Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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?

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.

I've been looking around for a while for a good beginner's introdcution to New Orleans cooking, and I think this is the one. Yes, there are probably a few other cookbooks out there that will do more to please the purists, but for people who just want to make excellent food at home that really does rival what you'll get at Upperline and Commander's Palace, I haven't seen anything better. I've only had this book for a little over a week, but I've already tried the seafood gumbo and the spicy shrimp with cornbread and have found them both to be delicious. A great resource from one of the real heroes of the New Orleans food scene.

New Orleans has a great tradition of eating and cooking. Tom writes about this food heritage with true love and an odd sense of dignity. Most cooks in the Cresent City have at least 2 dozen NOLA cookbooks and this will be now be on every shelf. Out of town cooks should appreciate Tom's ability to communicate to chefs where ever their kitchens are. Don't have a book on New Orleans cooking yet? There are about a dozen that could work. This book is a good choice. One last note - the size of the book is just right - it doesn't take up too much space and it is easy to flip through while standing at the kitchen zinc. (that's if you are from The Parish)

Tom Fitzmorris has never disappointed in any of his recipes. He carefully home tests and continues to make new strides in the culinary high jinks of New Orleans cooking. There is not a better or more comprehensive book on the market for cooks who share a passion for Creole and Cajun food.The recipes are clear, the results spectacular. This is a must have for any cookbook library and an absolute necessity for afficinados.

Born and raised in N.O.,I have experienced it all regarding local food starting with my creole family, and,despite whatever anyone says, creole is the food of New orleans, not cajun. And Tom Fitzmorris is King Creole, not Elvis.

Tom Fitzmorris has not only passion and love for this food, he has really paid his dues the past thirty years. He is also brilliant in his food knowledge and knows how to translate his passion into laymen's language. It's easy to do when he tells you how....it's that simple.

A wonderful book, a tremendous bargain and a unique Christmas gift. By the way,I've never met Tom but listen to him on the radio religiously.

Thanks,

Keith Dufour
New Orleans

As I read through the recipes I thought, I just need to start with the first recipe and make them all. I've tried ten of the recipes and have loved them all. The forward by Emerile and Tom's comments just topped it off for this New Orleanean.

I have been collecting his recipes since I began getting his newletters several years ago. He has a way of bringing out the best flavors in a manor reasonable for home cooks. Since I lost these recipes in Katrina, I am looking forward to having them in book form and intend on giving them as gifts.

I'm a transplanted Louisianan living in the Northeast (though everyone keeps insisting Maryland is the south)! I recently made a couple of recipes from the book for a New Orleans brunch I hosted for some picky eaters (me being one of them). The food was outstanding and the recipes were fairly easy to understand and prepare. Along with my River Road Recipes cookbooks, this one is quickly becoming a favorite.