And there it is\u2013\u201cBAM!\u201d\u2013the realization that the very word<\/em> Cajun<\/strong> derives from Acadian<\/strong>, as in the 18th-century French colonists romanticized in Longfellow\u2019s epic poem, Evangeline, <\/em>who were forced by the British to leave this neck of the woods as exiles during \u201cLe Grand D\u00e9rangement<\/em>.\u201d Many of them settled in the New Orleans area.<\/p>\n Get where we\u2019re going with this? The internationally celebrated Cajun cuisine that pan-blackened the 1980s and continues to add zest to the 21st century traces its roots directly to, well, us<\/em> (not like we\u2019re trying to take credit for it or anything).<\/p>\n Emeril even touts his restaurants\u2019 sensational offerings as \u201ctrue Acadian [remember Acadia National Park?] cuisine\u2013a more refined \u2018city version\u2019 of the rustic Acadian cooking found in the rural settlements in Louisiana,\u201d and before that, Maine and Atlantic Canada.<\/p>\n Born in Massachusetts and a former head chef at Sheraton Inn\u2019s Seasons restaurant across the street from the Maine Mall in South Portland, Emeril channels New England whenever he cooks his favorite variation on Maine lobster, deftly mingling it with Cajun flair and another richly flavored tale of immigration from our shores. As he tells us:<\/p>\n \u201c[Although my father\u2019s heritage is French-Canadian], Piri Piri Pasta\u2019s a dish I created in honor of my mom, Hilda, who is a great cook. She was the first person to show me how to cook at a young age. She grew up in a Portuguese family and loves the spicy piri piri sauce. This dish was created for my restaurant\u2026We use live Maine lobster and make our own fresh pasta\u2026talk about a marriage made in heaven!\u201d<\/p>\n BLACKENED MAGIC<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019re talking about the place where Acadian meets Cajun, Paul Prudhomme<\/strong> knows \u201cwhere you at.\u201d His family\u2019s from up here, too, where he visits with kin at \u201cfamily reunions every five years or so.\u201d Here, the family enjoys its Acadian-Cajun heritage, and in his stomping grounds in New Orleans, Prudhomme is understanding of and sensitive to the inclusive nature of the Acadian migration to Louisiana, both in food and people. \u201cThe Acadian attitude is all about marrying [new] cultures in our family\u2013it\u2019s a huge gumbo.\u201d<\/p>\n As Prudhomme\u2013the man who invented pan-blackening\u2013tells me this, he is holding court on Chartres Street at K-Paul when coincidentally a couple from Quebec walks in and tries to catch his eye. Prudhomme tosses a quick glance my way and grins, because everyone this side of Bourbon Street knows it\u2019s a reenactment of the original flight of the French from northern Maine and maritime Canada to New Orleans in 1755. Maybe that\u2019s why there\u2019s an enormous oak tree in Cajun Country named Evangeline.<\/p>\n But is the Acadian-Cajun connection still vibrant and influential? Prudhomme says, \u201cThere\u2019s a huge amount of travel of people from Canada coming here to visit and going north to visit there. Something that happened 180- to-200 years ago<\/em>\u2013to keep that alive you have to be into<\/em> it, and work<\/em> at it, and keep<\/em> at it.\u201d He motions toward a steaming plate of slow-roasted chicken with shrimp-corn-bread dressing and cheddar-cheese sauce. \u201dI think food is passed on to every generation, and that\u2019s how it should be<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked for \u201cghost\u201d Acadian ingredients in his Cajun cuisine, Prudhomme laughs. \u201cAin\u2019t no \u2018cuisine\u2019 here\u2013we serve food! Good<\/em> food! It\u2019s always evolving.\u201d There\u2019s a sly smile. \u201cI\u2019m a Cajun, and we know we\u2019re not food. My food is Louisiana<\/em> food. It\u2019s the best food in the world. Nothing is essential. We got a lot of dirt here, man, and at least ten months to [grow in] it. We always have something to cook.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n CREATURE FROM THE BLACKENED LAGOON<\/strong><\/p>\n Born in a swamp outside Opelousas, Prudhomme talks with pride about how his \u201cmother\u2019s side of the family came from Acadia\u201d during the 18th-century expulsion. It was at his mother\u2019s skirt that he and his siblings learned to cook. \u201cWe come from a family that cooks, no doubt about that!