Holiday Cooking The New Orleans Way

Ralph Brennan's New Orleans Seafood Cookbook brings Gulf traditions and flavors to home cooks everywhere to awaken the holiday spirit

Few cities take culinary traditions more seriously than New Orleans, where long-time Creole dining customs and iconic dishes contribute so much to the distinctive local cuisine. During the mid-1800's, New Orleans' Creole families celebrated the "Reveillon" (French for "awakening") twice during the holidays. The first Reveillon came after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, when families returned from St. Louis Cathedral to break a daylong fast with an elaborate meal. New Year's Eve brought another Reveillon, usually shared among several families. This more festive meal featured eggnog, fancy pastries, meringues, sugar sculptures, and crystallized fruits.


Today's Reveillon is celebrated nightly during the Christmas season in restaurants throughout the city. Menus combine ageless Creole cuisine with more contemporary New Orleans dishes. This fall we can bring New Orleans cuisine and the spirit of Reveillon to holiday tables everywhere. One of the city's most influential restaurateurs has wrapped up the soul of New Orleans in one great, essential cookbook: Ralph Brennan's New Orleans Seafood Cookbook (Vissi d'Arte Books; April 2008; hardcover/$45.00; ISBN: 978-0-9709336-8-3), a comprehensive guide to Gulf seafood. Four years in the making (including a nine-month hiatus in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina), this beautiful, full-color cookbook was created by the perfect storm of Louisiana talent including Ralph Brennan, his five talented chefs (representing his four restaurants: Red Fish Grill, BACCO, Ralph's on the Park, and Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen), veteran writer and editor Gene Bourg, and acclaimed photographer Kerri McCaffety and covers everything from finfish, crabs, crawfish, shrimp, oysters, frog legs, and even alligator.


"The holidays are a special time around the dinner table in New Orleans. The traditional mix of family, fun and favorite recipes is a winning combination that we look forward to all year," says Ralph Brennan. "Our cookbook seeks to bring that passion and sense of celebration to kitchens everywhere."



To create your own Reveillon holiday feast, Ralph and his chefs have put together some recipe suggestions from the book. For a sit-down meal, serve this four-course treat:

Appetizer: Charbroiled Garlic Oysters
Salad: City Park Salad
Entr�e: Trout Amandine
Dessert: Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

A buffet could feature:

Seafood-stuffed artichokes
Baked Oysters Ralph
Jazz Kitchen French Quarter Salad with Candied Pecans & Cane-Sugar Vinaigrette
Creole Jambalaya
Mahi-Mahi with an Andouille Crust & Creole-Mustard Aioli
Horseradish-crusted Grouper with Creole-Mustard Aioli
Oyster and Artichoke Gratins
Spicy Boiled Shrimp with Cocktail and Remoulade Sauces
Shrimp and Bacon en Brochettes

Or if you just want to wow holiday guests with New Orleans desserts, try some of these:

Chocolate Bread Pudding with Two Chocolate Sauces & Almond Bark
Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce
Praline Bread Pudding with Praline Cr�me Anglaise & Caramel Sauce
Cr�me Caramel
Creole Red Velvet Roulade with Caf�-Br�lot Cr�me Anglaise

The best cookbooks are more than just a collection of recipes. They are also reference books, offering a wide range of information that helps make many recipes easier to prepare. Toward that end, Brennan and his chefs offer supplemental information on a variety of subjects such as:

 A Seafood Cook's Manual describes in detail each type of seafood included in the