World Food New Orleans: Creole, Cajun & Soul
by Pableaux Johnson and Charmaine O’Brien
Lonely Planet Productions, 208 pp., $13.99 (paper)
Let’s assume you’re a foodie headed for New Orleans with little or no advance knowledge and no preconceived ideas about the old port city at the mouth of the mighty Mississippi River. Where do you go for reliable information? Sure, there are online restaurant guides and tourist publications chock-full of ads for the trendiest eateries but they really only skim the surface. If you’re looking for true insight into the depth and breadth of the historical and cultural culinary background of the old French city and the surrounding countryside, you need a personal guide, someone with a native’s palate, insider’s knowledge, and experience. The Australian guidebook outfit, Lonely Planet Productions, took the trouble to find just such a person to create their handy and useful guide to the Crescent City, Southwest Louisiana Cajun country and the “Deep South” Bible Belt area or Northern Louisiana. Louisiana native Pableaux Johnson proves to be a very reliable tour guide, providing friendly and casual but always very knowledgeable commentary on the culinary history and culture that make New Orleans a veritable country unto itself.
Be aware, World Food New Orleans is not a restaurant guide, but Johnson does provide information about some dining places favored by locals around the city and the state. It’s also not a cookbook, although it includes recipes for roux, red beans & rice, jambalaya, and popular New Orleans drinks such as hurricanes and the legendary Sazerac. World Food New Orleans is really more of a tapestry, carefully woven together with historical and cultural threads that represent the French, Spanish, Native American, African-American, Creole, Acadian (Cajun), and Scotch-Irish influences on the food and culture of one of the great culinary meccas of the world. You’ll find informative essays, charming anecdotes, useful recipes, well-researched history, and good photographs plus handy and reliable tips on dining, shopping, and celebrating, New Orleans style. Whether you’re headed to New Orleans for the first time or the 50th, slip a copy of this little jewel into your travel pack, and Pableaux Johnson’s perspective is sure to enhance your visit.
This article appears in December 8 • 2000.