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The Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine
Chef Folse's seventh cookbook is the authoritative collection on Louisiana's culture and cuisine. The book features more than 850 full-color pages, dynamic historical Louisiana photographs and more than 700 recipes. You will not only find step-by-step directions to preparing everything from a roux to a cochon de lait, but you will also learn about the history behind these recipes. Cajun and Creole cuisine was influenced by seven nations that settled Louisiana, from the Native Americans to the Italian immigrants of the 1800s. Learn about the significant contributions each culture made-okra seeds carried here by African slaves, classic French recipes recalled by the Creoles, the sausage-making skills of the Germans and more. Relive the adventure and romance that shaped Louisiana, and recreate the recipes enjoyed in Cajun cabins, plantation kitchens and New Orleans restaurants. Chef Folse has hand picked the recipes for each chapter to ensure the very best of seafood, game, meat, poultry, vegetables, salads, appetizers, drinks and desserts are represented. From the traditional to the truly unique, you will develop a new understanding and love of Cajun and Creole cuisine. The Encyclopedia would make a perfect gift or simply a treasured addition to your own cookbook library.
842 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2004
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375 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 12, 2025
The Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine by Chef John D. Folse (2004, 2024 20th Anniversary edition), 842 pages.
This is an absolute humongous, over-sized and extremely heavy book. I first learned about it while reading “Gumbo Life” by Ken Wells a few weeks back and knew I had to have it. What I didn’t know was how expensive it was going to be to get my hands on a copy because of the very few copies available out there. I paid $100.26 (shipping & handling included) for a good used 20th Anniversary copy from Abe books online 😬. Others were priced as high as $183.07. Amazon had only one copy, a 1st edition, available for $360.99. Imagine that! When it first came out 20 years ago, these books were selling for only $29.99 brand new.
John Folse picks up where Paul Prudhomme left off. He is the reknowned chef and owner of Lafitte’s Landing Restaurant in Donaldsonville. Folse introduced Cajun cuisine to Japan, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Moscow and other countries, in the ‘80’s. Since 1990, Louisiana Public Broadcasting has been featuring his international television cooking show series, “A Taste of Louisiana”. Plus, in 1994, he opened up the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. He has so many other accomplishments as well. This man is very well-known among the Cajun population.
The Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine is more than just a cookbook. It contains a lot of Louisiana history, beginning with the various Native Americans in the area, Acadian history, as well as a bit of “softened” down version of African slavery in Louisiana and German and Italian culture integration. It contains a slew of cultural tidbits about Louisiana, its settlement, food and people, and their lifestyles. And, to boot, it is loaded down with the most beautiful, full-colored photographs printed on quality colorful pages. There’s even a chapter giving a little history and a recipe on 12 of the oldest plantations in Louisiana, which would make a good new little bucket list of places to visit.
POINTS OF INTEREST:
Poverty Point, in northeastern Louisiana, was a thriving Native American long distance trade economy that existed in Louisiana “at the same time as Ramses II was ruling Egypt, Moses was leading the Israelites from bondage and the Phoenicians were trading along the Mediterranean. “ (p. 5) The mounds of villages and relics were discovered in 1873. The culture is believed to have existed between 2000 and 700 B.C.
The mouth of the Mississippi on the Gulf wasn’t visible, even from close proximity, or navigable. It was full of fallen trees, reeds, and rushes. The French had to clear it. That’s why early explorers had such a hard time finding it.
The town, English Turn, in Louisiana, is along the Mississippi. France had just occupied and claimed Louisiana along the Mississippi, ahead of Spain, who incidentally decided they were also interested in claiming. The English were there as well. They made it up the Mississippi to that point when they were told it had already been completely claimed by France. The English turned around right there and headed home.
After 50 years of occupying New Orleans, and growing their colony up to 7,500 colonists, the French couldn’t make it happen. They were too lazy, insubordinate, drank too much and were broke and growing increasingly in debt. New France was literally a social welfare system. A few ships of marrying women were sent over, hoping to settle the colonists. They were known as “The Cassette Girls”, who just ended up pregnant and delivering babies out of wedlock in the nunnery. France had stopped spending so much money to keep them up and stopped corresponding with officials by 1758. France had abandoned colonial Louisiana. In 1762, Louisiana was sold to Spain under the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau. (p. 32-33)
Port Royal in Nova Scotia was settled in 1605 by French pioneers, my people, who were fleeing from the religious wars in France. This settlement predated the Jamestown colony by two years and the Plymouth Rock landing by 15 years.
