Karl Breaux couldn't help but write a cookbook. Breaux, along
with his brothers Wally and Philip, own and operate Breaux's Mart, a landmark
grocer and deli on Moss Street.
At age 6, Breaux worked as a bag boy in the market. He kept his eyes and ears on Cajun and Creole grandmothers who were secretive about their prized recipes.
"I'm bagging the groceries, looking at what they were buying, and they're talking to the other ladies in French about it," said Breaux, a French-speaking Cajun born in Lafayette. "A lot of the recipes I got from them.
"In the deli, all our cooks are old black people that have been cooking their whole lives. Elsie LeBlanc has been cooking at the store and has been friends of my family since I was a child. I couldn't help but learn how to cook from them."
Breaux has put those local cooking treasures in his first cookbook, Cajun Karl's Cook'n Adventures Cookbook. He will sign copies of the book Friday at Breaux's Mart. The book retails for $19.99 but will be available for $14.99 at the event.
Breaux's 62-page cookbook divides the specialties into meat, poultry and wild game, dressings and breads, appetizers and salads, gumbos, soups and stews, seafood, vegetables and side dishes and desserts. Dishes include Pecanierre Pork Chops, Crawfish Rice Dressing, Potato Salad with Attitude and Iota Fig Cake.
The book also includes personal stories and local history, nutritional facts, cooking hints and charts and a spice and herb guide.
In addition to sharing the recipes, Breaux said his mission is to explain the real diversity of South Louisiana's famous cuisine.
"I'm old enough now to realize that the Cajuns were dirt poor when they got here," said Breaux. "If it wouldn't have been for the African-Americans and the Indians, a lot of us wouldn't have made it.
"I think that's what makes us special. It's not just Cajun; It's not just Creole; It's everything.
"I've been to Canada, and I've been to France. Their food is not like ours. We're just a mix of Spanish, Indian, African, free men of, color and I'm very proud of that. Such a wonderful thing can happen when food from cultures mix. Just imagine what would happen if we could all get along."
Breaux's cookbook grew out of his Cook'n Adventures TV show, which airs on cable and broadcast outlets in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Oklahoma. It airs locally at 9:30 a.m. Sundays on KADN Fox 15 (Cox cable Channel 6) and 7:30 p.m. Thursdays on Cox Cable Channel 4.
Earlier this month, Breaux released a Cook'n Secrets DVD with recipes for roux, Louisiana rice, red beans and rice, crawfish etouffee and sausage jambalaya.
At age 6, Breaux worked as a bag boy in the market. He kept his eyes and ears on Cajun and Creole grandmothers who were secretive about their prized recipes.
"I'm bagging the groceries, looking at what they were buying, and they're talking to the other ladies in French about it," said Breaux, a French-speaking Cajun born in Lafayette. "A lot of the recipes I got from them.
"In the deli, all our cooks are old black people that have been cooking their whole lives. Elsie LeBlanc has been cooking at the store and has been friends of my family since I was a child. I couldn't help but learn how to cook from them."
Breaux has put those local cooking treasures in his first cookbook, Cajun Karl's Cook'n Adventures Cookbook. He will sign copies of the book Friday at Breaux's Mart. The book retails for $19.99 but will be available for $14.99 at the event.
Breaux's 62-page cookbook divides the specialties into meat, poultry and wild game, dressings and breads, appetizers and salads, gumbos, soups and stews, seafood, vegetables and side dishes and desserts. Dishes include Pecanierre Pork Chops, Crawfish Rice Dressing, Potato Salad with Attitude and Iota Fig Cake.
The book also includes personal stories and local history, nutritional facts, cooking hints and charts and a spice and herb guide.
In addition to sharing the recipes, Breaux said his mission is to explain the real diversity of South Louisiana's famous cuisine.
"I'm old enough now to realize that the Cajuns were dirt poor when they got here," said Breaux. "If it wouldn't have been for the African-Americans and the Indians, a lot of us wouldn't have made it.
"I think that's what makes us special. It's not just Cajun; It's not just Creole; It's everything.
"I've been to Canada, and I've been to France. Their food is not like ours. We're just a mix of Spanish, Indian, African, free men of, color and I'm very proud of that. Such a wonderful thing can happen when food from cultures mix. Just imagine what would happen if we could all get along."
Breaux's cookbook grew out of his Cook'n Adventures TV show, which airs on cable and broadcast outlets in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Oklahoma. It airs locally at 9:30 a.m. Sundays on KADN Fox 15 (Cox cable Channel 6) and 7:30 p.m. Thursdays on Cox Cable Channel 4.
Earlier this month, Breaux released a Cook'n Secrets DVD with recipes for roux, Louisiana rice, red beans and rice, crawfish etouffee and sausage jambalaya.
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