Paul Prudhomme - Fiery Foods That I Love

Chef Paul Prudhommes

Fiery Foods

That I Love

I dedicate this book to everyone whos reading it right now.

When I decide to dedicate a book to someone, I put a lot of emotion and thought into the process, because I feel a dedication is very important and should express sincere feelings.

In the past Ive adapted family and regional recipes, or re-created dishes that Ive tasted in other parts of the country, but these recipes were developed out of the experiences that Ive had over the past twenty or so years. And in these years my education has been made possible only by youall of you who have eaten at my restaurant, bought my products, bought and used my cookbooks, watched me on television, and written to me with your comments and questions. I very honestly believe that your feedback has been vital to my growth as a cook, and in many ways I feel that the book youre holding in your hands is a very special one, containing as it does so many totally new flavor combinations.Youve made these recipes possible, and therefore I want to dedicate this book to you. Its my way of saying Thank you.

My mission, my job, is simply to make your dinner better. And with your continued help, Ill keep on getting better at my job.

Food is my passion, and my mission in life is to make your dinner better!

I could talk for days, but my message would come down to just that, because its the truth. I could never imagine eating a meal, whether its something I cooked myself or ordered at a restaurant, that isnt exciting, that doesnt have emotion and several levels of taste. Its this feeling and multiple layers of taste that I mean when I talk about fiery.

When I first wanted to name this book, my staff was concerned, and I heard from other people that the title Fiery Foods would make people automatically assume that what I meant was very hot. But by fiery I dont mean a dish thats unbearably hot but one that lights the fires of your emotions and consumes your attention to the point that you think of nothing else but the pleasure the flavors give you.

Now, how to achieve this kind of taste? I get (and you can too) the kind of results I want through the use of herbs and spices and by the high-heat cooking called for in most of my recipes. Whether this is the first of my cookbooks youve picked up or youve been a friend through my recipes for many years, its pretty obvious that I love to season with all kinds of herbs and spicesin my mind seasonings are where its at!

You must be surfing the same flavor wave, because Ive noticed that grocery stores and supermarkets are stocking a better supply and selection of herbs and spices than they did even ten years ago. For instance, when I first started using red pepper in recipes, back in the eighties, it was hard to find; only a very few grocery stores outside Louisiana and a scattering of small ethnic stores around the country had it. Now all the national spice companies package red pepper, and its readily available to you.

Youll notice that many of these recipes contain either fresh or dried and ground chile peppers. I know in my heart that chiles are going to be the next great ingredient find and will become a permanent part of the way we cook. There is no doubt in my mind that in ten or fifteen years chile peppers are going to be just as common as salt and black pepper and white pepper and red pepper are now Thats because they give a wonderful, romantic jolt to the recipes theyre used in; they should be used so that instead of overpowering a dishs flavor, they add an underlying taste that is simply awesome.

Different kinds of chiles create their own distinctive kinds of taste. If youve not used them before, then youre about to discover the incredible depth of flavor and amazing taste combinations that can be achieved with chiles. Because I feel so strongly about chiles, Ive added a section on them in Notes from the Test Kitchen.

In this book weve tried to use herbs and spices that will be easy for you to find. You may have to search around to find some of the seasonings weve used and some of the major ingredients too, but for the most part everything will be right on the shelves of your supermarket. Any that you might be unfamiliar with are described in the Glossary.

Besides using a lot of different herbs and spices, the other way I achieve the kind of taste that excites me is to cook with dry high heat. You can cook with a lot of moisture, but youre not going to develop a depth of flavor that way. When you cook at a high temperature, you evaporate the moisture on the surface of the food, changing its color and then its flavorthats why we love grilling so much.Think of a piece of wood burning in your fireplace or in a campfire. As it burns it constantly changes color, until it becomes a glowing coal and then is reduced to ash.Well, we dont want our food to go that far, but we do want it to change color, because thats when it changes taste, reaching a second, third, even fourth dimension of the same flavor. The repeated evaporation of liquid is part of what produces the complex flavors that I love so much. Reducing the liquids in the pan until they are almost gone, and doing it again and again, gives us a way to cook that is hot, dry, and controlled.

Ive been lucky to travel a lot in the work I do, and when I travel I take cooking lessons from local chefs who really love and respect their own cultures. I also get a chance to eat a lot of wonderful, different foods. I really enjoy the surprises, whether in a new country or a new city (and actually even in a new restaurant across town), and have been thinking of using some of these flavors in recipes for you. For years now Ive been remembering these dishes and daydreaming about them, so you might say this book is a summary of flavors that Ive tasted in the past.

Some of these flavors come from the seasonings, and others come from the exciting ingredients we use, such as lemon grass, coconut milk, pine nuts, and so forth. Now, the ideal situation would be to use only fresh ingredients that grow nearby, for flavor is best when the food doesnt have to travel far. With uncommon ingredients, however, that isnt always possible. Take lemon grass as an example; the lemon grass in dishes I tasted in the Orient was very different from the lemon grass that is available to me in America. We can and do use it in our recipes, but the flavor is different from the lemon grass I encountered in Hong Kong. If there are communities originally from Asia or Latin America near where you live, as there are in some cities in the United States, you will find many of these ingredients in the markets that serve them.

When I write a book, my goal is to try to explain clearly what Ive learned and what Im currently feeling about whats going on in the kitchens of the world. When you and I discuss food and recipes, whether in person or through letters or phone calls, I feel very close to you. When we share that special emotion, it inspires me to work even harder for you.

Are you ready to be fired up by a trip through Chef Paul Prudhommes Fiery Foods That I Love? Put on your apron, sharpen your knives, and lets get to cooking!

Good cooking,
Good eating,
Good loving,