\u201d<\/p>\n As for where the magic comes from, \u201c[It\u2019s] just working. My first four restaurants failed. It was a lesson incredibly easy to understand. Then, my experience [as chef at Commander\u2019s Palace in the Garden District] from [owner] Ella [Brennan] talking about making a buck\u2013I learned more from her than anyone else.\u201d He eventually decided to follow his own lucky star, which inspired him to leave Opelousas and bring with him \u201cthe andouille, the tasso, [and] the spicy-spiciness of the Cajuns,\u201d according to local food guru Poppy Tooker, adapting his magic potions to \u201cclassic Creole recipes.\u201d Then the movie stars and food channels started calling.<\/p>\n Not that Emeril, who was once Prudhomme\u2019s James Beard Award-winning prot\u00e9g\u00e9, <\/em>hasn\u2019t put his spin on things. \u201cI\u2019m not knocking Prudhomme,\u201d Lagasse told Nation\u2019s Restaurant News<\/em> a year before opening Emeril\u2019s in New Orleans in 1990. \u201cOur philosophies are just different.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And so we are brought full circle to Old Orchard Beach-native Michael Ruoss<\/strong>, who impulsively moved to New Orleans and became Emeril\u2019s star pupil and chef de cuisine at NOLA after graduating from Southern Maine Technical College\u2019s culinary program. Now that\u2019s<\/em> an advertising success story for a famous SMTC graduate!<\/p>\n \u201cI worked for Emeril for eleven years before opening this new restaurant, Catch, with Emeril\u2019s blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n So how does a Maine-born and trained chef see the evolution of French cuisine from the other side of the looking glass?<\/p>\n \u201cThe bridge between the food in Maine and Louisiana is the Canadian-French culture.\u201d Ruoss goes quiet, thinking, \u201cThe low\u2026slow\u2026braising of proteins, creating the homemade sauces, charcuterie<\/em> (the art of curing meats and making sausages to preserve over long periods of time)\u2013the techniques are all classic French cooking. What defines<\/em> the difference is what we call down here the \u2018Holy Trinity\u2019: green bell peppers, onions, and celery. These are the standard in every Cajun dish. Also, you have potatoes up north and we have rice fields.\u201d (As for the \u201cHoly Trinity,\u201d we couldn\u2019t help but notice if you substitute carrots for the peppers, you have a classic French mirepoix<\/em>, which is used widely across Maine as the base for soups and stocks.)<\/p>\n \u201cChicken fricassee and chicken etouffee,\u201d Ruoss ventures as a perfect example of the dishes evolved and shared between the two cultures. \u201cThey\u2019re the same thing<\/em>! Smothered chicken, and they\u2019re both yummy.\u201d<\/p>\n So is there really<\/em> a difference? \u201cAside from the spicy factor, if Louisiana had potatoes instead of rice and no bell peppers, it\u2019s a fair assumption that the food would not be very different.\u201d Ruoss says.<\/p>\n But it is<\/em> different. And the heat comes from more than just the peppers in this evolved culture.<\/p>\n \u201cI like the culture down here in New Orleans,\u201d Ruoss says with a broad smile. \u201cLike Portland, it\u2019s got its own kind of vibe.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about how the current oil spill is affecting restaurant offerings in New Orleans, Ruoss says, \u201cIt\u2019ll take a couple years before we know the damage. Shrimp are lost and won\u2019t reproduce. As they close down fishing areas, they get more expensive. We changed the menu. Prices are up 10%. We can eat some of [the increase], but not all of it. The biggest hit is oysters\u2013we\u2019re not flying in oysters from anywhere<\/em> else! We\u2019ll still get everything locally\u2026until we can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n As for watching Emeril become world-famous, he rolls his eyes and laughs. \u201cYeah, I noticed around the time he got married. National Inquirer<\/em> reporters were following and asking me where he was getting married! \u2018Give you $100 if you tell me where he\u2019s getting married.\u2019 I was, like, \u2018No, he\u2019s my boss<\/em>!\u2019 Plus, the corporate office issued press statements on what to say to the press for employees. I think that\u2019s when it hit me.\u201d<\/p>\n Now Ruoss is chatting it up with other celebrity chefs as his own star begins to soar. \u201cI plated up for Lydia Shire [owner of Blue Sky on York Beach] at Carnivale du Vin which raises millions for the Emeril Lagasse Foundation.