Tom Fitzmorris's New Orleans Food: More than 225 of the City's Best Recipes to Cook at Home (New Orleans Cooking) [Paperback]

Tom Fitzmorris (Author), Emeril Lagasse (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2006

Tom Fitzmorris is uniquely qualified to write about the food of New Orleans. Born in the Crescent City on Mardi Gras, he'd never left his favorite town for more than three weeks at a time--that is, until Hurricane Katrina struck and Tom and his family were forced to evacuate.

Prior to the disaster, Tom was just putting the finishing touches on his magnum opus: a collection of recipes for the best of New Orleans food gathered and developed over more than 30 years spent reporting eating in the Big Easy. In addition to his weekly restaurant review column, which has been published continuously for 33 years, Tom is best known for his daily 3-hour radio show, "The Food Show," broadcast every afternoon on WSMB.

With New Orleans Food, Tom presents more than 250 great New Orleans recipes designed for the home cook, all steeped in the Creole and Cajun traditions, yet updated to reflect contemporary tastes and ingredients. From small plates (Shrimp Remoulade with Two Sauces) to main courses (Redfish Herbsaint, Root Beer-Glazed Ham) to desserts and drinks (Bananas Foster, Beignets, and Cafe au Lait), these are dishes both elegant and casual, traditional and evolved. Whether you are nostalgic for the taste of New Orleans or simply love good food, New Orleans Food should find a place on your cookbook shelf. Now every Monday, everywhere, can be red-beans-and-rice day.

A portion of the profits from the sale of this book will benefit New Orleans recovery efforts.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tom Fitzmorris started The New Orleans MENU, a review of New Orleans dining, in 1977; 20 years later the publication evolved into its current form as a daily Internet newsletter. Tom's radio show, "The Food Show," is broadcast every afternoon on WSMB 1350 AM. He is the former editor of the weekly newspaper Figaro, and the monthly New Orleans Magazine. Tom became a Certified Culinary Professional from IACP in 1986.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584795247
• ISBN-13: 978-1584795247
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #881,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tom Fitzmorris was born in New Orleans on Mardi Gras. So a career writing and broadcasting on the pleasures of eating came naturally. He writes the longest-running restaurant review column in America by a single author, published every week since September, 1972.

He's better known, though, for talking about food on the radio. His program airs for three hours a day, six days a week, on WWWL (1350 AM) and WWL (105.3 FM). "I'm not sure of that much radio time spent on food will work," he says. "It's only been on the air since 1988."

Tom writes and publishes the New Orleans Menu, a newsletter published every weekday online at NOMenu.Com. It covers the whole New Orleans food scene: restaurant reviews, recipes, top-ten lists, a calendar of local food events, a daily food almanac, and his Dining Diary. "It's what's now called a blog, but I've written it since decades before that word was invented," he says.

He's the author of sixteen restaurant guides, four cookbooks, and a memoir. The most recent include the fifth edition of "The Unofficial Guide to New Orleans" (Menasha Ridge Press, 2008) and "Tom Fitzmorris's New Orleans Food: 250 of the City's Best Recipes for Cooking at Home" (Stewart, Tabori and Chang, Second Edition, 2010). The memoir--which focuses on the reaction and recovery of the restaurant scene in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, as well as other major turning points in the city's culinary past--is "Hungry Town" (Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 2010).

Every week, Tom convenes local food-and-wine aficionados for the New Orleans Eat Club, a series of dinners in the restaurants of the city. A more-than-decent cook in his own right, Tom stages several annual dinners for various charities throughout the year.

Except for the six weeks after Katrina, Tom has lived his entire life in New Orleans. He attended Jesuit High School and is a graduate in Communications from the University of New Orleans (1974). He is married to the former Mary Ann Connell. They and their two children, Jude and Mary Leigh, live near Abita Springs, across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans. Good wild mushrooms grow in the woods around his house.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 75 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent New Orleans recipes: Book reviewed by Paula Stratton April 4, 2006

By Paula Stratton

Format:Paperback

The first 2 reviewers appear biased against Mr. Fitzmorris as they misrepresent "Tom Fitzmorris New Orleans Food". The book itself is NOT "poorly made". It is published by Stewart, Tabori and Chang, a subsidiary of Harry N. Abrams. The book construction is solid, the format is easy to read and use.

First, let me state I have no personal connection with Mr. Fitzmorris. I am an experienced cook who grew up playing in restaurant kitchens. My grandmother ran a restaurant in New Orleans. I know the cuisine very well, have cooked it all my lifr I won one of Paul Prudhomme's cooking contests, and own his cookbooks as well.

Tom Fitzmorris 225 recipes accurately represent the everyday home and restaurant cooking of New Orleans as I have experienced it for 20 years. The seasoning of dishes is balanced and correct, not the overspicing which sears the tongues of tourists at a few not so good restaurants.