By 1613, the English, under King James I (formerly Scotland’s King James VI) came and destroyed Port Royal, wanting to now claim it for themselves. They saw it as a good place for trades and fishing.
St. Augustine, Florida, founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer Menendez de Aviles, is the oldest city in America. (p. 47) The fort still exists to this day.
In 1788, all of New Orleans (800 French style buildings) burned to the ground. The Spanish rebuilt with fireproof construction. Today, there is only one French style building that remains on Chatres Street in downtown New Orleans, and that’s the Ursuline Convent, built in 1751. (p. 49)
“yaya”…African word for rice. (p. 55)
“amuse-bouche” (amūz-boosh)…French word for palette teaser. Supposed to be a bit smaller than an appetizer. Just a few bites then it’s gone. ☺️
TO-DO: Africans use dried shrimp and “powdered” crawfish for seasonings. (p. 69) Interesting! Maybe I’ll try freeze-drying some crawfish tails and grind into a powder.
RECIPE: Captain John’s Cathead Biscuits (p. 178)
A common staple in Louisiana. Super easy to make and delicious with butter and homemade fig jam, or white gravy, and eggs.
2 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 c. shortening
4 tsp. butter
2/3 c. buttermilk (plus a bit more if needed)
Preheat oven to 450°. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend well. Cut in butter and shortening with finger tips until resembles coarse cornmeal. Using a large cooking spoon blend buttermilk into flour mixture into flour until moistened. Add more buttermilk if needed. Do not overwork dough as the less it is handled, the flakier the biscuit. Break dough into 8 equal portions and pat into approximately 1/2 inch thick onto baking sheet. Biscuits should be irregular in shape, but no more than 1/2 inch high and 1 inch apart. Bake 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. (My oven cooks them in 12 minutes.) Remove from oven and brush with melted butter.
We have also tried the “Soul Pork Roast” (p. 492). A bit of work, but it’s delicious.
This is an absolute humongous, over-sized and extremely heavy book. I first learned about it while reading “Gumbo Life” by Ken Wells a few weeks back and knew I had to have it. What I didn’t know was how expensive it was going to be to get my hands on a copy because of the very few copies available out there. I paid $100.26 (shipping & handling included) for a good used 20th Anniversary copy from Abe books online 😬. Others were priced as high as $183.07. Amazon had only one copy, a 1st edition, available for $360.99. Imagine that! When it first came out 20 years ago, these books were selling for only $29.99 brand new.
John Folse picks up where Paul Prudhomme left off. He is the reknowned chef and owner of Lafitte’s Landing Restaurant in Donaldsonville. Folse introduced Cajun cuisine to Japan, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Moscow and other countries, in the ‘80’s. Since 1990, Louisiana Public Broadcasting has been featuring his international television cooking show series, “A Taste of Louisiana”. Plus, in 1994, he opened up the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. He has so many other accomplishments as well. This man is very well-known among the Cajun population.
The Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine is more than just a cookbook. It contains a lot of Louisiana history, beginning with the various Native Americans in the area, Acadian history, as well as a bit of “softened” down version of African slavery in Louisiana and German and Italian culture integration. It contains a slew of cultural tidbits about Louisiana, its settlement, food and people, and their lifestyles. And, to boot, it is loaded down with the most beautiful, full-colored photographs printed on quality colorful pages. There’s even a chapter giving a little history and a recipe on 12 of the oldest plantations in Louisiana, which would make a good new little bucket list of places to visit.
POINTS OF INTEREST:
Poverty Point, in northeastern Louisiana, was a thriving Native American long distance trade economy that existed in Louisiana “at the same time as Ramses II was ruling Egypt, Moses was leading the Israelites from bondage and the Phoenicians were trading along the Mediterranean. “ (p. 5) The mounds of villages and relics were discovered in 1873. The culture is believed to have existed between 2000 and 700 B.C.
The mouth of the Mississippi on the Gulf wasn’t visible, even from close proximity, or navigable. It was full of fallen trees, reeds, and rushes. The French had to clear it. That’s why early explorers had such a hard time finding it.
The town, English Turn, in Louisiana, is along the Mississippi. France had just occupied and claimed Louisiana along the Mississippi, ahead of Spain, who incidentally decided they were also interested in claiming. The English were there as well. They made it up the Mississippi to that point when they were told it had already been completely claimed by France. The English turned around right there and headed home.
