Preface

There is a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine is drunk.

-M.F.K. Fisher

One cannot think well, love well, or sleep well, if one has not dined well.

-Virginia Wolf.

Welcome to one of the core classes at the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University.

Before we begin this course, I want to emphasize the importance of Louisiana’s culture and foodways. There are a couple of axioms that explain how much they are relished.

• “The locals have a 24-hour-a-day love affair with food. While they are eating breakfast, they’re looking ahead to lunch AND dinner, and even probably discuss what will be on the menu for the Sunday meal or a holiday celebration.”
• “Some people eat to live, while here we live to eat.”

I didn’t realize how significant food was to my family, my friends and me until I spent a summer working in Washington D.C. when I noted that not everyone ate gumbo, boudin and crawfish etouffee. I was curious as to why we eat what we eat. What influenced the development of our Louisiana cuisines? I thought about how my life was influenced by food.

My father was one of twelve siblings, and his mother was a revered cook who known for her delicate pastries, fine candies and daube glace, an old Creole delicacy that takes the better part of a day to prepare. She had two stoves in her kitchen and they were in constant use.

When Papa reached adulthood, he became a Boy Scout leader AND an avid sportsman who loved fishing and hunting. He often cooked our family meals, especially on weekends at our camp near the Atchafalaya Spillway or at our rural home where our backyard was surrounded by sugarcane fields. He cooked mostly over a wood fire and I was quite intrigued as to how he managed the fire. One of my colleagues once told me “cooking is merely learning how to control heat.” After observing my father cooking, I totally agree.

My mother grew up on a farm where the produce came from their home gardens, from the chickens and hogs they raised, and the food they canned and otherwise preserved. An annual ‘boucherie’ (hog butchering) supplied the family and friends with all things pork---sausages, salted or smoked meat, boudin, cracklings and hams.

While I never gave thought to pursuing a career in culinary, fate presented me with opportunities that steered me to becoming involved in restaurants, culinary journalism, and culinary education. In the early 1970’s, I was “recruited” by Ella Brennan, the matriarch of the New Orleans Brennan clan, to work at Commander’s Palace. It was there that I learned the fundamentals of restaurant operations. The Brennan family (especially Ella Brennan who became my mentor for almost 50 years) always maintained that hospitality, good food, and attention to details were the keys to being successful.

I was there when Paul Prudhomme, the man who came from humble beginnings, was hired in 1975 as the Executive Chef for Commander’s, one of the most prestigious restaurants in the country. It was exciting for me to watch Paul preach the gospel of Cajun cuisine, and to see him and the Brennans introduce a completely new culinary concept that married Cajun cuisine to Creole fare. In 1981, I opened my own restaurant, Chez Marcelle, near Lafayette, La. It was a great success but it had its ups and downs. I was up at dawn and usually was the first to arrive to open up the kitchen. Menus had to be planned. There was purchasing to be done. There were daily meetings with my kitchen and wait staff. Inventories had to be taken. Dishwashing machines broke down in the middle of service. Who was taking my silverware home with them? Why was there always a shortage of wine glasses? Are the bathrooms spic and span?

After all was said and done, there were a great many rewards. The restaurant was popular. The phones rang off the hook. We won great awards for not only our food, but also for service. Alas, in the 1980’s we had to contend with the oil glut with the serious surplus of crude oil. While we were still very solvent, we had to close the doors.

Nevertheless, I always adhere to the adage that when God closes one door, He opens another. In 1984, I began writing a food column (Cooking Creole) for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans and continued the column until 2016. During those thirty-two years, I watched the culinary scene change and evolve, not only in New Orleans, but also across the United States. It was a time during which people became enamored with cooking. Television cooking shows became popular with just about every age group. High-end cookware flew off the shelves. Grocery stores and supermarkets became stocked with exotic spices and foodstuffs. Cookbooks rolled off the presses.

In 1982 when the Brennans hired Emeril Lagasse to replace Chef Paul Prudhomme as Executive Chef at Commander’s Palace, he and I quickly became food friends. We roamed the countryside throughout south Louisiana tasting boudin, andouille, tasso and every kind of gumbo we could find.

In 1990, shortly after Emeril left Commander’s to open his first restaurant Emeril’s, he called me to help him write one of his cookbooks, Louisiana: Real and Rustic. We went on to co-author several more books, and it was quite exciting to be onboard when he began his cooking shows in 1993 on the TV Food Network. Our working relationship lasted until 2005 when Katrina came roaring through the Crescent City. To say the least, it was an exciting time to be involved in gastronomy.

In 2009, I was asked to join the faculty at the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. For over ten years, I have taught just about every class offered in the curriculum and I learned as much as I taught. I wanted to impassion the students, showing them how important it is to be a culinary professional who is prepared, organized and eager to bring to the table exemplary food – food not only for the body but also for the soul. Being raised in a culture where family, food and fun is the core of its existence, I feel it is important to continue culinary traditions of family and region and perhaps contribute to its never-ending evolution---nothing is so good that it cannot be improved.

No matter what level or capacity a culinary student chooses in the culinary field, it’s so important to be respectful of the food, as well as to the staff and of course the customers. Be gracious, be kind, and be willing to work the backbreaking hours with nary a word of complaint. Always be aware that you will never stop learning. Read, read, and read. Stay abreast of trends and changes. Be open to new ideas. Become a people person who cares.

Cooking done with care is an act of love.

- Craig Claiborne

My Advice: Before a student goes down the path of learning the skills, techniques and history of world cuisines, I urge them to question their aspiration to be a culinarian. Set some goals. Make a plan. Sometimes the goals and plan may change, but it is so important to focus on what may become your life’s work---of course, I always explain that if you find the right position, you will never work a day in your life. Never refuse an invitation to volunteer. Practice your knife skills every day. Be passionate. Be curious. Expand your knowledge. Be humble. Do everything in your power to make a guest happy. Always remember, it’s all in the details.

The dining room is a theater…the table is a stage.

-Chatillon-Plessis, 19th century French Journalist

Teaching culinary students has been an experience that has given me many opportunities to share my knowledge and passion of preserving our foodways, traditions and culture. I sincerely hope it will become your passion as well!

Marcelle Bienvenu