As for using Uncle Ben's rice, many excellent professional chefs have long preferred using it for certain dishes, especially jambalaya, because it is delivers predictable consistency and 'holds well'. Paul Prudhomme himself recommends using parboiled rice in many recipes in "Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen", which introduced his Cajun recipes to America. The late great Austin Leslie used Uncle Ben's rice. I don't prefer it, but if I were cooking for a large crowd, I might use it for the reasons cited. Any experienced cook knows how to substitute for taste. Another advantage about Tom Fitzmorris's recipes is that they have been tested and worked out so completely that an inexperienced cook who follows the simple instructions can expect EXCELLENT results.

I am going to be fair to Mr. Fitzmorris's New Orleans Food. If you want to cook the great cuisine of New Orleans exactly as we have enjoyed it, you probably cannot find a better collection of well-tested recipes at such a bargain price. The gumbo and other soup recipes are just right (Tom's great chicken andouille gumbo recipe is just like mine, and does NOT call for converted rice. LOL). All the beloved seafood classics are in the book, such a Trout Meuniere, Pompano en papilotte, fried catfish, shrimp and redfish entrees galore, along with a few nouvelle dishes. The Dessert recipes are truly New Orleans style and mouthwatering.

Tom's definitive recipe for Grillades and Grits is simple to prepare. It's rewarding to make grillades the night before, and reheat for a nice sunday brunch. Among Tom's best recipes are those he got from his mother Aline. (I used to listen to his radio show and would send for the recipes.) The Smothered Chicken in Brown Sauce is standout among standouts, a soul satisfying dish which used to be common in New Orleans cafes. I have made his recipe for Cajun Smothered Duck a few times as well. It's easier than many duck recipes and is terrific! Panned Veal, even Drago's Charbroiled Oyster recipe is in this wonderful treasury of TRUE New Orleans cuisine by a native who knows this cuisine to his very bones.

You can't go wrong even if this book is your ONLY NEW ORLEANS -not Cajun, which is a very different cuisine- cookbook. In fact, using Tom Fitzmorris's recipes might make your reputation as an expert New Orleans style chef.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Cooking from home. May 26, 2006

By Steven Schwartz VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I lived in New Orleans for 25 years before Katrina drove me out. Now I'm in Texas, where it's hard to find decent jambalaya. I come from the Midwest, not particularly known as a food mecca (and deservedly so), where salt and black pepper was generally as crazy as cooks got when they added spice. So New Orleans food - in fact, South Louisiana food - was a revelation. I quickly learned the cuisine. Everybody knows the grand restaurants of the city, but New Orleans was also a place of great home cooks. EVERYBODY was interested in food, the way EVERYBODY in Boston is interested in the Red Sox during a winning season. Fitzmorris has some grand dishes, but he also honors those home cooks (he's a home cook himself). Starved of decent gumbo, crawfish etoufee, and duck since August 2005, I've begun working through his recipes and have yet to be disappointed. I'm not a great cook myself and am only as good as my recipe. I can't think of a better collection than this one for the true taste of New Orleans. Furthermore, Fitzmorris is donating a good hunk of his profit to hurricane relief, so in addition to stuffing your face with glorious calories, you're also doing a good deed. A note of warning: You will need stocks and a lot of chopped veggies. Good stock now comes in boxes. Cuisinarts reduce the drudgery of chopping. What are you waiting for?

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Really like this cookbook! April 4, 2006

By Louisiana Native

Format:Paperback

I agree with Paula. This is a great cookbook for the home cook who wants to prepare and serve New Orleans cuisine. I've seen many of the recipes before on the Tom Fitzmorris website, so I've made some of these dishes already and can attest to them. The root beer glazed ham is delicious. I love the mirliton and shrimp soup, the barbeque shrimp and the crabmeat West Indies. I look forward to trying some of the other recipes.

I too have all of Paul Prudhomme's cookbooks as well as all of Emeril's, Galatoire's, Broussard's, Mr. B's, both Commander's Palace cookbooks and many other New Orleans oriented cookbooks and I'm glad to add this one to my collection.

The book itself is actually one of the better made soft cover books I've purchased and I don't expect it will fall apart.

I have never met Tom Fitzmorris, but I have listened to his radio show a few times and I read his food forum called Talk Food With Tom Fitzmorris. I agree that Ho Hum and Teel Green are nothing more than people who don't care for Mr. Fitzmorris for one reason or another. I wouldn't give their reviews any weight at all. In fact, if you are bothered by their reviews, please go to www.neworleans.com/foodfest/index.php. Click on the Anything Goes forum. Look for the thread entitled, "Well I have it". Read the entire thread and you will see that these reviews have no credibility.

Oh, and I use Uncle Ben's for almost all of my rice dishes. Wouldn't dream of using anything else.