After 50 years of occupying New Orleans, and growing their colony up to 7,500 colonists, the French couldn’t make it happen. They were too lazy, insubordinate, drank too much and were broke and growing increasingly in debt. New France was literally a social welfare system. A few ships of marrying women were sent over, hoping to settle the colonists. They were known as “The Cassette Girls”, who just ended up pregnant and delivering babies out of wedlock in the nunnery. France had stopped spending so much money to keep them up and stopped corresponding with officials by 1758. France had abandoned colonial Louisiana. In 1762, Louisiana was sold to Spain under the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau. (p. 32-33)
Port Royal in Nova Scotia was settled in 1605 by French pioneers, my people, who were fleeing from the religious wars in France. This settlement predated the Jamestown colony by two years and the Plymouth Rock landing by 15 years.
By 1613, the English, under King James I (formerly Scotland’s King James VI) came and destroyed Port Royal, wanting to now claim it for themselves. They saw it as a good place for trades and fishing.
St. Augustine, Florida, founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer Menendez de Aviles, is the oldest city in America. (p. 47) The fort still exists to this day.
In 1788, all of New Orleans (800 French style buildings) burned to the ground. The Spanish rebuilt with fireproof construction. Today, there is only one French style building that remains on Chatres Street in downtown New Orleans, and that’s the Ursuline Convent, built in 1751. (p. 49)
“yaya”…African word for rice. (p. 55)
“amuse-bouche” (amūz-boosh)…French word for palette teaser. Supposed to be a bit smaller than an appetizer. Just a few bites then it’s gone. ☺️
TO-DO: Africans use dried shrimp and “powdered” crawfish for seasonings. (p. 69) Interesting! Maybe I’ll try freeze-drying some crawfish tails and grind into a powder.
RECIPE: Captain John’s Cathead Biscuits (p. 178)
A common staple in Louisiana. Super easy to make and delicious with butter and homemade fig jam, or white gravy, and eggs.
2 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 c. shortening
4 tsp. butter
2/3 c. buttermilk (plus a bit more if needed)
Preheat oven to 450°. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend well. Cut in butter and shortening with finger tips until resembles coarse cornmeal. Using a large cooking spoon blend buttermilk into flour mixture into flour until moistened. Add more buttermilk if needed. Do not overwork dough as the less it is handled, the flakier the biscuit. Break dough into 8 equal portions and pat into approximately 1/2 inch thick onto baking sheet. Biscuits should be irregular in shape, but no more than 1/2 inch high and 1 inch apart. Bake 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. (My oven cooks them in 12 minutes.) Remove from oven and brush with melted butter.
We have also tried the “Soul Pork Roast” (p. 492). A bit of work, but it’s delicious.
June 21, 2021
I don't believe there is a better, more accurate book on the history of Creole and Cajun cuisine. John Folse is the preeminent expert, in my opinion. This book is a generational masterpiece and should be on your shelf if you consider your self a decent meal maker.
July 21, 2008
Actually, the rating of this book is likely to evolve as I get a chance to try more recipes. The principle value of the book thus far is as an amazing cultural guidebook to the historic cuisine of Louisiana.
Unbelievably comprehensive and fantastically well-researched. As a consequence though, the book weighs a ton and is therefore somewhat impractical in the kitchen. Good coffee table book though.
Unbelievably comprehensive and fantastically well-researched. As a consequence though, the book weighs a ton and is therefore somewhat impractical in the kitchen. Good coffee table book though.
February 14, 2008
SUPER FANTASTIC - everything you could possibly (or pretty darn close) want to know & more about the history of louisiana cooking. the pictures are gorgeous and the recipes are really helpful. this book is the trifecta of cookbooks - it's an informative read, beautiful coffee table book & contains understandable recipes from a world renowned chef.
February 26, 2013
The Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine by Chef John D. Folse, is a fantastic resource for your cooking library! This book is packed with history and photographs of seven nations as the cooking in the region evolved over the centuries...filled with fantastic recipes!
April 4, 2007
a cajun cook's encyclopedia, dictionary and bible.
December 14, 2007
I collect cookbooks, and this is the best cookbook I have ever owned. It is beautifully done, and every recipe I have tried has been nothing less than exceptional.
January 1, 2008
This one is AMAZING. Although the gumbo won't be yo mama's (nothing will ever be).
Currently reading
October 28, 2008Holy Frijoles this book is HUGE!!!
May 30, 2009
Not only a great Cajun cookbook, also has an amazing Louisiana history section, and great photos & illustrations.
December 28, 2012
This might be the best book ever written. I do not know how I lived without it.
April 7, 2013
Outstanding.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews