"Laissez les bons temps rouler” is a phrase I heard often as a child growing up in New Orleans. Let the good times roll! With so much history and culture embedded in its roots, it was a great place to start learning about the world. Although I have not lived in Louisiana as an adult, I still feel drawn to it even now. The food, the spices, the music, the art, the people, the architecture - the atmosphere recreates itself in my mind when I think of my childhood. Speaking of which, let me tell you what I discovered last week:

In getting to know my new coworkers, I found out that I work with a girl who was in my second grade class! At first, we shared stories of our families and where we lived. Then, we talked a bit about the damage done to our schools by the hurricanes (at which point we discovered we went to the same one). Next thing you know, she is naming all of my friends and the teacher we shared. It was nice to know that someone from my distant past is now someone I will see every other day in my near future.

Just a week later, my coworkers finally convinced me to bring them a piece of what I hold dear to me: cajun cooking. I am not as good as my mom, but I figured it was worth an attempt. At 5pm, I start chopping up the ingredients that would soon be boiled into a popular cajun favorite called gumbo. If you don’t know what it is, or never tasted it before, please do yourself a favor and NEVER buy it in a can. Anyway, back to my story: I hunted down the two largest pots I could find for my mom’s special recipe. Feeding 25 people is the easy part of making gumbo. If you’ve gotta make one pot, you might as well make two. After chopping up the onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, celery, chicken, and sausage, I make my roux and start seasoning my broth. (Rule of thumb: Why use salt when you can use Tony’s Chachere’s?)

I was a happy chef today. The little Emeril in me came out:

Almost midnight - I add in the final touch (Tony’s Gumbo Filé).

Make it thick with some Roux-lette.

Great on Everything! (Mischief is a true supporter of this idea.)

What they don’t know won’t hurt them.

Off I go to peel the shrimp. Bon appétit!

Pyra FD, Sous Chef