Shop Notes:
If you've never been to Avery Island then you're missing out on a fun time. Am I the only one who loves the smell of Tabasco just as much as smothering my food in the wide variety of hot sauce flavors the McIlhenny family churns out every day? I hope not. In any case, this cookbook is a winner. It's all down-home goodness in a region where they have perfected the art of down home goodness.
From the Publisher:
Eula Mae Dor has been cooking Cajun food on Avery Island, home of the McIlhenny family and their Tabasco pepper sauce, for more than half a century. Cajun cooking is the country cooking of Louisiana, the spicy intersection of French and Southern culinary traditions. One of the world's best-loved regional cuisines, it was developed by descendants of Acadians who were driven south from Nova Scotia in the 1700s because of their religion. Cajun cuisine happens to also be one of my favorite American cuisines and it can also be a bit of a mystery.
But, Eula Mae Doe's intuition, patience, and love of food have served her better than any professional training could have. Food writer Marcelle Bienvenu has spent hundreds of hours in the kitchen by Eula Mae's side capturing the fine flavors of her self-taught cooking. Eula Mae's Cajun Kitchen is organized into menus reflecting the rhythm of life on Avery Island, such as Mardi Gras, The Trapper's Camp, A Spring Luncheon, A Summer Fishing Trip, and Halloween Bonfire. More than 100 traditional Cajun dishes are complemented with Eula Mae's reminiscences of her family and her years on Avery Island.