\u201d He deadpans, Maine-style, \u201cAnd I got a kiss form Alice Waters [legendary chef\/owner of Chez Panisse, a training ground for Primo\u2019s Melissa Kelly]. Alice inspired me as a young cook.\u201d<\/p>\n What? No home sickness? No cravings from the North?<\/p>\n \u201cSteamers! You can\u2019t get clams down here! Clam cakes\u2013nothing, and I still need to have Moxie mailed to me. My friend Ed Greenleaf flew down just for the weekend from Biddeford to pay off his Superbowl bet\u2013one dollar and two cases of Moxie!\u201d he says proudly, which can only mean he is a Saints fan.<\/p>\n Sadly, he didn\u2019t bring the antidote for Moxie (which, in our opinion, is a palette-numbing absinthe chaser).<\/p>\n Another aspect Ruoss has brought to Catch is a deep reverence for Maine\u2019s fishing industry. \u201cI have farm-raised salmon flown in from Maine every week, and we have Maine foods on the menu\u2013shepherd\u2019s pie\u2013and I bet we\u2019re the only restaurant in New Orleans that has oyster crackers. It\u2019s a little slice of Maine on Magazine Street.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lobster has always had a place in Ruoss\u2019s heart. \u201cWe\u2019ve gotten Maine-bought lobster as a special. I had lobster flown down from Commercial Street for New Year\u2019s Eve at NOLA.\u201d<\/p>\n And how do the Cajuns cover for their indebtedness to Maine?<\/p>\n \u201cLegend has that lobsters missed the French and followed them to Louisiana, and the journey shrunk them to crawfish,\u201d Ruoss says.<\/p>\n Oh<\/em>. So basically they can be prepared in the same way, as in crawfish thermedor?<\/p>\n \u201dNoooo, you can\u2019t do<\/em> that!\u201d Ruoss cries, agape in horror. \u201cCrawfish have their own taste\u2013you\u2026you just can\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Now Prudhomme jumps in, vigorously shaking his head. \u201cThose crawfish been in the mud a long time, but you can do anything the same. Don\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet while northerner Ruoss defends the individual integrity of southern crawfish, Prudhomme\u2019s respect for Maine lobster is reverential as he leans over, astonished at the concept of a lobster roll. \u201cA roll<\/em>? I don\u2019t think I\u2019d do that! Lobster is very special\u2013perfect the way it is. Why change it?\u201d<\/p>\n While Prudhomme\u2019s memories of Maine are dominated by blueberry fields and unpleasant recollections of the cold, Ruoss is positively giddy at spending part of this summer with us, if possible.<\/p>\n \u201cI go all over! Red\u2019s Eats\u2026my favorite is Fore Street\u2013Sam Hayward does an excellent job!\u201d (Imagine if Emeril had received such enthusiastic applause when he was here.) Ruoss continues, \u201cRapid Rays in Biddeford\u2013it\u2019s great! So much salt on everything. There\u2019s a hamburger called The Big One.\u201d<\/p>\n Ruoss\u2019s biggest high so far happened when Presidents Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush strolled into NOLA after Hurricane Katrina and received a standing ovation. Ruoss smiles at the memory of President Bush meeting him after a meal of smoked duck and laughing, \u201c\u2018I can\u2019t wait to tell Barbara I came all the way to New Orleans [from Maine] to have duck!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Asked how he might cater to Longfellow\u2019s fictional heroine, Evangeline, should she be able to walk through K-Paul\u2019s doors today, Prudhomme\u2013her Cajun kin\u2013quips, \u201cFeed her whatever I had!\u201d He opens his arms as if to greet her. \u201cIt\u2019s the idea of freshness. We have no freezers. We serve whatever we have that day.\u201d<\/p>\n He was no longer the slim 21-year-old who came into her employ by landing a job at a hotel near the Portland Jetport, back when he was beneath the radar of celebrity and far from the glaring spotlight of fame\u2013back when he was one of us. He was now Emeril\u00ae<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cI inherited him when [Dunfey Hotels] sent Emeril to us in late 1980. He had been sous chef at the Parker House<\/strong> in Boston,\u201d says Genest, former general manager of the South Portland Sheraton Inn<\/strong> (currently Wyndham Portland Airport Hotel<\/strong>). \u201c[His arrival] didn\u2019t get nearly the fanfare he deserved. He came when we changed the restaurant to Seasons\u2013he was part of that change. The menu had a lot of seafood creations, and in Maine, people expected heavy seafood.