March - Culinary Events at the Tennessee Wiliams Festival

CULINARY EVENTS

at the 23rd Annual Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival

March 25-29, 2009

 

Friday, March 27

5:30 p.m. –A CHAT WITH JOHN MARIANI, THE VIRTUAL GOURMET

Join food expert John Mariani for wine, wit, and hors d'oeuvres. Mariani, a food columnist for Esquire, will give advice on selecting the perfect wine and give the scoop on the latest national restaurant trends. Here's a chance to ask an expert one of those foodie questions you've been keeping on the backburner.

Windsor Court Hotel, 300 Gravier Street. LIMITED SEATING. $35

Sponsored by Windsor Court Hotel.

Saturday, March 28

1:00 p.m. - JOHN BESH: DINING WITH THE SEASONS

John Besh, James Beard "Best Chef, Southeast, 2006," shares his deep appreciation of eating local and in season, guaranteeing the freshest ingredients at their peak of flavor. While outlining this guiding principle, Besh also shares one of New Orleans's most treasured feasts, the St. Joseph Altar. A Sicilian tradition, the altars are built for St. Joseph's Day, March 19. They feature breads, cookies, and cakes, all wrapped to keep them fresh, along with a few perishables. The altars are "broken" after a ceremony, and the food given to charity. Recounting the story and the spirit of these altars, Besh will make Pasta Milanese, one of the perishables on the altars.

Besh Steak, Harrah’s Casino, 8 Canal Street. $35

Sponsored by Restaurant August, Besh Steak at Harrah’s Casino, Luke, and La Provence

Sunday, March 29

1:00 p.m. - THE GREAT GUMBO THROWDOWN

Greg Reggio and chef Gary Darling of the notorious Taste Buds will challenge each other while preparing a gumbo fit for the most refined palates. Kit Wohl, cookbook author, food writer, photographer, and artist, has most recently released New Orleans Classic Gumbos and Soups. Gumbo, much loved in New Orleans, could be a metaphor for the entire city: a rich mixture combining a little of this and that into something more wonderful than any single ingredient. Guests will taste different gumbos, light appetizers, and soups while hearing Wohl and these outrageous New Orleans chefs talk about the wealth of tradition cooked down into a single delicious pot.

French Quarter Bar, The Ritz-Carlton, 921 Canal Street. $35

Sponsored by the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans, and Pelican Publishing Company.

2:30 p.m. – DOCUMENTING AND CELEBRATING NEW ORLEANS FOOD TRADITIONS

Panelists: Elsa Hahne, Sara Roahen, and Poppy Tooker

Moderator: Ian McNulty

Muriel’s Jackson Square Restaurant, 801 Chartres St., Included with Festival Panel Pass or $10 at the door

Elsa Hahne made her debut with You Are Where You Eat–Stories and Recipes from the Neighborhoods of New Orleans (University Press of Mississippi, 2008), included as one of the "Top 10 books of 2008" by the Times-Picayune. She is currently the art director and staff photographer at OffBeat Magazine, New Orleans' premier music monthly. Born in Sweden and educated in France and New York City, Elsa Hahne combined everything she loves to create her first book: cooking, eating, people and photography. She resides in the Irish Channel with her husband and two daughters.

Ian McNulty is a freelance writer. Raised in Rhode Island, he moved to New Orleans in 1999 for what he thought would be a brief dalliance. The city sank its teeth early, however, and he has called it home ever since. In the weeks after Hurricane Katrina, he moved back to his devastated corner of New Orleans to resume life in a surreal urban frontier with no electricity, few people and massive damage everywhere. He chronicled the experience and the early glimpses of the city's revival in his first book, A Season of Night.

Sara Roahen authored the book Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table. Her writings have also appeared in Tin House, Oxford American, Chile Pepper, and Garden & Gun magazines, and her oral history work about Louisiana foodways can be found at southernboudintrail.com and southerngumbotrail.com. She lives in New Orleans.

Poppy Tooker is a speaker and culinary teacher who is passionate about food and the people who bring it to the table. For over 25 years her classes have centered on history and tradition as well as the food science reasons of why and ho w while remaining eminently entertaining. Poppy’s on-camera flair has made her a sought after guest on the Food Network, the History Channel and various PBS affiliates. Her new book, The Crescent City Farmers Market Cookbook, will debut in March 2009.

The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, a five-day fête celebrating the life and legacy of Tennessee Williams in the adopted city he called his “spiritual home,” offers two days of Master Classes; a roster of lively discussions among blue-chip panelists; celebrity interviews; theater, food and music programs; a scholars' conference; short-fiction and one-act play competitions; a breakfast book club; French Quarter literary walking tours; a book fair; parties and other special events.

For more information, call 1-800-990-3378 (FEST), or visit the Festival website at www.tennesseewilliams.net for regular updates, an online Festival program book, ticketing, and information on how to become a “Friend of Tennessee.”