty.

The only drawback to the book is the way in which it's organized. Although cookbooks organized by course or by type of ingredient (vegetable, poultry, etc.) are standard, they do offer a kind of easy referencing system. It's easy to put together a complete meal from appetizer to dessert when you know where to find what you're looking for. My New Orleans is organized in part by event (Mardi Gras, Feast Days) and by ingredient or theme (Crawfish and Rice, Gumbo Weather, The Urban Farm). This organization means that main courses, desserts, appetizers, etc are scattered throughout the entire cookbook. Looking for something a little different to serve for dinner? You will have to scan the cookbook page by page to make sure you haven't missed any ideas.

Here's one for you to try.