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Turkey and the Wolf: Flavor Trippin' in New Orleans [A Cookbook]
JAMES BEARD AWARD NOMINEE • IACP AWARD FINALIST • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A fun, flavorful cookbook with more than 95 recipes and Power-Ups featuring chef Mason Hereford’s irreverent take on Southern food, from his awarding-winning New Orleans restaurant Turkey and the Wolf
“Mason and his team are everything the culinary world needs right now. This book is a testimony of living life to the most and being your true self!”—Matty Matheson
ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE Los Angeles Times, Saveur, NPR, Vice, Delish, Garden & Gun, Publishers Weekly
Mason Hereford grew up in rural Virginia, where his formative meals came at modest country stores and his family’s holiday table. After moving to New Orleans and working in fine dining he opened Turkey and the Wolf, which featured his larger-than-life interpretations of down-home dishes and created a nationwide sensation.
In Turkey and the Wolf, Hereford shares lively twists on beloved Southern dishes, like potato chip–loaded fried bologna sandwiches, deviled-egg tostadas with salsa macha, and his mom’s burnt tomato casserole. This cookbook is packed with nostalgic and indulgent recipes, original illustrations, and bad-ass photographs.
Filled with recipes designed to get big flavor out of laidback cooking, Turkey and the Wolf is a wild ride through the South, with food so good you’re gonna need some brand-new jeans.
“Mason and his team are everything the culinary world needs right now. This book is a testimony of living life to the most and being your true self!”—Matty Matheson
ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE Los Angeles Times, Saveur, NPR, Vice, Delish, Garden & Gun, Publishers Weekly
Mason Hereford grew up in rural Virginia, where his formative meals came at modest country stores and his family’s holiday table. After moving to New Orleans and working in fine dining he opened Turkey and the Wolf, which featured his larger-than-life interpretations of down-home dishes and created a nationwide sensation.
In Turkey and the Wolf, Hereford shares lively twists on beloved Southern dishes, like potato chip–loaded fried bologna sandwiches, deviled-egg tostadas with salsa macha, and his mom’s burnt tomato casserole. This cookbook is packed with nostalgic and indulgent recipes, original illustrations, and bad-ass photographs.
Filled with recipes designed to get big flavor out of laidback cooking, Turkey and the Wolf is a wild ride through the South, with food so good you’re gonna need some brand-new jeans.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published June 21, 2022
137 people are currently reading
602 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
June 21, 2022
This cookbook is so quirky and fun. The recipes are easy to understand and give you room to adapt them to your own taste. I have several marked to try very soon.
April 5, 2023
NPR has this awesome "Books We Love" feature online. I discovered this book there and love it so much. In two days I read it twice, the second time making my husband Jeffrey listen to me read bits and pieces for an hour. SO GOOD!
June 24, 2023
How can you review a cook book? I actually really enjoyed this. The author (?) chef (?) seems to be a really quirky dude. Some of the recipes I will never make (caviar on a McDonald’s hash brown) and others aren’t really recipes at all (cheezits with ice cream) but there are a few golden nuggets. I made the chicken pot pie hand pies and while it was a lot of work, it made a ton of food and was delicious. The sandwich section looks extra good, as does the dip section. The stories, pictures, and narrative style are fun. Some recipes say “then do this next thing. Or don’t if you don’t want to. Really it’s whatever.” I first checked it out from the library but then bought it because I plan on making those hand pies often.
Just for a taste of this guy’s style, the hand pies are chicken pot pie, spiced up with Cajun flavors, sriracha, and wrapped in a Malaysian flatbread in the style of an empanada. The ultimate mashup. Fancy with low brow.
Just for a taste of this guy’s style, the hand pies are chicken pot pie, spiced up with Cajun flavors, sriracha, and wrapped in a Malaysian flatbread in the style of an empanada. The ultimate mashup. Fancy with low brow.
August 27, 2022
I liked the spirit, but not the execution of, this cookbook. Many of the recipes are way too involved and require some ingredients that may be hard to source. It still has a number of tasty looking recipes included, the downside is they look like they take forever to make.
January 14, 2024
Excellent writing, excellent photography, and I want to make every single recipe!
