Emeril's New New Orleans Cooking

by Emeril Lagasse, Jessie Tirsch

Emeril Lagasse fuses the rich traditions of Creole cookery with the best of America's regional cuisines and adds a vibrant new palette of tastes, ingredients, and styles. The heavy sauces, the long-cooked roux, and the smothered foods that were the heart of old-style New Orleans cooking have been replaced by simple fresh ingredients and easy cooking techniques with a light touch. Emeril serves up a masterpiece in his first cookbook, Emeril's New New Orleans Cooking. Emeril offers not only hundred of easy-to-prepare recipes, but plenty of professional tips, shortcuts, and useful information about stocking your own New Orleans pantry and making your own seasonings.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Reference, Nonfiction

368 pages, Hardcover

First published April 22, 1993

About the author

Emeril John Lagasse is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, and cookbook author. A regional James Beard Award winner, he is perhaps most notable for his Food Network shows Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril as well as catchphrases such as "kick it up a notch" and "BAM!" He is a 1978 graduate of Johnson & Wales University's College of Culinary Arts. The "Emeril Empire" of media, products and restaurants generates an estimated USD$150 million annually in revenue.

Reviews

[Cynthia Nobles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything I've ever made from this book turned out just right, and that's not something I can say about many cookbooks. I particularly like the Warm Spinach Salad. Then there's Grand Marnier Chocolate Souffle - makes a fancy dessert with little effort.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those who follow my cookbook reviews know I usually love an Emeril Lagasse cookbook. I liked this one - his first - yet didn't love it. That isn't to say there aren't great recipes in here. The Smoked Salmon Hash with Poached Eggs = amazing! The Paneed Chicken = so versatile and delicious. The Crawfish Pies = outstanding. Yet, there were just as many recipes I made that were good but not great: Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Pumpkin Walnut Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce (which I'm also sure had a error in the ingredient list as to amount of bread to use), Jalapeño Cornbread, and Andouille Gnocchi with Spicy Tomato Sauce among others. Only 1 recipe I made was bad, the Potato Shallot Custards, which had an OK flavor but a very off putting texture.
Maybe because it's his first one, the tone is also different than later collections. All the recipes have specific plating instructions but no substitution recommendations (common in his later cookbooks). That's important for when you don't live in an area that sells crawfish, even frozen, or veal, or fresh oysters. Several of the recipe instructions assume a higher level of cooking knowledge and experience than his later works written with home cooks in mind. Many don't have amounts of basic seasoning like salt and pepper, which is typically included in perfect amounts in his later books. I also found it repetitive. For instance, there are 3 roasted chicken recipes, 4 skillet steak recipes, 2 bread pudding recipes - a lot of the same general recipe over and over.
This is still a solid cookbook. It is well worth the $1.50 I paid for it at the vintage store for the Smoked Salmon Hash alone. There are several recipes I still plan to try, meaning this will be one I keep. Yet, I think most of his later cookbooks are better.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Paul Prudhomme is ten times better!

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there are a lot of good recipes in here, anyone looking for traditional New Orleans/Louisiana food will likely go away disappointed. The "New Orleans" in the title seems to largely represent that these are dishes that Emeril has made various New Orleans restaurants that he has owned or worked in. I will say, there is a wide range of tasty recipes, and many do include traditional Gulf Coast ingredients, but I was disappointed that he felt the need to mess with local favorites: roux-less gumbo (and using both okra AND file powder at the same time)??? NNO Pasta (which is just renamed "pastalaya")?? Couscous Jamalaya? In addition to recipes (and a surprisingly large number of sauces), this book includes numerous cooking tips that are generally spot on. Will it teach you to cook like a native? No. Is it good cookbook? Yes. 3 stars.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my favorites... although if you like a cook book with pictures this is not for you.

the savory cheesecake recipes are among my favorites of all time!

also the corn maux choux is a side dish friends still ask about and ask for the recipe

[Jan Garver · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my absolute favorites. I've loved everything I've made from this books. They are not always the quickest, but the quality is totally there.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a good new orleans cookbook--the restaurnat sells good but not great food

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emeril fun to read and these recipes are wonderful.

[SnicklesTheFunnyLittleGoblin Dennison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Emeril! I can’t eat shrimp but it looked really tasty!