Lafcadio Hearn’s Creole Cookbook

If you’re a fan of Creole cooking, best look to pick up a copy of Lafcadio Hearn’s Creole Cookbook.

Best known for books about Japan, Lafcadio Hearn lived in New Orleans for 10 years and wrote extensively about his life while there. One result of those years in New Orleans is the Creole Cookbook, a collection of drawings and writings by Hearn.

I have a 1990 second printing hardback copy of the cookbook. The dust jacket has small tears, but overall this is in excellent condition. The book has more than 200 pages and an index.

For part of the time in New Orleans, Hearn was reporting for the Cincinnati Commerical newspaper. He also worked for the Democrat, the Item, and the Times-Democrat.

Boiled Turkey and Celery Sauce

Instead of the usual, modern format of recipes, here is how the recipes are presented in this cookbook:

Draw a fine young turkey hen, and remove the angular part of the breast bone; take two pounds of fat veal dressing and stuff the turkey with it. Put over the fire to cook, the veal, bones, and turkey giblets, to make some white soup stock; season this and let it boil until you want to put the turkey on to cook. Now truss your turkey and put it in a boiling pot with a carrot, two onions, a head of celery, and a bunch of sweet herbs; now pour over the turkey the stock from the veal and giblets; cover with it, if enough; if not, put in water to cover it and set it to boil; when it has boiled one hour, put it on the back of the stove, and let it simmer and braise until dinner. Take off any strings that may look badly; dish it up. Pour over it a well made puree of celery or oyster sauce, and send to table. This is an elegant mode of serving turkey.