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SECRETS of a TASTEMAKER: AL COPELAND The Cookbook
"His restaurants brought Cajun cuisine to a whole new audience. Copeland's restaurants are now known around the country as the first in a lasting genre." —Chef Emeril Lagasse
"Al Copeland always chose to be a winner. He defined his brand and understood that bold flavors and consistency were paramount to his success." —Chef Paul Prudhomme
"I know rich, and I know poor. I know what it's like to be busted, and I don't want to be there again. It's my greatest driving force." Al Copeland — People Magazine
"It's as though Popeyes had grown up and moved, if not Uptown, then 'up market,' a notch. . .or three. Best of all, a menu that seemed utterly derivative (a "Cajun's Greatest Hits "album) has produced dishes that are fresh, different, and exciting." — The Times-Picayune
Over one hundred recipes for a party in your mouth and spicy delicious memories. .
Al Copeland parlayed success as founder of Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken into Copeland's Restaurants of New Orleans, introducing even more offbeat and ground-breaking ideas into the international restaurant scene. Al, Jr., his son, has followed as an innovator and creative driving force. They melded their Cajun and Creole cooking heritage into methods, combinations, and techniques as the art and love of cooking.
Rags to riches
His hi-jinks and low moments were the stuff of a folk hero. Secrets of a Tastemaker is an insider's look at a life of bravado and street smarts. "He wasn't just a lightning rod for attention. He was the lightning itself. He was a ambitious, outspoken, and cocksure," says Chris Rose. "Al's taste for flash was refined, almost sublime."
"Al Copeland always chose to be a winner. He defined his brand and understood that bold flavors and consistency were paramount to his success." —Chef Paul Prudhomme
"I know rich, and I know poor. I know what it's like to be busted, and I don't want to be there again. It's my greatest driving force." Al Copeland — People Magazine
"It's as though Popeyes had grown up and moved, if not Uptown, then 'up market,' a notch. . .or three. Best of all, a menu that seemed utterly derivative (a "Cajun's Greatest Hits "album) has produced dishes that are fresh, different, and exciting." — The Times-Picayune
Over one hundred recipes for a party in your mouth and spicy delicious memories. .
Al Copeland parlayed success as founder of Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken into Copeland's Restaurants of New Orleans, introducing even more offbeat and ground-breaking ideas into the international restaurant scene. Al, Jr., his son, has followed as an innovator and creative driving force. They melded their Cajun and Creole cooking heritage into methods, combinations, and techniques as the art and love of cooking.
Rags to riches
His hi-jinks and low moments were the stuff of a folk hero. Secrets of a Tastemaker is an insider's look at a life of bravado and street smarts. "He wasn't just a lightning rod for attention. He was the lightning itself. He was a ambitious, outspoken, and cocksure," says Chris Rose. "Al's taste for flash was refined, almost sublime."
312 pages, Hardcover
Published September 13, 2022
3 people want to read
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September 26, 2024
About 50% cookbook and 50% biography of the colorful Al Copeland (founder of Popeyes, Copeland's, and Straya*). The recipes are a good selection of mostly Louisiana or Louisiana-inspired dishes, including solid instructions, ingredient recommendations, and sub-recipes for sauces, seasoning mixes and other components. They generally look good but, in true Louisiana tradition, most would require some serious tinkering to convert them to a state that your cardiologist would approve of. The biography is very "soft." For example, the book devotes an entire chapter to Al's public feud with Anne Rice, but less than a half a page to his multiple divorces (the term used in his obituary was "lustful foibles."). For all that, it's well-written and entertaining (Al Copeland was one of New Orleans larger-than-life figures), and I appreciate that the main writer was local columnist and author Chris Rose (1 DEAD IN ATTIC, et al.) and included a reprint of Copeland's obituary (written by Rose for the Times-Picayune in 2008). Solid 3 stars.
* Straya was described in a local newspaper as looking like "an accident between a cruise ship and a strip mall."
* Straya was described in a local newspaper as looking like "an accident between a cruise ship and a strip mall."
Displaying 1 of 1 review