Holiday Gift Suggestion - Chasing the Gator

It’s refreshing to read a cookbook authentic to Cajun lifestyles, a way of life that directly relates to the food cooked, served and eaten in Cajun Country/South Louisiana. Chef Isaac Toups grew up in Rayne, son of a "Prairie Cajun" and a "Coastal Cajun," and, even though he runs two restaurants in New Orleans, his debut cookbook screams down-home Cajun.

The chapters in "Chasing the Gator: Isaac Toups and the New Cajun Cooking" say it all — The Boucherie, Community Table, Homestead, Fish Camp and Hunt Camp, — full of recipes and cooking instructions, plus Toups’ crazy anecdotes and Boudreaux jokes. The dishes represent the heart and soul of Cajun cooking, basically what Toups describes as what people catch and what people grow, accented by “in-your-face flavor.”

“'Cajun is a lifestyle, it’s a mindset, it’s an area, and it’s a people,” Toups writes in the introduction. “This isn’t the history of classic Cajun food. That’s another book. This is the story of a young wild Cajun and the experiences that made me the cook I am today.”

Naturally, there’s lots of pork dishes, wild game, seafood from the state's wetlands, lakes and bayous and the trademark boudin (Note: His comments about where boudin is best will surely cause a fight). But what makes this cookbook special are the wonderful photos of how to stuff sausage, pick crabs, cut open a pig for roasting and cleaning fish. It’s a joy to read as much to use for cooking instruction.

Toups wrote the book with Jennifer V. Cole, a native of Mississippi and a deputy editor at Southern Living magazine. Toups has been named a James Beard Best Chef of the South Semi-Finalist or Finalist since opening his New Orleans restaurant, Toups’ Meatery in 2012 with his wife, Amanda. He was named an Eater Young Gun of the South, Eater New Orleans Chef of the Year and a Top Chef fan favorite, not to mention an advocate for preserving America’s wetlands.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.

Cookbook Thursday: George Graham's 'Acadiana Table'

George Graham of Lafayette loves Louisiana cooking. He hails from a restaurant family and worked in one himself and has written extensively about Cajun and Creole cooking in addition to being a finalist on TV’s “Food Network Challenge.” His blog, “Acadiana Table: George Graham’s Stories of Louisiana Cooking and Cajun/Creole Culture,” is as beautiful as it’s informative, was a finalist for Best Food Blog: Regional Cuisine in Saveur magazine’s 2014 Best Food Blog Awards and also for Best Food Blog in the 2015 IACP Digital Media Awards.

So it’s no surprise that Graham now has a cookbook under his belt. “Acadiana Table: Cajun and Creole Home Cooking from the Heart of Louisiana: Recipes, Stories and Photographs” has just been released by Harvard Common Press. Like Graham’s blog, it’s as gorgeous as it’s educational, perfect for a coffee table as well as a kitchen. And also like Graham’s blog, the book addresses traditional Cajun and Creole dishes such as crawfish bisque, Creole shrimp and andouille jambalaya, courtbouillon and étouffées. But there’s innovative recipes too, such as stuffed turkey wing gumbo, snapping turtle sauce piquante or smoked quail stuffed with syrup sausage and muscadine sauce. Sprinkled throughout the book are slices of local history, cooking techniques — even the “pride of speaking French.”

Graham signs “Acadiana Table” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Renaissance Market in the Oil Center and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at Caroline and Company, both in Lafayette. He’ll also sign copies from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, at Barnes & Noble–Perkins Rowe in Baton Rouge.

Other cookbooks to consider this holiday season — and don’t worry, there’s more recommendations to come between now and Christmas.

From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, James Beard Award-winning Chef Jeremiah Tower will read from and sign his new book, “Table Manners: How to Behave in the Modern World and Why Bother” at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum in New Orleans. In his newest book, Tower discusses the idea of proper etiquette and offers readers a list of do’s and don’ts for today’s society. Tower's first book, “New American Classics,” won a James Beard Foundation Award in 1986 for “Best American Regional Cookbook.” In 1996, he won the Foundation’s Award for the “Outstanding Chef of the Year.” Museum admission is $10.50 for adults, but those who purchase a book will receive complimentary admission. 

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Also at the Museum is Peggy Sweeney-McDonald, author of “Meanwhile Back at Café du Monde, who will give a demonstration and book signing from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Nov. 12.

For more information, visit http://natfab.org/southern-food-and-beverage. 

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Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country.” She writes Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

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