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River Road Recipes
If there were community cookbook awards, the Oscar for best performance would go hands down to River Road Recipes.--New York Times. Contains a special section for men. More than 1.2 million copies sold. Inducted into the Walter S. McIlhenny Cookbook Hall of Fame. This national best seller celebrated 40 years of culinary success in 1999! The River Road Recipes Cookbooks is the #1, all time, best selling community cookbook series in the nation. Benefits community projects.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1950
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 23, 2018
This spiral-bound wonder has been a fixture in Southern homes since 1959, its date of publication by the Junior League of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. RIVER ROAD RECIPES has triggered a spate of sequels from the Baton Rouge club, and no small number of cookbooks from other Junior Leagues both within Louisiana and without. But this one is still the best -- or at least the most foundational.
RRR is a great entree to Southern dishes of all kinds, especially Cajun (or "Acadian") and Creole. In this reviewer's opinion, the several pecan-pie recipes alone are worth its cost. Sure, it's dated in some ways: the "men's" section is hilariously oriented to butch, barbecue and bourbon (or the still-popular "longnecks"), shoppers in even large cities outside the South and West are presumed not to have easy access to avocados, and there are lots of cream and high-cholesterol meats in the recipes. BUT: Helpful drawings show the inexperienced cook how to make a roux, and show other fundamentals of this region's cooking. And on the whole, the recipes run from satisfying to glorious.
Seriously, unless you just hate hate hate Southern and specifically Southern Louisianan/New Orleans cooking, this book belongs in your kitchen -- and would make a great present. It's also still surprisingly inexpensive, but expect no photos.
RRR is a great entree to Southern dishes of all kinds, especially Cajun (or "Acadian") and Creole. In this reviewer's opinion, the several pecan-pie recipes alone are worth its cost. Sure, it's dated in some ways: the "men's" section is hilariously oriented to butch, barbecue and bourbon (or the still-popular "longnecks"), shoppers in even large cities outside the South and West are presumed not to have easy access to avocados, and there are lots of cream and high-cholesterol meats in the recipes. BUT: Helpful drawings show the inexperienced cook how to make a roux, and show other fundamentals of this region's cooking. And on the whole, the recipes run from satisfying to glorious.
Seriously, unless you just hate hate hate Southern and specifically Southern Louisianan/New Orleans cooking, this book belongs in your kitchen -- and would make a great present. It's also still surprisingly inexpensive, but expect no photos.
June 25, 2023
Visit any kitchen in Louisiana and most of the Deep South, and you’ll be hard pressed not to find a copy of River Road Recipes in it. Indeed, if it’s not to be found, you should probably find an excuse to leave quickly. While not the greatest American cookbook ever written, it is arguably the most important. Signs of a great cookbooks are how many splatters and warped pages are in it. Mine has a lot.
The Junior League of Baton Rouge (if you don’t know about the Junior League, you also know little about the South) first compiled recipes of its members into this volume, which went through twenty printings of 10,000 copies each from September 1959 through January 1969, forty-seven printings of 20,000 copies each through June 1992, and two printings of 30,000 in 1993 and 1995, when I got my second copy. The first was “borrowed” by a former college roommate. Not sure how many they’ve had since then, but at more than 1 million copies sold, it is the most successful community-based cookbook in the U.S. and probably the world.
It’s not Michelin three star cuisine, it’s down home, especially if that home is in the southern U.S. Most of the recipes use things you can find in a pantry or the most basic of grocery stores. Some don’t even require cooking. Consider Miss Ellen Roy Joy’s dessert:
For novice cooks, the end of the book has very useful guides for “Equivalents” and a “Metric Conversion Table” so that cooks can figure out amounts more accurately. And the final section, “Food to Serve Fifty,” must come in handy for someone, somewhere out there. But I guess it might help to know that if a recipe calls for four ounces of fish fillets, that you’d have to buy 12 ½ to 15 pounds if you intend to serve fifty!
