New Orleans, The Food Place
by Eleanor S. Morris

New Orleans is the place for food lovers, whether dining on great gourmet Creole dishes at fine restaurants, or learning to cook them yourselves. Whet your appetite first at famous Emeril's on Tchoupitoulas, noticing how he uses spices, for instance, in citrus and tea-glazed duck. Then on to Arnaud's on Bienville for Creole masterpieces such as shrimp Arnaud and oysters Bienville. In Emeril's Delmonico on St. Charles, traditions in this circa-1895 restaurant have been kept intact with the likes of redfish Meuniere and baked Alaska.

More mouthwatering Creole dishes await at famous Brennan's on Royal Street, where breakfast is far from boring, even at 8am in the morning, what with Eggs Sardou and Bananas Foster along with a brandy milk punch. Later in the day, classic Creole dishes such as turtle soup, shrimp Creole, and trout amandine, are served lavishly. Muriel's on Jackson Square offers more of the classic New Orleans Creole cuisine with pecan-crusted puppy drum and wood-grilled barbecued shrimp.

A new Creole restaurant that is garnering kudos is the Upperline, on Upperline Street. JoAnn Clevenger welcomes every guest as a friend at her cozy Uptown restaurant in a restored 19th-century home. Special are fried green tomatos with shrimp remoulade, rack of lamb and roast duck, and a watercress and Stilton salad. Also Uptown is Brigtsen's. Frank Brigtsen is a protege of Paul Prudhomme, and his baked oysters, shrimp bisque and pan-fried speckled trout are becoming the stuff of legend.

But enough of dining on the creations of famous chefs. It's time, food lovers, to do something on your own. So head for the New Orleans Cooking Experience (1519 Carondelet St. New Orleans, LA 70130, 504-522-4955), which offers four-day cooking vacations, as well as half-day and private classes to both local and visiting wanna-be chefs. The cuisine is classic Creole New Orleans with a little bit of Cajun thrown in. Classes are limited to no more than ten, and include both a hands-on and demonstration instruction, as well as recipes and wines, and conclude with a multi-course banquet.

One such menu consisted of Shrimp Remoulade Canapes, Crabmeat Ravigote Canapes, Chicory Farm Cheeses and seasonal fruits as appetizers, Grillades, Stone Ground Cheese Grits and Corn Macque Choux as Entrees, Sazerac Cocktail as a special New Orleans Drink Tasting, and for dessert, fleur-de-lis cookies.

Chefs of the day were Frank Brigtsen, who demonstrated Trout Meuniere with shrimp and pecans for tasting, and Poppy Tooker, who demonstrated Calas, for making and tasting. Ready to try your hand? Here is the recipe for Frank Brigtsen's Shrimp Remoulade. He says: Boiling shrimp, crabs, or crayfish is a backyard tradition in Louisiana. Most important is the "soak" time. After the shrimp is boiled, you must turn off the heat and let the seafood soak in the seasonings for 30 minutes.

Louisiana Shrimp Boil
(For up to 5 lbs. of shrimp)

Ingredients:
1 gallon cold water
1 cup Rex, Cajun Land, or Zatarain's shrimp boil powder.
3/4 cup salt
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
4 lemons, halved and squeezed
1 orange, halved and squeezed
2 jumbo yellow onion, quartered
6 ribs of celery, coarsely chopped
2 heads garlic, halved crosswise
1) In large pot, add all ingredients, boil 5 minutes
2) Add shrimp, boil 1-2 min. depending on size of shrimp.
3) Turn off heat, soak for 30 min. Strain and cool.

Remoulade Sauce
Chef Brigtsen says this is truly one of the most delicious and unique appetizers in classic New Orleans cuisine, quite different from its counterpart in classic French cuisine. Make a day ahead and store in refrigerator.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup thinly sliced greens of green onions
1 cup finely diced celery
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1/2 tsp minced fresh garlic
1 whole lemon, de-seeded and chopped
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup ketchup
3 T yellow mustard
3 T Zatarain's Creole mustard
4 1/2 tsp prepared horseradish
1/2 tsp Tabasco pepper sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1) In food processor, add all ingredients except oil. Puree.
2) With the machine running, slowly add the oil in a thin stream until fully incorporated. Store covered in the refrigerator. Serve with boiled shrimp.

Bon appetit!