New Orleans, Louisiana Food and Cooking

Classic New Orleans Cooking - from Chef John Besh

"The multicultural  heritage of New Orleans continues to inspire our cooking.  From the Creoles, the American-born descendants of the French, Spanish, and Africans who settled here in New Orleans, we have the worldly sophistication that elevates good cooking to a true cuisine. 

From the cooking of the Acadian French, the Cajuns, whose ancestors were evicted in 1755 from Acadie, on the coast of Nova Scotia, and settled in southwestern Louisiana around Lafayette, comes robust and zesty country cooking.  Germans brought us their sausages and dry-cured meats to add to our cooking.  Settlers from the Caribbean arrived with their signature spices like cayenne: from Central America, their peppers, like the famed Tabasco. 

From Native Americans came corn and the ground sassafras called filé; Sicilians added to New Orleans cooking with their red sauces and grew our vegetables; Croatians harvest our oysters.  The Isleños arrived in Louisiana over 200 years ago  from the Canary Islands with their Spanish-inflected ways.  And since the late 1970's, the thousands of Vietnamese who have resettled in East New Orleans grow and cook new ingredients that influence our cooking daily." 

Adapted from My New Orleans by John Besh, published by Andrews McMeel
click for book review

FOR THE GRITS:

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white stone-ground organic grits
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

 

FOR THE SHRIMP:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 36 jumbo Louisiana or other wild American shrimp, unpeeled

 

 

For the grits, bring 4 cups water with the salt to a boil in a medium-size saucepan over high heat. Slowly pour the grits into the boiling water, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low. Stir the grits often to make sure they don't stick to the bottom of the pot. Simmer the grits until all the water has been absorbed and they become soft, about 20 minutes. Stir in the butter and mascarpone. Remove from heat and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the grits in the pot to keep a crust from forming.

For the shrimp, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over moderate heat. Season the shrimp with Creole Spices and salt. Sauté the shrimp until they begin to brown but are not cooked all the way through. Remove the shrimp as they cook and set aside.

In the same skillet, sauté the andouille, garlic, shallots, piquillo peppers, and thyme until they become aromatic, about 5 minutes. Add the Shrimp Stock and bring to a simmer. Stir in the butter and reduce the sauce until it's nice and thick, 3-5 minutes.

Return the shrimp to the skillet and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice, diced tomatoes, and chives.

Spoon a heaping ¼ cup of the grits into the center of each of 6 large bowls. Arrange 6 shrimp in the middle of each bowl of grits. Spoon sauce around the shrimp and garnish each bowl with fresh chervil.

Serves: 6

click for printable recipe

Many thanks to John Besh and to Andrews McMeel for permission to use this section from Chef Besh's rich and wonderful cookbook My New Orleans: The Cookbook  -200 of My Favorite Recipes & Stories from My Hometown.

In this work, Chef Besh states "I think of the old New Orleans classics as tribute food, food that honors the cooks and chefs who have made these New Orleans dishes for centuries.   My New Orleans pays tribute to my favorite New Orleans classics."  We think that Chef Besh himself is a tribute to all that New Orleans food and cooking stands for.  Hats off!

 

more shrimp recipes        more chef & cookbook seafood recipes     chef Besh's recipe for bourbon pecan pie

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  more new orleans recipes       new orleans: gumbo        fais do-do          Sicilian Immigrants Meet Creole Cooking

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