While the review above might sound irreverent (OK, it is), I do want to make the point that this is a great cookbook for people who grew up in the South from the 60s through the 80s. As any American can tell you, one of the “go-to” ingredients to gussy up dishes in that era was a can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup. It’s a staple of green bean casseroles—topped with a can of tasteless fried onions—and many other “fancy” dishes. Here is a version of Natchitoches (pronounced Nack-a-dish, please don’t ask me to explain) meat pie that I’ve made since my college days—actually, like all good males who grew up in the South, my wife makes it now—that is actually very good. Thank you Mrs. James LaRoche, wherever you are:
The Junior League of Baton Rouge (if you don’t know about the Junior League, you also know little about the South) first compiled recipes of its members into this volume, which went through twenty printings of 10,000 copies each from September 1959 through January 1969, forty-seven printings of 20,000 copies each through June 1992, and two printings of 30,000 in 1993 and 1995, when I got my second copy. The first was “borrowed” by a former college roommate. Not sure how many they’ve had since then, but at more than 1 million copies sold, it is the most successful community-based cookbook in the U.S. and probably the world.
It’s not Michelin three star cuisine, it’s down home, especially if that home is in the southern U.S. Most of the recipes use things you can find in a pantry or the most basic of grocery stores. Some don’t even require cooking. Consider Miss Ellen Roy Joy’s dessert:
A LA MODEAll you need are store bought brownies and Cool Whip! But if you want to be a bit adventurous, you’ll also find three recipes for brownies. Although Mrs. Wray E. Robinson, Jr. claims to have a recipe for Easy Chocolate Brownies, Mrs. Nelson Bourgeois’s seems a bit easier to me:
Brownies
Vanilla ice cream
Whipped cream
Cut up several brownies into bite size pieces. Put in parfait glasses—layer of brownies—layer of ice cream. Repeat and top with whipped cream.
Do you remember the good old days of curb service when this came to 7 cents at the nearest drug store? So good and gooey.
BROWNIESRiver Road Recipes is also a great piece of Southern cultural history. In the proper etiquette of the South, unmarried women who submitted recipes are referred to by their proper names. Married women, on the other hand, become anonymous, or at least ignored. Once you become a Mrs., only your husband’s name will suffice to identify you. And while most recipes are submitted by married women, there is also a place for men in the chapter, How Men Cook, which is by far the most entertaining part of the book because many of the recipes are descriptive, like that of Louis Morgan of New Roads, Louisiana (no need for amounts):
2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 ½ cups flour
6 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 cups chopped pecans
Set oven at 350° and grease a 9” x 13” pan. Blend butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and blend. Sift flour and cocoa and add to above mixture. Add vanilla and pecans. Pour into greased pan and back about 30 minutes. This is a light, cake type brownie.
WILD DUCKCompare with the recipe submitted by John Barton (place unknown):
Marinate over night or for several hours in a vinegar, salt, and water solution.
When ready to cook, slit skin of breast and insert 2 strips of bacon between the meat and skin. This keeps the meat moist and adds flavor. Salt and pepper the bird. Stuff onion, celery, bell pepper into cavity. Brown well in an iron pot; cover, let cook slowly until tender. Wine can be added to the soaking solution or to the gravy.
DUCKS (Cookout in Woods)(For the uninitiated: the term salad oil was used from the 50s through the 80s to refer to vegetable oil.)
Clean ducks. Get good fire going. Use heavy black iron Dutch oven with feet to keep it above flame.
Salt and pepper ducks. Place a piece of onion inside each one. Brown lightly in a little hot lard or salad oil. Pour off excess fat. Add a little water. Cover pot. Turn and baste while cooking. When almost tender, add an ounce of sherry per duck. Add canned mushrooms and juice if available. Cook until tender. This will require at least two hours.
