Thursday, September 23. Cooking Radio At The New Orleans School Of. Thirty years ago, my friend Joe Cahn created a small, casual service for visitors called The New Orleans School of Cooking. Operating out of the little space on Conti Street where the Jager Haus is now, he showed tourists and others how to make jambalaya, red beans, and that kind of stuff. Working with his wife he expanded the operation, created his own Creole seasoning, and added enough value to the business that he was able to sell it and move on to the next chapter of his life. That involved being single again (he recently re-married the same girl, though) and traveling around the country checking out the food at pre-football game tailgate parties. He's still doing that.
But back to the New Orleans School of Cooking. The new owners moved it to a much more visible location and expanded its space and its programs. They also brought in "Big Kevin" Belton (in the back of the staff picture above)--a well-named, highly entertaining cooking instructor. The school has thrived ever since. They're almost back to their maxed-out pre-Katrina schedule of classes.
Today, they celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of the school by having an open house with free food and wine. They invited me and my radio show to add a little pith and moment to the party.
The best thing to come out of that exercise was my discovery of the school's recipe for chicken or shrimp etouffee. It had been devised by Michael DeVidts, one of the instructors. (He's in front of Big Kevin in the photo.) This was not only spectacularly delicious, but so simple that the people taking the class are very glad they did. It's a blond roux made with a goodly amount of Joe's Stuff (Joe Cahn's great salt-free seasoning mix), chicken or shrimp stock, a few random herbs, and chicken or shrimp. I don't usually eat anything during a radio show, but this was so good I wound up eating two bowls. They also had a good gumbo on the stove, and a few other things.
The content of the radio show celebrated New Orleans food in a more generic and faithful way than usual. This owed a lot to Big Kevin and his enthusiasm about all things Creole. He hung out at the microphone for most of the show, and we fed off one another's stories about great gumbos and red beans and roast beef poor boys we've had. Also adding to the colloquy was Clark, The Gourmet Truck Driver, who hung out with us for the entire show. A couple of the people who will be going up to Chicago with me on the train next week were also there. I think that a couple hundred people may have passed through the place while we were there.
I wasn't up to speed on the current activities of the New Orleans School of Cooking. Putting on entertaining classes in basic local eats for tourists is obviously a good idea. But I didn't know that they hosted wedding rehearsal dinners and bachelorette parties and the like. Let alone full-fledged wedding receptions. But why not? What could keep a couple together more reliably than a mutual love of the pleasures of the table? Yeah, I guess the pleasures of the bed would. But the family that dines together does fine together.
New Orleans School of Cooking. French Quarter: 524 St Louis St. 504-525-2665.
