River Road Recipes, The Textbook of Louisiana Cuisine

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This is my favorite cookbook. It features the food I grew up on. I also love River Roads Recipes II, and River Roads Recipes III (low fat cooking).

Rating:
Summary: The one essential Louisiana cookbook
Review: This is the quintessential Louisiana cookbook. If you're going to buy one Cajun/Creole cookbook, this is the one. It is impossible to overstate the significance of this book's influence on the tastes of South Louisiana. Because it was the first cookbook to feature both Cajun and Creole dishes it became a staple of virtually every kitchen. As a result, it became the standard for "The Way it's Supposed to Taste." I give it an "8" due to the fact that it is nearing 40 years old, and the recipes and ingredients reflect 50's standards of health and nutrition, rather than the late 90's. But, if you want to taste the classic dishes, this is the place

Rating:
Summary: If you only own one cookbook this is the one
Review: Walk into the kitchen of anyone's home in Louisiana and you will see a copy of this cookbook. When I moved from Louisiana to Los Angeles I took my mother's well-worn copy (she bought herself a new copy). That was 15 years ago and I finally got tired of taping the pages back in so I bought a new copy of my own just recently. The recipes are easy to follow and everything tastes good (my personal favorite -- chile con carne). Whenever I have company over for dinner I always flip through this book and never fail to find something interesting to cook. I still give this book as gifts to friends. One side note: the book was published in 1959 and the recipes are not known for low fat-low sodium-low cholesteral content but with a little imagination you will be able to find suitable substitutes for certain ingredients (butter, bacon drippings, egg yolks, and chicken fat are just a few of the heart-attack causing ingredients I've discovered in these recipes).