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April 17, 2025There's a lot going on with the food in this cookbook and it looks fun. I read it a few days before visiting one of these restaurants in New Orleans so I got to try some of the recipes without making them myself.
July 9, 2022
Coming from Denham Springs, I was excited to read about some funky local fare. The chef isn't actually from New Orleans, nor does he serve Cajun/Creole/general Louisianan food, so I'm not sure why it was included in the subtitle. Who would eat any of this? I'll give it 2 stars because this food has to be for someone, and the presentation and photos are well done.
July 28, 2022
Turkey and the Wolf possesses a bit of a cult status in our house. So, this review is completely biased. If you’ve been to NOLA and haven’t been to T&tW, then you’re missing out on a total gem.
For those of us who don’t live in NOLA, this book has made it possible for all of us T&tW’s fans to recreate our favorite dishes at home. We’ve been waiting for this awhile. It’s quirky and borderline culinarily heretical, which is what us fans expect from T&tW.
We have already recreated the collard green melt. It was a little labor intensive, but it came out pretty darn well for our first try. The instructions were very easy to follow. I do think it makes a difference to try to stick to the same brands they use as much as possible.
For those of us who don’t live in NOLA, this book has made it possible for all of us T&tW’s fans to recreate our favorite dishes at home. We’ve been waiting for this awhile. It’s quirky and borderline culinarily heretical, which is what us fans expect from T&tW.
We have already recreated the collard green melt. It was a little labor intensive, but it came out pretty darn well for our first try. The instructions were very easy to follow. I do think it makes a difference to try to stick to the same brands they use as much as possible.
July 22, 2022
I want to eat everything in here. My mouth watered constantly and I kept reading funny bits out loud to my husband far past the point of his amusement. It made me order fancy mustard powder. Can I give 6 stars? I might be a little obsessed.
December 13, 2022
If you love food, life, your friends, and your family, you should read this book. It's so sweet, in an open-hearted, I-love-you-man way. There are about 20 recipes I want to try tonight. I really appreciate Mason Hereford's food, and equally appreciate his food and life philosophy: "We best be partying, seeing as our time here is limited."
February 26, 2023
Sounds like a quirky, fun place. Some interesting ingredients and a few complicated sounding recipes. Recently saw a local restaurant with an item inspired by this restaurant so good for the Turkey and the Wolf folks for spreading fun tastes in the kitchen.
September 7, 2022
Very little New Orleans in this, but a fun look at the process for a modern elevated sandwich place.
December 3, 2025
I was at my local library branch yesterday (shoutout to Howson Branch), and while looking through the available cookbooks, came across Mason Hereford and JJ Goode’s Turkey and the Wolf, Flavor Trippin’ in New Orleans. I’ve followed the Turkey and the Wolf Instagram account for a while so, I was familiar with the book. I just hadn’t had it in my hands.
When I pulled it out, I noticed that a previous borrower had tabbed a recipe – Sunday Morning Coming-Down Potato Salad. In this recipe, potatoes are cooked in crab boil style with spices, hot sauce, and hondashi (bonito broth). The salad is assembled with Old Bay spiced crackers, crab meat, shredded lettuce, celery, and a zesty buttermilk dressing. I’m leaving this recipe tag in place because it’s indicative of the rest of the book. There’s a couple of paragraphs about why the recipe exists and was included, a conversational style explanation of how to make the recipe, permission to make alterations, and a gorgeous full page photo.
I’m not going to cook through all of this cookbook. Dietary sensitivities make that impossible. I’m also not going to make hog’s head cheese. I admire the dedication, but absolutely the fuck not in my house. Head cheese aside, the recipes are twisty and creative. They reflect a fusion of New Orleans cultures – convenience store snacks made into meals, Southern cruise, Soul food, Vietnamese cuisine, and local ingredients. A good chunk of the recipes reflect Hereford’s love of collaboration. In “Don’t Sleep on the Carrot Yogurt,” the breakfast dish is your standard yogurt bowl – yogurt, fruit, granola, but the granola is a recipe created by Nini Nguyen, carrot purée is stirred into the yogurt and the whole thing is topped with carrot marmalade made by Liz Hollinger. It’s a collaborative dish and Hereford doesn’t try to pretend that it isn’t. And yeah, I’ll be trying at least the marmalade.
Turkey and the Wolf makes me want to run with the flavor riffs that happen in my brain. Tonight I’m making a dinner that is inspired by the recipes in the book, while not actually using any of them. – roasted cabbage slaw with roasted corn, fish sauce and lime and lamb meatballs.
When I pulled it out, I noticed that a previous borrower had tabbed a recipe – Sunday Morning Coming-Down Potato Salad. In this recipe, potatoes are cooked in crab boil style with spices, hot sauce, and hondashi (bonito broth). The salad is assembled with Old Bay spiced crackers, crab meat, shredded lettuce, celery, and a zesty buttermilk dressing. I’m leaving this recipe tag in place because it’s indicative of the rest of the book. There’s a couple of paragraphs about why the recipe exists and was included, a conversational style explanation of how to make the recipe, permission to make alterations, and a gorgeous full page photo.
I’m not going to cook through all of this cookbook. Dietary sensitivities make that impossible. I’m also not going to make hog’s head cheese. I admire the dedication, but absolutely the fuck not in my house. Head cheese aside, the recipes are twisty and creative. They reflect a fusion of New Orleans cultures – convenience store snacks made into meals, Southern cruise, Soul food, Vietnamese cuisine, and local ingredients. A good chunk of the recipes reflect Hereford’s love of collaboration. In “Don’t Sleep on the Carrot Yogurt,” the breakfast dish is your standard yogurt bowl – yogurt, fruit, granola, but the granola is a recipe created by Nini Nguyen, carrot purée is stirred into the yogurt and the whole thing is topped with carrot marmalade made by Liz Hollinger. It’s a collaborative dish and Hereford doesn’t try to pretend that it isn’t. And yeah, I’ll be trying at least the marmalade.
Turkey and the Wolf makes me want to run with the flavor riffs that happen in my brain. Tonight I’m making a dinner that is inspired by the recipes in the book, while not actually using any of them. – roasted cabbage slaw with roasted corn, fish sauce and lime and lamb meatballs.
November 3, 2022
I have a recipe picked out from this book for pretty much every occasion already. Family reunion in Mississippi this weekend, and I'm going to give the cabbage salad with fried pig ears a go. The tomato sandwich was such an easy throw together and fresh, juicy, crunchy, buttery, herbaceous goodness. I've made it three times already.
By the time I finished making the carrot yogurt I told myself I would never do it again.. But after realizing how far the granola and marmalade would go, I decided it was totally worth it and this has become my favorite fall breakfast. I was a little skeptical at first because the marmalade, granola, and carrot puree are all pretty sweet but they really balance out when you add the fat and acidity of the greek yogurt and the tanginess of the fruit. The lemon zest and mint add some freshness. Both recipes were very well rounded.
Excited to try out more. This is a favorite in my rotation of cookbooks currently.
By the time I finished making the carrot yogurt I told myself I would never do it again.. But after realizing how far the granola and marmalade would go, I decided it was totally worth it and this has become my favorite fall breakfast. I was a little skeptical at first because the marmalade, granola, and carrot puree are all pretty sweet but they really balance out when you add the fat and acidity of the greek yogurt and the tanginess of the fruit. The lemon zest and mint add some freshness. Both recipes were very well rounded.
Excited to try out more. This is a favorite in my rotation of cookbooks currently.
July 6, 2022
Cookbook fans and food photographers will delight in this New Orleans inspired cookbook now available at the library!
Turkey and the Wolf is the perfect summer cookbook full of flavor and gluttonous food images! Featuring favorite spicy sauces, twists on breakfast food, sandwiches, burgers, seafood dishes, meat lovers main courses, vegetables, and desserts - the recipes are from the restaurant by the same name - and highlight rural homemade meals punched up with cajun-inspired adaptations.
It's "food so good you're gonna need some brand-new jeans." LOL
Packed with over 95 recipes, readers' mouths will water thanks to the fun photography and stories that go along with the recipes. If anyone needs a taste tester from a recipe out of this book, library staff will happily volunteer! Yum!
~Jess
Turkey and the Wolf is the perfect summer cookbook full of flavor and gluttonous food images! Featuring favorite spicy sauces, twists on breakfast food, sandwiches, burgers, seafood dishes, meat lovers main courses, vegetables, and desserts - the recipes are from the restaurant by the same name - and highlight rural homemade meals punched up with cajun-inspired adaptations.
It's "food so good you're gonna need some brand-new jeans." LOL
Packed with over 95 recipes, readers' mouths will water thanks to the fun photography and stories that go along with the recipes. If anyone needs a taste tester from a recipe out of this book, library staff will happily volunteer! Yum!
~Jess
November 7, 2024
I did not go to this restaurant when I was in New Orleans but it was on my list, so when I saw the cookbook at the library I picked it up.
On first read, I really enjoyed the unpretentious writing and playful food and was excited to try it. I picked out the biscuits, which sounded really interesting (they have sour cream, buttermilk and citric acid in them), bought the ingredients and set out to make them.
Unfortunately, the directions weren't great (in particular, not having weights for the ingredients in a baking recipe) and the biscuits turned out sour. Not tangy, sour. This feels like I should have seen that coming but I didn't.
Anyway, I won't be making anything further from this book.
On first read, I really enjoyed the unpretentious writing and playful food and was excited to try it. I picked out the biscuits, which sounded really interesting (they have sour cream, buttermilk and citric acid in them), bought the ingredients and set out to make them.
Unfortunately, the directions weren't great (in particular, not having weights for the ingredients in a baking recipe) and the biscuits turned out sour. Not tangy, sour. This feels like I should have seen that coming but I didn't.
Anyway, I won't be making anything further from this book.
November 2, 2022
I don’t know how to really classify or explain this cookbook. Would I want to eat at the author’s restaurants? Absolutely! Can I recall a single dish that I want to create? Not really. The chef has quite a unique take on food and it is well worth a read. I just don’t know if I’d ever utilize this cookbook at home with regularity. Perhaps with a second reading I’d find a standout dish or three to add to my own repertoire, but the dishes are kinda all over the culinary map. I say it’s absolutely worth picking up at your local library to peruse and learn about this chef’s unique take on food; but unless it is purchased for me as a gift, I don’t foresee adding it to my collection.
July 25, 2022
This guy makes John Waters look like Louis Auchincloss.
Some fun food ideas and games and , but the author's persona is not appealing.
Vulgarity is not the same as authenticity, nor is it the same as sincerity and likability.
Is this some act where he pushes the chef-as-smug-scumbag shtick to it's logical dying point? Who thought that was a good idea at this point in history? Is he making fun of white trash by being the worst example in some hyper-inflated parody of white trash? Is he making fun of professional chefs? Is he trying to get a date for Burning Man? What is wrong with this guy? What is wrong with the editor and publisher that allows this sociopath to write books and act like backwoods food man on bath salts?
And, James Beard? really? Standards are gone in the U.S. at this point in time.
Larry the Cable Guy cracking open a can of spinach would be a better bet for a serious award. I would actually buy a $80 ticket to see that happen before I paid money to this freak ( read: CIA LSD lowlife who is posing as an authentic WT "genius")
All that being said, the author's brother takes some nice photographs. Kudos to him for being the only person in the family that is worth a damn.
Some fun food ideas and games and , but the author's persona is not appealing.
Vulgarity is not the same as authenticity, nor is it the same as sincerity and likability.
Is this some act where he pushes the chef-as-smug-scumbag shtick to it's logical dying point? Who thought that was a good idea at this point in history? Is he making fun of white trash by being the worst example in some hyper-inflated parody of white trash? Is he making fun of professional chefs? Is he trying to get a date for Burning Man? What is wrong with this guy? What is wrong with the editor and publisher that allows this sociopath to write books and act like backwoods food man on bath salts?
And, James Beard? really? Standards are gone in the U.S. at this point in time.
Larry the Cable Guy cracking open a can of spinach would be a better bet for a serious award. I would actually buy a $80 ticket to see that happen before I paid money to this freak ( read: CIA LSD lowlife who is posing as an authentic WT "genius")
All that being said, the author's brother takes some nice photographs. Kudos to him for being the only person in the family that is worth a damn.
