Dear Friends In memorium
Edna Lewis, doyenne of southern cooking, died Feb. 13, 2006 at age 86 in Decatur, Ga. Lewis raised the art of southern cooking to its highest level, introducing the rest of the country to the joys of the region’s best cooking. She will be missed.
The exhibit of the photographs of Amy Evans, Southern Food in conTEXT is hanging at Savvy Gourmet in New Orleans. If you haven’t seen it yet, make sure to drop by.
SoFAB’s first publishing project, the reprint of Christopher Blake’s cook booklet, Red Beans and Rice-ly Yours, makes the booklet available again. The collection of classic New Orleans recipes by the city’s gourmet laureate is available online and at many retailers. Buy the book.
The great success of the restaurant spotlight column has resulted in many nominations for future columns. Please continue to share your nominations with us. And if you have other matters to share with our readers, please email us at info@southernfood.org.
Don’t forget that our exhibit, Come Hell or High Water, will open in June at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans.
| Jeff Tunks' New Orleans Style Barbeque Shrimp |  | Chef Jeff Tunks and his latest restaurant venture, Acadiana, are both located in Washington, D.C. Open since Sept. 2005, Acadiana has been pleasing palates and turning heads in DC and beyond. One of Chef Tunks’ most celebrated recipes is his New Orleans-style barbeque shrimp which gives a nod to his time spent as an executive chef in the Crescent City. This recipe is Chef Tunks’ delicious version of a dish that is extremely popular throughout the South.
Acadiana is located at 901 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC, 20001. It is open Mon.-Thurs. for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and for dinner from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. On Fridays, lunch hours are the same but dinner service is from 5:30 to 11 p.m. Saturday dinner is served from 5:30 to 11 p.m. Reservations are strongly recommended and may be made by calling (202) 408-8848. For more information about Acadiana and Chef Tunks, please visit www.aca dianarestaurant.com.
New Orleans Style Barbeque Shrimp
Barbeque Shrimp Ingredients
7 each fresh gulf shrimp, U-10, head on
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon creole seasoning
12 ounces butter, divided
6-8 ounces shrimp stock (see below)
Procedure
Peel the shrimp, leaving the heads and tails on; reserve the shells for shrimp stock. Over high heat, sauté the shrimp in 4 ounces of butter, garlic, black pepper, rosemary, parsley, and creole seasoning for about 2 minutes. Add 6-8 ounces shrimp stock (see below) and remaining butter. Simmer until the shrimp are just firm and the sauce has emulsified, about 6 minutes total cooking time. Serve with charred lemon halves, a sprig of rosemary, and hot French bread.
Shrimp Stock Ingredients
1 quart shrimp shells
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 each shallot, sliced
1 each bay leaf
2 tablespoons creole seasoning
1 cup Worcestershire sauce
6 cups water
Procedure
In a large saucepot over high heat, sauté the shrimp shells, garlic, and shallot. Add remaining ingredients and simmer over medium heat for approximately 1 hour. Strain and reserve.
~Compiled by Addie King |
| Review of Gastronomie! | | By Tom Hughes and Meredith Sayles Hughes
Although I admit it takes very little to inspire me to pack my bags and dust off my passport, Gastronomie! Food Museums and Heritage Sites of France made me more ready than usual to board a plane to France. This book describes travel the way I like it, through the lens of food. Tom Hughes and Meredith Sayles Hughes, founders of The FOOD Museum, have cataloged a broad and motley group of food-related sites that illustrate everything from trade to economics, to regional customs through food.
Yes, there are occasional recipes; there are delightful photos and other illustrations. Your mouth waters. Your senses are teased. My suitcase is rattling in the closet.
Included in the loose definition of the food museum – for purposes of the books – are agritourism sites like the Escargotière des Sources in Pouilly en Bassigny, where the visitor can tour the snail farm and sample the crop, as well as more traditional museums. For example the corkscrew collection – over a thousand – at the Musée du Tire-Bouchon Menerbes.
France has a wonderful traditional museum at Montpellier, Agropolis. Here the role of food in society is explored. Included in the exploration is the notion of hunger. France also houses the Museum of the Truffle in Sorges, which is home to the largest truffle effigy in the world.
The Hughes include maps and a handy listing of all the sites arranged by regions. Between the book and visits to the sites in their virtual forms, this book satisfies the appetite to travel. But I’m still ready to really go.
~Review by Liz Williams
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