paul prudhomme - louisiana legend

7/21/2019 Paul Prudhomme - Louisiana Legend

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Chef Paul Prudhomme (Magic Seasoning Blends/Facebook)

By Janet McConnauhey and Rebecca Santana, Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Paul Prudhomme, the Cajun who popularized

spicy Louisiana cuisine and became one of the first American restaurant

chefs to achieve worldwide fame, died Thursday. He was 75.

Tiffanie Roppolo, the CFO of Prudhommes businesses, told The

Associated Press that he died early Thursday after a brief illness.

Prudhomme became prominent in the early 1980s, soon after opening

K-Pauls Louisiana Kitchen, a French Quarter diner that served the

meals of his childhood. He had no formal training, but sparked a

nationwide interest in Cajun food by serving dishes gumbo, etouffee

and jambalaya that were virtually unknown outside Louisiana.

The distinctly American chef became a sensation at a time when the

countrys top restaurants served virtually nothing but European food.

He was always on a mission and nothing was impossible for Paul. He

did things his way and let the food speak for itself, said chef Frank

Brigtsen, who worked for Prudhomme for seven years. He changed the

way we ea t in New Orleans in a major way, by bringing Acadian or Cajun

cuisine to the restaurants of the city.

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Louisiana LegendPaul PrudhommeDead at 75Yahoo Premium Partners

October 8, 2015

ana Legend Paul Prudhomme Dead at 75 https://www.yahoo.com/food/louisiana-legend-paul-prudhomme-dead-at-...

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Chef Paul Prudhomme (Photo: Bill Haber)

Prudhomme was known for his innovations. His most famous dishes

used the technique he called blackening: fish or meat covered with

spices, then seared until black in a red-hot skillet. Blackened redfish

became so popular tha t Prudhomme lamen ted over customers who

stopped ordering the traditional Cajun dishes that he loved.

We had all this wonderful food, we raised our own rabbit and duck, and

all anyone wanted was blackened redfish, he said in a 1992 interview.

Prudhomme was raised by his sharecropper parents on a farm nearOpelousas, in Louisianas Acadiana region. The youngest of 13 children,

he spent much of his time in the kitchen with his mother, whom he

credited for developing his appreciation of rich flavors and the fresh

vegetables, pou ltry and seafood that she cooked.

My mother was a fabulous cook. With her I began to understand about

seasoning, about blending taste, about cooking so things were worth

eating, he said.

After high school Prudhomme travelled the country cooking in bars,

diners, resorts and hotel restaurants.

He returned to New Orleans in the early 1970s and found a job as chef in

a hotel restaurant. In 1975, he became the head chef at the esteemed

Commanders Palace restaurant. He and his wife opened K-Pauls four years later.

K-Pauls was inexpensive and unassuming formica tables, plywood

walls and d rinks served in jars but it was soon the most popular

restaurant in New Orleans. Word spread through town and around the

country, and people soon waited in line for hours to taste Prudhommes

creations.

Chef Paul was known for experimenting in the kitchen, often altering

recipes with d ifferent seasonings and cooking processes. He particularly

liked varying blends of three peppers: black, white and cayenne.

Prudhommes bearded face and oversized frame became familiar on

television talk shows in the 1980s, where he encouraged Americans to

spice up their meals. He expanded K-Pauls and turned it into an upscaleoperation. He published bestselling cookbooks and created a business

that sold his spicy seasoning mixtures around the country.

Prudhommes success brought regrets, as well. Prudhomme sparked the

Cajun food craze, but he often said few Cajun restaurants outside

Louisiana served the real thing. He worried over the common perception

that all Cajun food is blistering hot.

Its my fault. I admit it. Im at least partly to blame that so many people

think all Cajun food is red-hot and spicy, he said. I see people dumping

red pepper on food and I feel like crying. They cant taste anything but

the pepper. Cajun foods have tons of different flavors. Dont cover them

up.

Prudhommes weight, as much as his cooking skills, was a careertrademark. Just over 5 feet tall, he had trouble squeezing into chairs. He

had a bad knee, used a cane and usually moved in a scooter instead of

walking. I n the 1992 interview he said he was working o n ways to take

the fat out of recipes without losing the flavor.

But later in his career he significantly slimmed down. During a 2013

cooking demonstration in New Orleans done from his motorized

scooter he told the crowd that at one time he was 580 pounds but now

weighed in at 20 0 pound s.

Eating the right things and eating less had made the difference,

Prudhomme said.

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I used to taste things this way, he said, filling his large cooking spoon.

Now I taste them this way. He poked a fork into a single piece of carrot

and held it up.

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paul prudhomme - louisiana legend

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