Posts tagged Poppy Tooker
Tracking Food Trends

The fascinating food business is so multifaceted that it's always changing and evolving. On this week’s show, we look at how delicious new products make it from concept to dinner table and how one simple product turned ordinary folks into food celebrities.

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Climbing The Culinary Ladder Of Success

Many chefs spend their entire careers content to run a single restaurant. But others have a different vision – one that encompasses multiple locations or even various kinds of eateries. This week, we take a look at three such New Orleans restaurateurs and find out how they've gone about building their culinary empires.

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Witchful Thinking

Halloween season has arrived – that magical time when revelers across the country take to the streets disguised as ghosts, vampires, and witches. Here in Louisiana, of course, you'll find those kinds of spooky sightings all year round! On this week's Louisiana Eats, we've got all treats for you – and no tricks!

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Baking Bonanza

From crumbly cornbread that perfectly compliments a home-cooked meal, to warm cookies that can make you forget any problem, baked treats are key to happy eaters everywhere. This week, we celebrate the delicious half-science, half-art that is baking!

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To Ignatius With Love — A Culinary Tribute To 'A Confederacy Of Dunces'

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 was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1981.

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Northshore Eats

Less than an hour's drive from New Orleans' French Quarter, Baton Rouge, and Mississippi's Gulf Coast is Lake Pontchartrain's Northshore. The charming towns of Madisonville, Mandeville, and Abita Springs are filled with hospitality and delicious dining opportunities. On this week's show, we cross the Causeway to visit our Northshore neighbors.

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Life On The River's Edge

Between the levee and the Mississippi River is the batture – a lively slip of wilderness that a tiny community calls home. There's batture land right here in the midst of metropolitan New Orleans – but unless you're lucky enough to know a batture dweller, there's a good chance you weren't aware of one of the city’s most unconventional neighborhoods.

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Dumplings Do Make A Difference

What do a group of Buddhist monks, a New Orleans-based Chinese bakery, and a non-profit that educates young girls in Nepal all have in common? Why, dumplings, of course! This week, we explore three groups of people who are doing their best to make their mark on the world and the role that dumplings play in each of their stories.

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The Long Way Round

In the culinary world, there are many different roads to success. Some are longer and more winding than others. On this week's show, we speak with chefs who have traveled far – literally and figuratively – to find career fulfillment in New Orleans.

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Tableware Tour de Force

Fine china and crystal, earthenware and artisan glassware – it doesn’t matter what you have – it can all be transformed into a personal expression of your welcoming hospitality. On this week's show, we speak with some of the nation's finest tableware experts for an education and some inspiration.

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Hungry In The Summertime

Summertime is upon us – a time that often means travel, vacation fun, and family reunions. But to many Louisianians, summertime means hunger – and our children are the most vulnerable. When school is in session, breakfast and lunch are provided five days a week, but without extra support in the summer, that equates to missing 40 meals a month. Luckily, here in New Orleans, some big-hearted hospitality industry folks are stepping up to help.

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Rethinking Restaurants

The restaurant landscape in America is rapidly changing. The pandemic gave a lot of people time to rethink, retool, and redo the way the industry works. On this week's show, we speak with young chefs and restaurateurs who are changing the rules and reshaping culinary culture.

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Sustainability: The Secret to Success

Traditionally, the concept of sustainability referred to making enough money to keep a restaurant, or any business, up and running. In recent years, however, the term has expanded to take into account maintaining the environment that provides the raw materials businesses use. This is especially true for restaurants – businesses that would simply not exist if the supply of meat, fish, and plant-based food were not sustained. On this week's show, we hear from two chefs and a farmer who are doing their part to provide for their customers, while finding ways to live in harmony with the planet.

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A Cure For What Ails You

In many places, the cocktail hour is an honored – even sacred – tradition. And in few places is that more true than New Orleans. On this week's show, we explore the fascinating evolution of cocktail culture in the Big Easy – its past, present and future.

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Rockin' St. Roch Market

Since reopening with much fanfare in 2015, New Orleans' St. Roch Market has experienced ups and downs, but the city's second oldest city market is still standing. On this week's show, we meet its new director, longtime vendor Kevin Pedeaux, and learn why that bustling spot on St. Claude is the place to be these days. We also hear from Chef Charly Pierre, who is one of St. Roch Market's biggest success stories, Today, Charly can be found in the kitchen of his own Basin Street restaurant, Fritai.

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Altars, Beans & Cuccidati

March 19th might be just another day in other parts of the United States, but here in New Orleans it's a day when revelers take to the streets in honor of the Feast of St. Joseph. The tradition of food altars dedicated to Jesus' foster father came to the Crescent City in the late 1800s with immigrants from Sicily, where Joseph is the patron saint. What was called Mi-Carême (or Mid-Lent by the Creoles) was a day when fasting was suspended and festivities abounded. On this week's show, we explore the holiday and join in on the celebration.

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Big Chefs On Small Screens

On this week's show, we meet New Orleans chefs who have stepped into the spotlight. We begin with Anh Luu. In January, the whole country got to know Chef Anh when she was featured on the eighth season of the Emmy Award-winning Netflix series, Queer Eye. We also have an extended conversation with New Orleans chef and YouTube star Toya Boudy, whose first cookbook is Cooking for the Culture: Recipes and Stories from the Streets of New Orleans to the Table.

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Straighten Up & Fly Right

While most of the country makes New Year's resolutions that kick in right after January 1st, in Louisiana, there tends to be a slight postponement. That's because Carnival Season, a time of indulgence, kicks off on January 6th with the astounding king cake eating and cocktail drinking that comes with it. So, our resolutions about healthy living and sobriety tend to wait until Ash Wednesday – the day after Mardi Gras. This week, we hear from experts about the merits of clean living.

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Mardi Gras Northshore Style

It's Carnival time in New Orleans! But the Big Easy isn't the only place people are celebrating. Just across Lake Pontchartrain sits St. Tammany Parish, a combination of bedroom communities and small towns that embrace nature and a laid-back existence. There, folks in towns such as Slidell, Mandeville, and Madisonville have developed their own unique forms of Mardi Gras merriment. On this week's show, we hear from three of those revelers.

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Eating History

In New Orleans and across our state, we're surrounded by history. Our architecture, museums, and libraries tell us stories of bygone eras. But arguably the best place to get a taste of Louisiana history is in any of our historic restaurants. On this week's show, we look at culinary landmarks that have been dining destinations for generations.

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