Creole Flavors: Recipes for Marinades, Rubs, Sauces, and Spices [Hardcover]

Kevin Graham (Author), Zeva Oelbaum (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 1996

In Creole Flavors award-winning chef Kevin Graham captures the vibrant tastes of southern Louisiana in 70 delicious recipes. In the simple, straightforward style that has become his trademark, Graham presents recipes for such Creole staples as Hot Pepper Sauce, Creole Mustard (a popular addition to Louisiana's Po' Boy Sandwich), and Creole Cocktail Sauce (about which Louisianans are very particular). In addition to condiments and sauces, the book includes Creole favorites like Jambalaya, Seafood Gumbo, Red Beans and Rice, Pickled Okra, Lavender Ice Cream, and Pralines.

With a nod to healthful eating, Graham offers a fatless variation on the traditional recipe for roux. He even includes a recipe for an old New Orleans love potion!

In Creole Flavors, Graham features both the sophisticated elements of Creole cooking, which can be attributed to the cuisine's French roots, as well as the more down-home and hearty Cajun influence. The result is a delicious selection of recipes that enables the home cook to prepare delicious Creole dishes easily and quickly.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Graham (Grains, Rice, and Beans, LJ 3/15/95) is a longtime New Orleans restaurant chef. In this attractive book, the third in Artisan's "Pantry Cookbook" series, he offers recipes for all sorts of Creole (not to be confused with Cajun) seasonings, condiments, sauces, oils and vinegars, and more, often accompanied by recipes for dishes that incorporate them. Sometimes the term Creole seems to be interpreted rather loosely (is Basil-Pesto Oil really part of this cuisine?), but the recipes are good, and imaginative cooks will find lots of uses for Graham's pantry items. Recommended. Sahni, author of the authoritative Classic Indian Cooking (LJ 10/15/80) and Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking (LJ 11/15/85), does not limit herself to one cuisine in her latest work. Recipes inspired by Asian, Latin American, and African dishes showcase both familiar and exotic herbs and spices and combinations thereof. An informative introduction to everyday and uncommon spices and herbs is followed by 20 recipes for spice and herb blends and seasonings, each with another recipe using it, such as Grilled Squab with Fragrant Spice Rub and Lobster Sandwich with Curry Mayonnaise. Then there are dozens of delicious recipes arranged by category, including vegetarian meals and spicy condiments, with menu suggestions, e.g., Iced Pear Soup with Mint, Polenta with Green Peppercorns, and Chicken Braised in Cardamom Sauce. Unusual and wide-ranging, this is highly recommended.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Intermixed with more than 70 recipes that scream "N'Awlins," from gumbo to pickled watermelon rind, are such unusual delicacies as rum-dried grapes, spiced honey, and pickled green beans with fennel seeds. Even rarer--and definitely welcome--are the snippets of professional advice; for instance, the crawfish oil recipe elicits a debate on chopping up living crustaceans or tossing them live and whole into the oil. The recipe for homemade sweet butter was included because Graham thinks "we've forgotten the true taste of butter, being accustomed as we are to the packaged variety, with its antioxidants, stabilizers, heavy salt, and such." Barbara Jacobs

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Artisan; 1ST edition (January 4, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885183224
• ISBN-13: 978-1885183224
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 8.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,616,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Spice Up Your Condiment Collection, December 31, 2009

By 

Yervant Kutchukian (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creole Flavors: Recipes for Marinades, Rubs, Sauces, and Spices (Hardcover)

Kevin Graham has put together a marvelous collection of Creole recipes for everything from marinades and rubs to hot sauces and mustards. He has also included a few recipes to put these condiments to good use like beans and rice, jambalaya and seafood gumbo. The emphasis remains, however, on the extras and one would benefit from finding a more extensive Creole cookbook to put these to good use or incorporate them into daily cooking for an added Creole flair. I would venture to say this is the most complete collection of its kind, peppered with anecdotes of regional history as it relates to the foods and flavors for which New Orleans has come to be known. It's definitely worth a read and probably worth picking up if you have more than a passing interest in Creole condiments.