Seafood city: New Orleans recipes abound in Ralph Brennan's cookbook
Because his dad was allergic to shellfish, third-generation restaurateur Ralph Brennan grew up on steak and potatoes.
He didn't eat his first oyster until he was a teenager.
PHOTO BY KERRI MCCAFFETY, FROM 'RALPH BRENNAN'S NEW ORLEANS SEAFOOD COOKBOOK'Businessman and restaurateur Ralph Brennan grew up on steak and potatoes, but his new cookbook is abound with classic and contemporary seafood dishes.
"I was in high school when some older guys invited me to play golf with them," Brennan said. After their round they went to Bozo's, where a couple of beers helped the first oyster, perched on a cracker, go down.
"I said 'That isn't bad,' and had a couple more," he said.
But then there was the time his Aunt Adelaide (for whom Cafe Adelaide is named) "forced me to eat a snail. I've never had one since."
So now you know why there is no escargot in the new "Ralph Brennan's New Orleans Seafood Cookbook" (Vissi D'Arte Books, $45) -- but lots of oysters. And shrimp, crabs, finfish, frog legs, turtle soup, alligator, desserts, side dishes, appetizers and drinks.
The coffee-table-size book has dozens of lavish color photos and 170 recipes in 430 pages and weighs 4-1/2 pounds. The team behind the book includes Charlee Williamson, executive vice president of the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group; corporate chef Haley Bittermann; writer Gene Bourg; photographer and publisher Kerri McCaffety; and Paulette Rittenberg, who worked with the restaurant chefs and tested the recipes (as did sous-chef Joe Kosarek). The chefs include Gregg Collier of Red Fish Grill, Chris Montero of Bacco, Gus Martin of Ralph's on the Park, and Darrin Finkel of Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen.
None of the group had any previous experience with cookbooks. So why a seafood one?
"Charlee heard John Mariani speak a few years ago at the Tennessee Williams Festival, and he said the definitive seafood cookbook had not been done," Brennan said. "And when we looked at our menus, we track what our customers eat. Seafood is always on top. It's what people want."
Bourg helped compile the list of classic recipes to include; the book is about 25-percent classic and 75-percent contemporary recipes.
Among the debates: To bisque or not to bisque? They eventually decided that labor-intensive crawfish bisque was a must. Because directions for all the recipes are extremely detailed, that particular recipe takes up five pages, not counting a full-page photo.
From idea to publication took four years, twice what the team originally planned, Brennan and Williamson said. Katrina interrupted, and there were unforeseen problems, such as the fact that the chefs' directions for sauteing were not the same. Imposing consistency was Williamson's job.
MICHAEL DEMOCKER/THE TIMES-PICAYUNERalph Brennan signs his "New Orleans Seafood Cookbook" Tuesday, April 22, from 10 a.m.-noon at the Crescent City Farmers Market, Uptown Square, 200 Broadway.
"We also debated about including cocktails and desserts," Williamson said.
"A New Orleans cookbook has to have cocktails," Brennan said. "We just put in the ones we liked. Our bartenders helped us with it. It made our afternoons fun."
Richard Shakespeare, general manager of Ralph's on the Park and former sommelier at Commander's Palace, and Richard Krumm of Red Fish Grill contributed to the section on pairing seafood and wine.
One chapter is "A Seafood Cook's Manual" and several appendices include a glossary, five pages of ingredient sources, tips on making roux and seasoning a cast iron skillet, and even how to create a temporary stove-top smoker, with lots of aluminum foil twisted into ropes, for starters.
"We went¤'round and¤'round about that," Bittermann said. "After the instructions were written, we said 'Here, Charlee, you make it.'"
The book is currently available at Barnes & Noble, Maple Street Bookstore, Octavia Books, Garden District Book Shop, at the four Ralph Brennan restaurants, on Amazon.com and on the book's Web site, www.RalphBrennanCookbook.com. The latter features a blog; more content is in the works, Brennan said, perhaps featuring demonstrations by the restaurant chefs.
And there will definitely be more cookbooks. "We have to leverage this," Williamson said, "now that we know how to do it."
