The Plantation Cookbook

Two of the most insistent reminders of Louisiana’s past are her cuisine and her plantations. Each represents a way of life that time and tragedy have altered, but not destroyed. As this beautiful and unusual book shows, far from being mere poignant memories, Louisiana’s great mansions and her food are very much a part of life today. And, here, in the first book of its kind, the two traditions are brought together. First, the reader is introduced to twenty-nine of Louisiana’s extravagant plantations – each accompanied by an evocative line drawing my M. Dell Well, a brief historical note, and directions for motorists on how to find each one – and then to more than three hundred recipes for creating the kind of meals that were once served in them. The authors explore plantations throughout the entire state beginning with Beauregard House in New Orleans (where the Confederate general lived after the Civil War) and moving on to that strange caprice known as San Francisco on the winding River Road (built to resemble one of the steamboats that plied the waters of the Mississippi) to Shadows-on-the-Teche in New Iberia (where the romantic past lives on in an atmosphere of red brick mansion, moss draped oak, willow, cypress and magnolia trees) and on to 26 other great homes. Then the reader is invited to east on some of the glories of Louisiana’s cooking. Here are more than 300 authentic recipes for dishes that have been tested for generations in Louisiana kitchens. This is the kind of food that is enjoyed by natives in their homes throughout the state, the kind of food that has given Louisiana hospitality its very special flavor. Crawfish Bisque, Jambalaya, Grillades – these are only a few of the treasures that the ladies of the Junior League of New Orleans have adapted for the kitchens of today wherever they may be.