John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces is internationally revered for having captured the essence and eccentricity of New Orleans — and for introducing readers to its larger-than-life protagonist, Ignatius J. Reilly. On this week's show, we take a culinary look between the pages of the book that, 35 years ago, was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
Read MoreIt's hard to believe that it has been a whole year since we moved our Louisiana Eats! studio into the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. On this week's show, we celebrate this one-year anniversary by meeting our neighbors in the Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard corridor in Central City.
Of course, our move wouldn't have been possible if it hadn't been for the museum's intrepid director, Liz Williams. Liz joins us to reflect back on a year of fantastic exhibits and reveal what exciting expansions are on the horizon for SoFAB.
Read MoreFrom community gardens in North Louisiana to village farms in Sub-Saharan Africa, local leaders are cultivating a passion for regional cuisine and sustainable agriculture. On this week's Louisiana Eats!, we learn about the push for community-driven food policy and meet some advocates who are inspiring people to think differently about how they eat.
Read MoreWhat turns an ordinary woman into a legend? On this week's Louisiana Eats!, we attempt to answer that question by taking an in-depth look at four inspiring women who have conquered life's challenges and become legends in their own time.
Read MoreFrom the height of its popularity in the 19th century to its modern revival, absinthe has a long and storied reputation. On this week's Louisiana Eats!, we learn all about the formerly illicit elixir, and those whose ongoing fascination with the spirit has helped transform the discourse and regulations here in the United States.
Read MoreThere's romance in the air on Louisiana Eats!
In celebration of Valentine's Day, we take a trip to the very top of Louisiana, to Holly and Derek Schreiber's Sainte Terre, which hosts some of Louisiana's most romantic weddings. Situated in the small town of Benton, Sainte Terre combines Holly and Derek's culinary prowess and New York style with the devotion of a truly family-run business.
Read MoreIt's Carnival time on Louisiana Eats! On this week's show, we learn about Carnival traditions both public and private, and celebrations both large and small. We begin with a lively discussion about New Orleans' Mardi Gras traditions with Errol Laborde, author of Mardi Gras: Chronicles of the New Orleans Carnival.
Read MoreOn the cusp of Carnival, the traditional meat celebration before the Lenten fasting begins, we're hosting our very own meat celebration on Louisiana Eats!
We begin by joining Isaac Toups at Toups' Meatery for a viewing of Top Chef and a chat about the highs and lows of competing in the nationally televised cooking competition.
Read MoreOn this week's Louisiana Eats, we examine family food traditions from North Louisiana to the most southern tip of the boot!
First, Chef Nick Lama invites us into the kitchen at Avo, an intimate fine-dining restaurant near Audubon Park in Uptown New Orleans. A third-generation Sicilian and native New Orleanian, Nick most recently worked as Chef de Cuisine at Gautreau's, where he won Gambit's Emerging Chef Challenge. Nick gives us a Northern Italian pasta and truffle lesson and shares some insider pasta tips.
On this week's show, we catch up with some of the trailblazers and award winners of the Louisiana food scene and beyond.
If you have been tuning into the new season of Top Chef on Bravo TV, you might have recognized a familiar face in Louisiana-born Chef Isaac Toups of Toups Meatery. Five episodes into Top Chef's 13th season, Isaac is holding his own. We'll get the behind-the-scenes scoop from Isaac, who has been brilliantly winging it through some styles of cuisine that take him a long way from his bayou roots.
Read MoreOn this week's show, we voyage to the Land of the Midnight Sun and explore Nordic culinary traditions. To begin our journey, we visit with Chef Magnus Nilsson, the genius behind Fäviken, a world renowned restaurant in a far-flung farming region of Sweden.
Magnus has taken on the whole of Scandinavia and beyond in his newly-released Nordic Cookbook, an enormous tome that illustrates the way Nordic food traditions emerged from the cold, harsh climate of Northern Europe.
Read MoreChef Paul Prudhomme changed the American food world forever with his creative, exuberant love for Creole and Cajun food. He was the first American chef to take the reins at Commander's Palace — where the world first had a taste of his culinary genius. He pioneered the now commonplace farm-to-table movement, as he championed Louisiana's farmers and fishermen. As Ella Brennan said, “He had magic in his hands.”
Read MoreAs we reach the end of 2015, we're taking a look back at the triumphs and tragedies of the year past.
2015 was a big year for Louisiana Eats! This June, we celebrated our fifth anniversary on the air, with listeners and friends including the NPR affiliates WWNO, WRKF, KRVS and Red River Radio. We found ourselves traveling across the state, the country and the world, covering topics ranging from substance abuse in the service industry, revelry and tradition at the annual Blackpot Festival in Lafayette, ghosts in the attic at Tujague's Restaurant, seafood innovation on the Gulf Coast and the domestic slave trade in America.
Read MoreOn this week's Louisiana Eats!, we examine the lives of five different individuals who have taken long, adventurous journeys, both personally and physically, to reach maturity and a clear sense of purpose.
We begin with a conversation with Zdenek Kastanek, a self-styled "spirits evangelist" for Proof & Company, an elite distribution business that is helping to shape the pre-eminent cocktail bars of Singapore. Zdenek explains how his odyssey to become a master of cocktails took him from a small town in the Czech Republic to a transient life working in some of the most glamorous watering holes across the globe.
Read MoreOn this week's show, we celebrate Hanukkah, the festival of lights, a time when families gather to light the menorah, exchange gifts and feast on traditional foods.
First, we share stories with Rabbi Ed Cohn of Temple Sinai, the spiritual leader of the largest synagogue in Louisiana. Rabbi Cohn tell us about his tenure at Temple Sinai and his favorite Hanukkah food memories.
Read Moret's the holiday season in Louisiana—a time to eat, drink and be merry!
On this week's Louisiana Eats! we're getting ready for the season by planning the ultimate holiday cocktail party. Master mixologist Adam Seger tells us about his craft of pairing cocktails with art and culinary innovations. We also get a chance to taste his newest creation Balsam Amaro — a versatile vermouth unlike any you've ever had.
Read MoreThis week on Louisiana Eats!, we gather around the table to delve into Thanksgiving traditions old and new. We hear about an unlikely culinary partnership between cookbook author Brandon Schultz and his cat, Lucy Schultz-Osenlund, who collaborated on a cookbook called Cooking for Two: Your Cat & You, a collection of recipes that will appeal to both man and man's best feline friend. Brandon tells us how he and Lucy celebrate something we're calling Catsgiving.
Read MoreOn this week's Louisiana Eats! we venture down to Grand Isle to explore the current state of Louisiana's shellfish industry.We begin with a visit with the Guerreros family, owners of the Caminada Bay Premium Oyster Company, who are leading the way in new product with Louisiana's first farm-raised oysters. Marcos and Boris Guerrero take us on their compact bay boat to give us a first-hand look at their off-bottom cage system method that creates an entirely new oyster that lives its life without ever touching the muddy bottom.
Read MoreIt's that time of year, when the cemeteries of Louisiana come alive and the streets are haunted by tethered spirits.
On this week's Louisiana Eats!, we celebrate All Hallows' Eve by time traveling through the storied tombs of St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 with photographer and historian Sally Asher. Sally takes us through the grave sites of our dearly departed culinary legends, and we hear some spooky stories along the way.
Read MoreOn this week's Louisiana Eats!, we join Chef John Besh in the Rouse’s Culinary Innovation Center, located at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, for a lesson in cooking up some oyster stew. We also talk about John's newly released book, Besh Big Easy, which focuses on traditional dishes that he believes are disappearing from Louisiana dinner tables.
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