Cajun Cooking Class

“People will ask: ‘Why doesn’t mine taste like yours?’ It is because I’m a better cook than you are,” explained Chef Belton of the New Orleans Cooking School. The truth of that statementwas  undoubtedly confirmed by the group of sixty or so people crowded around tables for nearly three hours hoping to learn a couple of his Cajun cooking secrets; or maybe folks were just there to eat his creations.

Who can blame them? The menu included Andouille gumbo, chicken jambalaya, bread pudding, and pralines; complete with recipes for each, a start-to-finish cooking demonstration, and – most importantly – time to eat. But it became apparent early on that there was another reason why our attempts to recreate these dishes may fall short: Chef Belton doesn’t exactly follow the instructions he hands out. The basic bread pudding of our recipes became Pina Colada bread pudding with rum sauce in the classroom (nobody complained about the change).

The alterations are more than just a Chef showing off his skill, though. That flexible style reflects generations of Creole cooking tradition. New Orleans cuisine developed around whatever the land, or more often the swamp, provided. If fishermen came back with shrimp, seafood jambalaya was on the menu. Alligator? Well, that makes good jambalaya too. Knowing how to take a basic recipe and adjust it for what’s on hand, or what you’re in the mood for, is a great cooking skill to master – and one that Chef Belton tried to impart. By instructing what aspects of the recipe were critical, and which ones we should tinker with, the class went beyond the typical approach to cooking as the prevue of craftsman strictly following direction. Instead, we learned the basic rules so that we could break them. That’s my kind of instruction – and my kind of food.

From beginning to end the meal he prepared, in about two hours from basic ingredients, was one of the best we had in New Orleans. I know (from personal experience, on multiple occasions now) that my praline making prowess jumped a couple of notches thanks to this class. Next up? Jambalaya. It won’t be the same as Chef Belton’s, but it’s not supposed to be. That’s kind of the point.