Paul Prudhomme: Cajun spices and a love of local ingredients

Paul Prudhomme: Cajun spices and a love of local ingredients, At K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen during the aboriginal 1980s, chef and buyer Paul Prudhomme would drive to his hometown abreast Opelousas in his auto barter and appear aback loaded down with aliment absorption his built-in Cajun cuisine.

Way afore farm-to-table was hip in the foodie crowd, his restaurant was authoritative its own andouille sausage.

"The way Paul approached aggregate was to try to accomplish things added local, added regional, fresher, adapted to order," said chef Frank Brigtsen, who formed for Prudhomme for seven years. "At the time all those concepts were beginning and new. Now we all baker that way."

Prudhomme died Thursday afterwards a abrupt illness, according to Tiffanie Roppolo, the CFO of Prudhomme's businesses. He was 75.

Prudhomme became arresting in the aboriginal 1980s, anon afterwards aperture K-Paul's, a French Quarter booth that served the commons of his childhood. He had no academic training, but sparked a civic absorption in Cajun aliment by confined dishes " gumbo, etouffee and jambalaya " that were around alien alfresco Louisiana.

The audibly American chef became a awareness at a time if the country's top restaurants served around annihilation but European food.

"Paul was the affectionate apostle of all things South Louisiana " from our ability and accommodation to our generosity and aliment " and I will absence him greatly," said New Orleans restaurateur John Besh.

Prudhomme was accepted for his innovations. His a lot of acclaimed dishes acclimated the address he alleged blackening: angle or meat covered with spices, again seared until atramentous in a afire skillet. Begrimed redfish became so accepted that Prudhomme lamented over barter who chock-full acclimation the acceptable Cajun dishes that he loved.

"We had all this admirable food, we aloft our own aerial and duck, and all anyone capital was begrimed redfish," he said in a 1992 interview.

Prudhomme was aloft by his agriculturalist parents on a acreage abreast Opelousas, in Louisiana's Acadiana region. The youngest of 13 children, he spent abundant of his time in the kitchen with his mother, whom he accustomed for developing his acknowledgment of affluent flavors and the beginning vegetables, banty and seafood that she cooked.

"With her I began to accept about seasoning, about aggregate taste, about affable so things were account eating," he said.

After top academy Prudhomme catholic the country affable in bars, diners, resorts and auberge restaurants.

He alternate to New Orleans in the aboriginal 1970s and begin a job as chef in a auberge restaurant. In 1975, he became the arch chef at the admired Commander's Palace restaurant.

Brigtsen recalled account a front-page adventure about Prudhomme getting hired.

"That was a amazing bound of faith," he said for the restaurant to appoint a bounded Cajun chef with no academic comestible training.

But that bound of acceptance paid off. Liz Williams, who active the city's Southern Aliment and Beverage Museum, said Prudhomme took Commander's Palace's acceptable card and angry it into a absolutely "from here" affectionate of fare. For example, he began application pecans instead of almonds in the trout almandine because pecans could be begin locally
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