\u201d<\/p>\n The May 1981 issue of Business Digest<\/strong><\/em> chimed in with stock hyperbole: \u201cThe restaurant and lounge have a new look, new menu, and new name\u2026new executive chef Emeril Lagasse has created a menu of traditional cuisine with seasonal specialties\u2026Seasons<\/strong>, which will reflect the seasons of New England, will be a hit here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe was very low key, very serious about cooking, but fun\u2013he liked to joke around. The staff loved him.\u201d Approaching the kitchen, \u201cI\u2019d always hear all this noise\u2013and then I\u2019d walk in and it was like, \u2018Mom\u2019s home!\u2019 It would go quiet; everything stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n Genest also saw Emeril\u2019s innovations raise the culinary experience at the Sheraton in the finest details. \u201cIt was his idea to take color pictures of the [finished] dishes and hang them in the kitchen so everyone knew what they needed to look like. If every [detail] didn\u2019t look like the picture, it wasn\u2019t done correctly\u2013it was wrong, and they needed to do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was his first executive chef position. He was very creative but limited by corporate structure\u2013I call it corporate interference. Everything he suggested had to be approved through our food-and-beverage guidelines. I don\u2019t think he had a lot of control.\u201d<\/p>\n With his wife, Elizabeth<\/strong>, Emeril began raising his family in Portland. Genest remembers, \u201cHe went on about his new baby girl! But, he was serious about his job, putting in long hours\u2013he was there all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n After her transfer, Genest tried to contact her talented chef and was told, \u201cHe\u2019s left and gone to work for Prudhomme<\/strong> [at Commander\u2019s Palace in New Orleans].\u201d Years later, Genest\u2019s daughter Denise, who\u2019d also known Lagasse, insisted her mother watch a new cooking show. \u201cI said, \u2018I\u2019ll be damned, there he is!\u2019 It\u2019s my granddaughter\u2019s favorite show!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a pistol! I was amazed but not surprised [he became famous]\u2013he had that \u2018go for it<\/strong>.\u2019 It was the passion he had for cooking,\u201d Genest says with an almost maternal pride. \u201cI am very proud of him, but he\u2019s put on too much weight. Naughty, naughty.\u201d<\/p>\n Louisiana’s best Cajun chefs have Acadia in their roots\u2014and on their plates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15068,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,15],"tags":[968,970,969],"class_list":["post-2444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-classic-maine-stories","tag-emeril-lagasse","tag-michael-ruoss","tag-paul-prudhomme"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2444"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18365,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444\/revisions\/18365"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"emeril-open\"](\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/emeril-open.jpg\" "\\"emeril-open\\"")
Emeril Lagasse<\/strong> doesn\u2019t just fill the doorway of his St. Louis Street restaurant, NOLA, in the French Quarter of New Orleans\u2013he\u2019s also standing at the very threshold of the place in contemporary cuisine where Acadia meets Cajun.<\/p>\n![\"emerils-shrimp-and-grits\"](\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/emerils-shrimp-and-grits.jpg\" "\\"emerils-shrimp-and-grits\\"")
ALL ABOUT EVE<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"lobsteranthony\"](\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/lobsteranthony.jpg\" "\\"lobsteranthony\\"")
King Creole, Meet King Lobster<\/strong><\/p>\nBefore he was Emeril, he was one of us!<\/h3>\n
![\"emeril-aas-chef\"](\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/emeril-aas-chef.jpg\" "\\"emeril-aas-chef\\"")
When he said, \u2018BAM!<\/strong>\u2018 I said, \u2018Oh, God! That\u2019s Emeril!\u2019\u201d laughs Fern Genest<\/strong>, 76, remembering the first time she saw Emeril John Lagasse III<\/strong> on television. \u201cIt was his mannerisms in the kitchen. Something was always going on.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Bookmark](\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/lg-share-en.gif\")
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\nsend us your comments<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"