Galatoire's Cookbook: Recipes and Family History from the Time-Honored New Orleans Restaurant

Galatoire's, the 100-year-old Bourbon Street institution, wasn't touched during Hurricane Katrina, so this work, happily, is a celebration and not an epitaph. Rodrigue, the restaurant general manager and chief operating officer, and publicist Benson offer a complete experience of the restaurant by plainly presenting Galatoire's iconic recipes (e.g., Shrimp Remoulade), defining less well-known foods (e.g., tasso, a dried, smoked meat), championing less politically correct ones (e.g., iceberg lettuce, foie gras) and offering brief recipe histories (e.g., Godchaux Salad). A final chapter on dressings, sauces and seasoning blends is even more useful than the ones covering the courses those additions are to garnish. Photos and reminiscences of patrons and staff reveal the restaurant's place as the city's elder statesman: anecdotes are decades-deep and patrons are unhip. The cookbook has a timelessness that comes from its deeply flavorful recipes based on indigenous Louisiana ingredients and an enduring tie to French cuisine. Among the book's highlights are recipes for Panned Rabbit Tenderloin and Sausage over Caramelized Onions, Sautéed Oyster Omelette, Creole Seafood Gumbo, and Port-Poached Pears with Cinnamon Crème Anglaise. Like many restaurant cookbooks, this one is lovely to leaf through. Unlike many, though, its recipes are, for the most part, completely doable for home cooks. 150 color and b&w photos. (Nov.)