For novice cooks, the end of the book has very useful guides for “Equivalents” and a “Metric Conversion Table” so that cooks can figure out amounts more accurately. And the final section, “Food to Serve Fifty,” must come in handy for someone, somewhere out there. But I guess it might help to know that if a recipe calls for four ounces of fish fillets, that you’d have to buy 12 ½ to 15 pounds if you intend to serve fifty!
While the review above might sound irreverent (OK, it is), I do want to make the point that this is a great cookbook for people who grew up in the South from the 60s through the 80s. As any American can tell you, one of the “go-to” ingredients to gussy up dishes in that era was a can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup. It’s a staple of green bean casseroles—topped with a can of tasteless fried onions—and many other “fancy” dishes. Here is a version of Natchitoches (pronounced Nack-a-dish, please don’t ask me to explain) meat pie that I’ve made since my college days—actually, like all good males who grew up in the South, my wife makes it now—that is actually very good. Thank you Mrs. James LaRoche, wherever you are:
MEAT PIE À LA LUBe sure to par bake the crust! Which, it has just dawned on me, Mrs. LaRoche does not tell us anything about how to make in the list of ingredients.
1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons fat
1 medium onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large carrot, grated
½ to 2/3 cup celery, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
½ to 2/3 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt, black pepper, pinch red pepper
Pinch oregano, cumin, and marjoram (optional)
Brown meat in fat (lightly); add onions, garlic, celery, carrots; cook slightly. Add soup, cheese, and seasonings. Thin with milk, if necessary. Line casserole dish with pie crust, reserving enough crust for the top. Put above mixture in pie crust and bake at 350° for about 30 minutes or until crust is desired shade of brown. Serves 4-6.
October 11, 2020
Since 1959, this spiral-bound wonder has been a fixture in Southern homes. RIVER ROAD RECIPES is a great entree to Southern dishes of all kinds, including Cajun, Creole and all manner of pecan pies. Sure, it's dated in some ways: the "men's" section is hilariously oriented to butch, barbecue and bourbon, and there are lots of cream and high-cholesterol meats in the recipes, but it's still foundational. Seriously, unless you just hate hate hate Southern cooking, this book belongs in your kitchen -- and would make a great present.
February 18, 2008
Both when I lived in Lousiana, and now having moved away this cookbook is one of the definitive "must haves" of southern cooking. From cliche cajun dishes like Gumbo or Jambalaya, to the unsung culinary heroes of those raised in the bayou like rice dressing and chicken spaghetti this is a must have for any cook or native Louisianian.
May 25, 2008
Just looking in some recipes I wanted to laugh. I'm from Oklahoma and I thought we had some Redneck foods here. But I can say many of the recipes are quite delicious. I just don't go for the "coon" ones myself.
February 12, 2019
What a fantastic book! I found myself wanting to know each of these families. Recipes so good!
June 11, 2009
Love community cookbooks. This is one of the best.
June 30, 2019
One of my favorite's.
April 17, 2024
One of my favorites for Cooking
August 14, 2007
I've borrowed my mom's tattered copy so many times that I really need to buy her a new one. A collection of cajun/creole recipes. Perhaps not the historical or technical richness of some of the other cajun/creole cookbooks I've read, but my sentimental favorite.
June 8, 2009
One of my all time favorite cookbooks from Louisiana.
October 9, 2014
A collection of recipes from the Junior League of Baton Rouge. There are some in here that you would not normally associate with Louisiana such as tamales.
November 16, 2024
Trying to find another copy of this original edition after my got too tattered to stay together. It has recipes that the later editions do not. One of the best cookbooks ever.
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April 19, 2026A staple in every south Louisisana kitchen
April 2, 2017
I do love a good cookbook. The history for this one is amazing, it's southern and has been reprinted over 80 times, first printed in 1959! Many other editions followed, I don't have them yet but will try to find them used in the future. One recipe I remember as a kid was Sugar Steak, and there is a special section in the back about men cooking and their recipes, what a hoot! Who doesn't love a man that can cook?
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews