Louisiana Legend Paul Prudhomme Dead at 75

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Louisiana Legend
Paul Prudhomme
Dead at 75
Yahoo Premium Partners
October 8, 2015

What to Read Next

Chef Paul Prudhomme (Magic Seasoning Blends/Facebook)

By Janet McConnauhey and Rebecca Santana, Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) Paul Prudhomme, the Cajun who popularized

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From Culinary Legend Chef
Jacques Ppin
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spicy Louisiana cuisine and became one of the first American restaurant
chefs to achieve worldwide fame, died Thursday. He was 75.
Tiffanie Roppolo, the CFO of Prudhommes businesses, told The
Associated Press that he died early Thursday after a brief illness.
Prudhomme became prominent in the early 1980s, soon after opening
K-Pauls Louisiana Kitchen, a French Quarter diner that served the
meals of his childhood. He had no formal training, but sparked a
nationwide interest in Cajun food by serving dishes gumbo, etouffee

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and jambalaya that were virtually unknown outside Louisiana.

The distinctly American chef became a sensation at a time when the
countrys top restaurants served virtually nothing but European food.
He was always on a mission and nothing was impossible for Paul. He
did things his way and let the food speak for itself, said chef Frank
Brigtsen, who worked for Prudhomme for seven years. He changed the
way we eat in New Orleans in a major way, by bringing Acadian or Cajun
cuisine to the restaurants of the city.

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Prudhomme was known for his innovations. His most famous dishes
used the technique he called blackening: fish or meat covered with
spices, then seared until black in a red-hot skillet. Blackened redfish
became so popular that Prudhomme lamented over customers who
stopped ordering the traditional Cajun dishes that he loved.
We had all this wonderful food, we raised our own rabbit and duck, and
all anyone wanted was blackened redfish, he said in a 1992 interview.

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Prudhomme was raised by his sharecropper parents on a farm near

Opelousas, in Louisianas Acadiana region. The youngest of 13 children,
he spent much of his time in the kitchen with his mother, whom he
credited for developing his appreciation of rich flavors and the fresh
vegetables, poultry and seafood that she cooked.
My mother was a fabulous cook. With her I began to understand about
seasoning, about blending taste, about cooking so things were worth
eating, he said.

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After high school Prudhomme travelled the country cooking in bars,

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diners, resorts and hotel restaurants.

He returned to New Orleans in the early 1970s and found a job as chef in
a hotel restaurant. In 1975, he became the head chef at the esteemed
Commanders Palace restaurant. He and his wife opened K-Pauls four
years later.
K-Pauls was inexpensive and unassuming formica tables, plywood
walls and drinks served in jars but it was soon the most popular

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restaurant in New Orleans. Word spread through town and around the

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country, and people soon waited in line for hours to taste Prudhommes
creations.
Chef Paul was known for experimenting in the kitchen, often altering
recipes with different seasonings and cooking processes. He particularly
liked varying blends of three peppers: black, white and cayenne.
Prudhommes bearded face and oversized frame became familiar on
television talk shows in the 1980s, where he encouraged Americans to
spice up their meals. He expanded K-Pauls and turned it into an upscale
operation. He published bestselling cookbooks and created a business

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that sold his spicy seasoning mixtures around the country.

Prudhommes success brought regrets, as well. Prudhomme sparked the
Cajun food craze, but he often said few Cajun restaurants outside
Louisiana served the real thing. He worried over the common perception
that all Cajun food is blistering hot.
Its my fault. I admit it. Im at least partly to blame that so many people
think all Cajun food is red-hot and spicy, he said. I see people dumping
red pepper on food and I feel like crying. They cant taste anything but

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the pepper. Cajun foods have tons of different flavors. Dont cover them
up.
Prudhommes weight, as much as his cooking skills, was a career
trademark. Just over 5 feet tall, he had trouble squeezing into chairs. He
had a bad knee, used a cane and usually moved in a scooter instead of
walking. In the 1992 interview he said he was working on ways to take
the fat out of recipes without losing the flavor.
But later in his career he significantly slimmed down. During a 2013
cooking demonstration in New Orleans done from his motorized

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scooter he told the crowd that at one time he was 580 pounds but now
weighed in at 200 pounds.
Eating the right things and eating less had made the difference,
Prudhomme said.

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used
to tasteGames
things this
way, he
said, filling
large cooking
spoon.

Now I taste them this way. He poked a fork into a single piece of carrot
and held it up.
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