Cooking Up a Storm: New Orleans Recipes for Recovery

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, thousands of people lost their keepsakes and family treasures forever. As residents started to rebuild their lives, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans became a post-hurricane swapping place for old recipes that were washed away in the storm. The newspaper has compiled 250 of these delicious, authentic recipes along with the stories about how they came to be and who created them. Cooking Up a Storm includes the very best of classic and contemporary New Orleans cuisine, from seafood and meat to desserts and cocktails. But it also tells the story, recipe by recipe, of one of the great food cities in the world, and the determination of its citizens to preserve and safeguard their culinary legacy.

Marcelle Bienvenu writes the popular "Cooking Creole" column for The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, and has collaborated with Chef Emeril Lagasse on several of his cookbooks. She lives in St. Martinville, Louisiana.

Judy Walker is the food editor of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans. She is the author or co-author of five cookbooks on the food of the Southwest.