Because his dad was allergic to shellfish, third-generation restaurateur Ralph Brennan grew up on steak and potatoes.
He didn't eat his first oyster until he was a teenager.
PHOTO BY KERRI MCCAFFETY, FROM 'RALPH BRENNAN'S NEW ORLEANS SEAFOOD COOKBOOK'Businessman and restaurateur Ralph Brennan grew up on steak and potatoes, but his new cookbook is abound with classic and contemporary seafood dishes.
"I was in high school when some older guys invited me to play golf with them," Brennan said. After their round they went to Bozo's, where a couple of beers helped the first oyster, perched on a cracker, go down.
"I said 'That isn't bad,' and had a couple more," he said.
But then there was the time his Aunt Adelaide (for whom Cafe Adelaide is named) "forced me to eat a snail. I've never had one since."
So now you know why there is no escargot in the new "Ralph Brennan's New Orleans Seafood Cookbook" (Vissi D'Arte Books, $45) -- but lots of oysters. And shrimp, crabs, finfish, frog legs, turtle soup, alligator, desserts, side dishes, appetizers and drinks.
The coffee-table-size book has dozens of lavish color photos and 170 recipes in 430 pages and weighs 4-1/2 pounds. The team behind the book includes Charlee Williamson, executive vice president of the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group; corporate chef Haley Bittermann; writer Gene Bourg; photographer and publisher Kerri McCaffety; and Paulette Rittenberg, who worked with the restaurant chefs and tested the recipes (as did sous-chef Joe Kosarek). The chefs include Gregg Collier of Red Fish Grill, Chris Montero of Bacco, Gus Martin of Ralph's on the Park, and Darrin Finkel of Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen.
None of the group had any previous experience with cookbooks. So why a seafood one?
"Charlee heard John Mariani speak a few years ago at the Tennessee Williams Festival, and he said the definitive seafood cookbook had not been done," Brennan said. "And when we looked at our menus, we track what our customers eat. Seafood is always on top. It's what people want."
Bourg helped compile the list of classic recipes to include; the book is about 25-percent classic and 75-percent contemporary recipes.
Among the debates: To bisque or not to bisque? They eventually decided that labor-intensive crawfish bisque was a must. Because directions for all the recipes are extremely detailed, that particular recipe takes up five pages, not counting a full-page photo.
From idea to publication took four years, twice what the team originally planned, Brennan and Williamson said. Katrina interrupted, and there were unforeseen problems, such as the fact that the chefs' directions for sauteing were not the same. Imposing consistency was Williamson's job.
MICHAEL DEMOCKER/THE TIMES-PICAYUNERalph Brennan signs his "New Orleans Seafood Cookbook" Tuesday, April 22, from 10 a.m.-noon at the Crescent City Farmers Market, Uptown Square, 200 Broadway.
"We also debated about including cocktails and desserts," Williamson said.
"A New Orleans cookbook has to have cocktails," Brennan said. "We just put in the ones we liked. Our bartenders helped us with it. It made our afternoons fun."
Richard Shakespeare, general manager of Ralph's on the Park and former sommelier at Commander's Palace, and Richard Krumm of Red Fish Grill contributed to the section on pairing seafood and wine.
One chapter is "A Seafood Cook's Manual" and several appendices include a glossary, five pages of ingredient sources, tips on making roux and seasoning a cast iron skillet, and even how to create a temporary stove-top smoker, with lots of aluminum foil twisted into ropes, for starters.
"We went¤'round and¤'round about that," Bittermann said. "After the instructions were written, we said 'Here, Charlee, you make it.'"
The book is currently available at Barnes & Noble, Maple Street Bookstore, Octavia Books, Garden District Book Shop, at the four Ralph Brennan restaurants, on Amazon.com and on the book's Web site, www.RalphBrennanCookbook.com. The latter features a blog; more content is in the works, Brennan said, perhaps featuring demonstrations by the restaurant chefs.
And there will definitely be more cookbooks. "We have to leverage this," Williamson said, "now that we know how to do it."
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