"The Picayune's Creole Cookbook was compiled at the turn of the century to preserve for posterity the secrets of Creole cookery and to insure a Creole heritage for future generations."
It was my delightful task to re-create this classic Creole recipe book in celebration of the 150th anniversary of The Times-Picayune newspaper in 1987. I had the incredible opportunity to design, art direct, photograph, copy edit and produce this edition, and the great pleasure of working on this project with many wonderful and creative people, including Project Coordinator Linda Dennery, chef & noted food writer Marcelle Bienvenu, the multi-talented artist and writer Beverly Morris, Crawford Carroll, Richie Smith, Colleen Soule, Ruth Phillips, Ruth Voison, among others. Please check out the acknowledgments page for more about the generous New Orleanians who shared their time, cherished belongings and enthusiasm for this project.
"The Times-Picayune engaged noted food writer and chef Marcelle Bienvenu to update and revise the recipes. She and her dedicated staff sifted through more than a thousand recipes, with an eye toward Creole classics and enduring favorites, especially those that captured the flavor of times gone by. After testing and tasting, researching and retesting, they selected the 800-plus recipes that appear in this volume, from Creole coffee to custards, Jambalaya to Red Beans and Rice, making careful notes of modern measurements and methods, substitutes and suggestions. For ease of use and to preserve the charm of the original text, these updates appear in the margins, and the result is an entertaining and practical volume that is as gratifying to read as it is to cook from. An added pleasure are the photographs and drawings that grace its pages."
Several editions of the book were published in the 1900s with the text rewritten to reflect the taste of the era. We chose to preserve the text of the definitive second edition published in 1901, which was an expansion of the first edition. Later editions were published in 1906, 1916, 1922, 1928, 1936, 1938, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1954, 1966 and 1971. The Sesquicentennial Edition was published in 1987, the Random House edition, 1989. Robert Aulicino beautifully designed the type and inset for the Random House edition jacket.
I am happy to locate older editions of The Picayune's Creole Cook Book for you - let me know what edition you are looking for and I will do my best to find it. I have several older editions on hand. Many people refer to it as the Picayune Creole Cookbook.
