When his book ‘Louisiana Kitchen’ came out it was 1984. Back then very few books by an American chef had been written and published nationally. Alice Waters, “Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook” being one of them which arrived in 1982. The first cookbook I ever bought was ‘Theory and Practice of Good Cooking” by the great James Beard in 1978. My cookbook library was tiny compared to today. The few other books I had were a mix of French, Italian, Chinese and a smattering of regional cookbooks either given to me or found in rummage sales. With ‘Louisiana Kitchen’ and the powerful image of the big man on the cover I sensed a sea change in American cookbooks coming. The New York Times critic, Craig Claiborne sang high praise. “Paul Prudhomme is the panjandrum — the greatest authority and practitioner of Cajun and Creole cooking’! The American Bicentennial celebration arrived in 1976. There was a growing confidence that American chefs could dig deep into the roots of the kind of cooking distinctly from this place of our birth. Nothing wrong at all with what we had learned from the European world of gastronomy … but there comes a time to find one’s own voice. Paul Prudhomme was a natural to help lead this charge. He, along with Mr. Beard, Alice and also Jeremiah Tower spoke deeply to my leanings. Though I was a few years away from planting my flag in what I came to call, “New World Cuisine” it was exciting to cook dish after dish to learn about New Orleans cookery with Paul’s book mentoring us.
I had been cooking in our native state of Illinois when I first got Alice’s book and absorbed it with a loving devotion. In ’84 I had returned again to Florida where I’d been asked to head up a big kitchen operation in Jupiter, Florida right on the coast of our country. I brought two of my kick ass chefs with me in the process. Ed Hale, (I sure wonder where he is off to these many years) and Charlie Trotter. The three of us were fired up to find ways to make our menus ”sing the body electric‘ as the most sensually resolute poets in American literature might have phrased it.
To my great happiness I met Paul in Madrid in 2006 when we were both presented the ‘Madrid Fusión’ Award’ along with Alice Waters and Mark Miller as ‘Founders of the New American Cuisine”. He was warm, generous and gracious. I will always be grateful for his spirit and his American character!
Good to see you hear, yes was a treasure.
You are a great storyteller
Paul Morello:))