August 4, 2022
Read this cookbook cover to cover and I'm an instant follower of any and all media pages they will write on. Not only do these talented chefs make down home good food, sandwiches and everything else, they have no apologies for their luscious, not really good for you, ingredients. The restaurant is in New Orleans, so I hope I get back down there soon to try it, and I will make these sandwiches, and rave about this book to all my friends. Yes, a few family members will also get it for Christmas presents.
October 28, 2022
Unapologetic about everything it presents. I loved that. Refreshing compared to lots of other cookbooks that insist their food is a literal gift from above.
This presents lots of solid, fantastically photographed recipes with a range from traditional to innovative.
To me, the big detractors were that it is both very heavy on meat and very heavy on calories.
I'm trying to watch my consumption of both, and that just leaves very little for me to do after reading this cookbook except look at the pictures.
This presents lots of solid, fantastically photographed recipes with a range from traditional to innovative.
To me, the big detractors were that it is both very heavy on meat and very heavy on calories.
I'm trying to watch my consumption of both, and that just leaves very little for me to do after reading this cookbook except look at the pictures.
February 19, 2023
A handful of the recipes (especially the breakfasts, homemade condiments and spreads, and spice blends) look yummy, but none of the sandwiches or meals were healthy.
This cookbook unabashedly celebrates highly processed junk food. The desserts were ridiculous and kinda gross (like the bowl of mini candy bars topped with whipped cream, nuts, and maraschino cherries....[shudder]). One or two things I want to try, but mostly had to say "hard no" to the majority of these recipes. I'm just not willing to eat gas station-quality food.
This cookbook unabashedly celebrates highly processed junk food. The desserts were ridiculous and kinda gross (like the bowl of mini candy bars topped with whipped cream, nuts, and maraschino cherries....[shudder]). One or two things I want to try, but mostly had to say "hard no" to the majority of these recipes. I'm just not willing to eat gas station-quality food.
December 4, 2024
I like these kinds of narrative-ish cookbooks where chefs put their personality into it and sell you on the recipes. Checked this out from the library but took a fair number of pictures of recipes to try myself! I especially like Hereford's approach to "ok so parts of this cook may be complicated and other parts are literally mixing herbs into store-bought mayo and calling that a day." He and his co-author do a great job of making the food from a very specific and high-profile restaurant in New Orleans sound accessible to a home cook!
July 2, 2022
I've received a free copy of this book from Ten Speed Press in exchange for a free and unbiased review. If you like strange, odd, and funky food combinations, this is the cookbook for you. I enjoyed reading the book, recipes and vignettes and the photography is beautiful but this is not a book that I would cook from. The recipes are just a little bit "out there" for mine and my family's tastes. Thank you Ten Speed for allowing me to review.
September 7, 2022
Sandwiches are not a food that makes me excited usually but I loved the creative ideas in this book - come back to this book for amazing dressings and sauces, interesting ideas of things to put on icecream like beet butter. loved the salads in this book
December 2, 2022
I love Mason Hereford 's restaurants and I enjoyed this cookbook but haven't made any recipes from it . I will try to definitely make some sauces and the half assed hot sauce. I respect how Mason gives a lot of credit to his staff and friends.
January 15, 2023
I know it is a "cookbook" but a lot of reading. I read it during 2 days. Decent recipes. cool stories
One sentence in the book really turned me off.
politics have no place in a cookbook.
Too bad
One sentence in the book really turned me off.
politics have no place in a cookbook.
Too bad
November 4, 2023
3rd cookbook that i am reviewing without having made any of the recipes but... they all look insanely delish & fun. great foreword & notes/info throughout. booking a flight to new orleans asap! (i wish)
December 10, 2024
Lots of meat. Also caviar, prawns, head cheese, pork rinds. I love reading regional cookbooks. Interesting mix of ingredients- like the drugstore tostadas. The one recipe that I could foresee making is the sweet potato and apple puree.
October 4, 2025
Some decent recipes
Author has some decent chef chops. Not discounting that. Could do without the Political discourse. Really just wanted a few new recipes, that's it. Whining about politics? Save it for your echo chamber.
Author has some decent chef chops. Not discounting that. Could do without the Political discourse. Really just wanted a few new recipes, that's it. Whining about politics? Save it for your echo chamber.
July 2, 2022
So much fun I will read it again
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews