Customer Reviews

River Road Recipes: The Textbook of Louisiana Cuisine

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Walk into the kitchen of anyone's home in Louisiana and you will see a copy of this cookbook. When I moved from Louisiana to Los Angeles I took my mother's well-worn copy (she bought herself a new copy). That was 15 years ago and I finally got tired of taping the pages back in so I bought a new copy of my own just recently. The recipes are easy to follow and everything tastes good (my personal favorite -- chile con carne). Whenever I have company over for dinner I always flip through this book and never fail to find something interesting to cook. I still give this book as gifts to friends. One side note: the book was published in 1959 and the recipes are not known for low fat-low sodium-low cholesteral content but with a little imagination you will be able to find suitable substitutes for certain ingredients (butter, bacon drippings, egg yolks, and chicken fat are just a few of the heart-attack causing ingredients I've discovered in these recipes).

This cookbook sets the standards for all Cajun cookbooks. I am an 11th generation Louisiana Cajun, and this book has been the benchmark in my family since it was written. We've tried nearly all the recipes, and I can't say that there's ever been a mediocre one in the bunch. Nothing's heart healthy, but if you want great food....ain't nothing better.

If I could only own one cookbook, this would be it! In fact, for a while, it WAS my only cookbook. It contains so many different types of food. I absolutely love everything I've tried in this book. The recipes are very easy to follow and usually not very time consuming. One of my favorites is the Chicken Cacciatore. It's great! This book is something to pass down from generation to generation.

Junior League cookbooks are an interesting phenomenon in that they document regional cooking in a really grass roots way.
This is one of the classics of Louisiana cooking. Every one has it and uses it down here. I remember it as a chilld learning to cook in New Orleans. I just bought a new clean one to replace the one that drowned.
Some of these recipes are really dated, very fifties, but interesting to read. Many are authentic 19th century Creole cooking, making this a great historical document for you REALLY hardcore foodies. And there's plenty of old fashioned healthy slow food that stands the test of time. Pair it with Charleston Reciepts and you have a food anthropology seminar... (another Junior League book from the Carolinas)
Notice I say Creole? "Cajun" was something completely different, different culture, different parts of the state. It's now a marketing term that has no respect for the
differences in styles, unfortunately- but this book predates that.
The River Road is about big cities and plantations; this is the French/ African/ native foods fusion that defines Creole. And a lot of very odd cocktails and punch ideas.
A great read and a great working book.

My Grandmother was born speaking French in Avoyelles Parish over 100 years ago. She taught me how to cook. This book corresponds with her methods, recipes, and flavors remarkably!

Not only my home, but every home that I can remember visiting as a child in Louisiana had this on the counter. Its popularity was one of the few great bright spots in Louisiana French culture in the dark ages before the Cajun renaissance of the 80's.

I think if you got married in Louisiana during the 50's - 80's you got more of these as wedding gifts than toasters and blenders combined. This is the stuff that our parents made for us.

I'd bet that the delicious meals we 30-and-40-somethings had from this book was one of the sparks that led to the boom in Cajun food and culture.

To this day, I smile when I see it in someone's house. I also hate to make anything in a manner that's different from how it's described in this wonderful book.

I bought this cookbook years ago while visiting Baton Rouge, and it is one of my favorites. The recipes are simple, uncomplicated and just plain good! You can't go wrong with this cookbook if you are looking for real Creole cuisine and I highly recommend it.

This book is a replacement copy for my grandmother's original edition that disappeared. Our family has used this book since the 1950's and many of the recipies are family favorites. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves good Louisiana cooking or just wants to learn about it!

RRRI has all of the wonderful dishes that celebrate the best in Louisiana cuisine. If you are looking to cook like a chef this book will help you achieve your dreams. Be sure to try the most celebrated recipe of "Spinach Madeleine". It is sublime! The jalapeno cheese roll can be substituted with the same amount of the processed mexican cheese.
Bon Appetit!

If you are from Louisiana or have any kind of ties to Louisiana, no matter how remote, you need to have all three River Road Recipe cookbooks in your collection. These books are the absolute authority in Louisiana cuisine and best of all,the recipes are from real Louisiana cooks, not trendy chefs. With over 1.7 million copies sold - you can't go wrong with these books!