Paper Palate

There is one post-Katrina loss I kick myself for not thinking of: the fact that thousands of family recipes are gone forever. Being an avid photographer, I sadly reflected about family photos after the disaster. Finally coming to terms with the understanding that generations-old recipes have been wind swept and water logged is another matter.

One reason I started my food blog, was to acquire an online library of my own recipes. Since many of my personal creations are not logged anywhere, I knew it was ideal to get them down somewhere. My own grandmother refuses to write any of her recipes down; it is often a battle to get some of the favorites to paper, perhaps why I never thought of the matter down in the Gulf Coast. Putting pen to paper for my grandmother rarely happens and other than those few I do have, my historical recipe collection is fairly limited.

I did not choose the New Orleans Times-Picayune to cover post-Katrina rebuilding, and I have specifically strayed from mentioning anything of the sort in past postings. I have a friend who grew up in New Orleans and his cousin, who just moved to New York City, post-Katrina. The family is big on food and I knew they were diligent readers of the Picayune and I thought it would be fun to follow the stories alongside them.

As I follow the coverage of the Picayune, I have often browsed the Recipe Swap Forum. It is a place for natives and non-natives alike to congregate and share recipes lost. While some recipes peaked my interest, I was waiting for a great story to share alongside this forum. In early May, this finally happened.

I pulled up the food section to find Judy Walker’s recent article, Recipe Renewal. It is a roundup of all the great New Orleans cookbooks, some long out-of-print, that are being reissued. It is an opportunity not only for locals to replenish their lost recipe archives, but non-natives to stock up on some classic southern cookbooks without spending an arm and a leg for out-of-print versions online. So while our great-grandmother’s faded scrawls may be long gone, at least we have the cookbook library to fall back on.

Some listed I might just need to pick up myself. Creole Cooking’s 125th anniversary reissue by the Woman’s Exchange. And the hilariously titled, Who’s Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make a Roux?, by Marcelle Bienvenu. There are also a bunch of newcomers that had releases delayed due to the storm, and are just now making their way onto the shelves. Head over to the New Orleans Times-Picayune food section for a full listing.

One not listed that I must give some lip service to is Uglesish’s Restaurant Cookbook. My friend whipped me up the Jambalaya recipe from this book once and I am drooling just thinking about it.

My friend reflected on Ugleshish’s for me: “Uglesish’s or Uggie’s was a very old (75 plus years), very famous New Orleans restaurant… The restaurant sat just 12 or so tables and was never not full. Average wait time (open for lunch only) was one and a half hours… Although jambalaya is a common Louisiana dish, it was not served at Uggie’s, which specialized in their own fare… Uggie’s owners were getting old and closed the store last spring. In the final two weeks, people camped outside, like they do at rock concerts, to be the first in line when the doors opened at half past ten.” Below is the Jambalaya recipe from Uglesish’s Restaurant Cookbook.

¼ cup of olive oil
½ lb. of smoked andouille sausage, sliced and diced
¼ lb. of tasso, sliced and chopped [tasso is very spicy smoked pork]
2 cups onions, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
4-6 stalks of celery, finely chopped
6 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 bunch of scallions finely chopped
3 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh basil, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 teaspoons salt
black pepper to taste
cayenne to taste
2 cans (14 oz) chicken broth
1 lb bag of long-grain white rice
2 lb of shrimp [or white and dark chicken boneless]

1) Pour oil into deep large skillet.
2) Sauté the sausage and tasso on medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes. [Then chicken if used].
3) Add onions, peppers, celery, garlic, scallions and sauté until translucent.
4) Add the tomatoes, and all fresh herbs, salt, pepper, cayenne and stir.
5) Add chicken broth, raise heat to high, let it come to a boil.
6) Add rice and stir.
7) Lower heat and cover pot.
8) Cook until almost all liquid is absorbed, approximately 20-25 minutes.
9) Add shrimp and place cover back on pot for about 15 minutes, or until pink shrimp.
10) Pull pot off the fire and let sit for approximately 15 minutes, then stir again.