Paul Prudhomme
Paul Prudhomme
Paul Prudhomme, also known as Gene Autry Prudhomme, was an American celebrity chef whose specialties were Creole and Cajun cuisines; he was credited with popularizing the cuisines, as well. He was the chef proprietor of K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans, and had previously owned and run several other restaurants. He developed several culinary products, including hot sauce and seasoning mixes, and wrote a number of cookbooks...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionChef
Date of Birth13 July 1940
CityOpelousas, LA
CountryUnited States of America
We cooked for 300 people in tuxedos the Saturday before the hurricane hit. Then we cooked for 1,200 people in National Guard uniforms the Sunday after it hit.
After failing four times and after working for other people and realizing that nobody paid attention to the food like they should have, we wanted to just pay attention to the food and service.
We have a responsibility as citizens to do what we can for each other. It makes people happy. They eat it and when they see me later they want to hug me, to touch me, because Louisiana food is emotional food. It has a lot of flavor to it. You put it in your mouth in bad times and it makes you feel good.
It's the sense of what family is at the dinner table. It was the joy of knowing mother was in the kitchen making our favorite dish. I wish more people would do this and recall the joy of life.
That's my job, to lift people up with great food.
I love people, and I'm excited that I can turn them on.
We're working people, and that's what we like to do, work.
The bad part about being recognized is that when I walk into a restaurant and sit down, I've got to eat everything on the plate, whether it's good or bad. People would take it as an insult if I did otherwise.
One of the problems of our youth is that the family unit is broken up. When we'd sit down to dinner together as a family, we'd learn about each other. We had something people don't get today.
Some people absorb in different ways. I didn't realize until I was 15 years old how much I retained.
Creole is New Orleans city food. Communities were created by the people who wanted to stay and not go back to Spain or France.
I've discovered a lot more of the world. My seasonings are sold in 35 countries. I've been to them all, and I take cooking lessons wherever we go.
As times changed and families couldn't keep their help, they would open restaurants, and that is how great restaurants got started.
We need to get open. We've been here 26 years and we've had storms. We've been through lots of storms.