La Bouche Creole

I have used this cookbook for years; it has brought wonderful concoctions to our table as well as being just good reading. It is an insight not only how to prepare an exciting meal but the background into a fascinating culture.

A little old lady in a New Orleans gift shop recommended this book and promised me that I would be happy with it even though I didn't recognize the author and it wasn't a glamorous book. She was absolutely right. I have made about a dozen and a half of the recipes in this book and every single one of them has been a crowd pleaser. My family is loud and rowdy, so when a meal makes them go silent except for the occassional utterance of "oh my gawsh, that's good", you know it's a winner. Most of the recipes require you to do things "the long way." I haven't noticed any tips on how to shave time. Soniat's writing is personal and folksy, and his stories are touching, and he lets you know that good cooking is a labor of love and you just can't take shortcuts. My particular favorites in this book are the Chicken-Corn Maquechoux (a delicious, light stew that makes the whole house smell good while it simmers away), and his simple bread pudding recipe (which I've made once as published and ever since by adding some cinnamon and soaking the raisins and apples in a splash of rum for a couple of hours first--take his advice and make sure the loaf of french bread is really stale for this one; the final textures is fantastic). I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

This cookbook contains recipes for real Cajun/Creole dishes (not the fake ones, like blackened redfish) along with tons of history and memories. We grew up listening to Mr. Soniat on the radio in New Orleans, and this book is pure Louisiana. Along with the recipes, he includes memories of his mother and grandmother's cooking, and day to day life in early to middle 20th century New Orleans. I was born in Hammond, LA, and lived in Baton Rouge as a child, and this is the food I grew up on. A must-own for anyone who loves good food.

This book explains the origins of some of the recipes. The recipes don't seem intimidating. I have seen several books which I passed up because the recipes were elaborate.