Cookbook honors below-ground veggies

            I’m a root lover, a fan of beets and sweet potatoes, so you can imagine my delight when I found a cookbook specifically aimed at root vegetables. The amply titled “Roots: The Definitive Compendium with More Than 225 Recipes” by veteran cookbook author Diane Morgan features a host of root vegetables both common and little-known, from arrowhead to yucca — and everything in between. This gorgeous cookbook also brings up important facts about roots, such as below-ground vegetables provide more nutrition per unit of land utilized.

             Book photos are by Antonis Achilleos.

            To view a video of the cookbook, visit http://youtu.be/jnNGtO0yBy4.

 

Clay Pot-Caramelized Pork Belly and Arrowhead Stew

From “Roots: The Definitive Compendium with More Than 225 Recipes”

2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup minced shallot

1 tablespoon peeled and minced fresh ginger

1 small Serrano chile, stemmed, halved lengthwise, seeded and diced

1 1/2 pound pork belly, thinly sliced across the grain, then cut into 3-inch lengths

1 1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce, preferably Vietnamese nuoc mam

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

14 ounces arrowhead, ends trimmed, peeled and halved lengthwise

4 green onions, including green tops, cut into matchsticks for garnish.

            Directions: In a Dutch oven or other heavy pot, heat the oil over medium heat and swirl to coat the pot bottom. Add the sugar and cook, stirring frequently until dissolved and golden brown, 3-4 minutes. (At first, the sugar will form a paste with the oil but it will eventually melt).

              Add the shallot, garlic and chile and sauté, stirring frequently, until the aromatics are softened, about 3 minutes. Add the pork, raise the heat to medium-high, and sauté, stirring frequently, until the pork is cooked through and beginning to brown, about 7 minutes. (The edges of the pork will get brown first, with bits sticking to the pot bottom.) Add the water, fish sauce and pepper and bring to a boil. Nestle the arrowhead halves and the eggs in the liquid. Reduce the heat to maintain a slow simmer, cover, and cook, stirring once or twice until the pork and arrowhead halves are tender, about 30 minutes. (The pork should be slightly chewy but no longer rubbery and tough. Stirring helps to color the eggs on all sides.)

            Serve immediately or keep warm until ready to serve. Garnish with the green onions just before serving.

Cheré Coen is a Lafayette freelance travel and food writer. She is coauthor of “Cooking in Cajun Country” with Karl Breaux and author of “Exploring Cajun Country: A Tour of Historic Acadiana.”

Author M.J. Rose uses little known Victor Hugo history for thrilling new novel

            The 19-year-old daughter of Victor Hugo tragically drowned in 1843, an event that sent the French novelist into despair and searching for answers. Like others of his time during the spiritualist movement, the “freethinker” delved into séances in the hope of making a connection with Didine, hearing from the likes of Shakespeare and Dante — even Jesus. 

             Author M.J. Rose uses this little-known history of Hugo as the basis for her compelling novel, “Seduction,” set on the island of Jersey where Hugo lived in exile after Napoleon III’s coup d’etat. Rose invents another spirit coming through to Hugo, a darker one who offers him a tantalizing deal, forming the basis of the novel.

            Mythologist Jac L’Etoile, recovering from her own grief and unusual psychic experiences, arrives on Jersey at the request of an old friend. Together, they piece together mysteries of the island’s Celtic roots that leads them to the lost papers of Hugo and the decision he was forced to make decades before.

            The book examines Carl Jung’s ideas on the collective consciousness, reincarnation and the ability to tap into both, all the while leading readers through a mystery that spans centuries. The ideas presented here were captivating, and the glimpse into Hugo’s life fascinating — he wrote “Les Miserables” on Jersey. The ending left me hanging, however, too many threads failing to connect in a concerted fashion, although the point Rose makes at its conclusion, that people are destined to repeat karma through lifetimes unless they resolve the issues, works.

            If this sounds like a complicated plotline, it is, and too much so. Regardless, “Seduction” makes for great reading, offering viewpoints on life worth contemplating.

New releases

            The spring edition of The Southern Review is out with a short story by James Lee Burke, 21 poets and fascinating photographed dioramas by artist Lori Nix, among much more. The literary journal is published four times a year on the campus of LSU and available online and in bookstores.

            Sam Irwin of Baton Rouge has published “The Ransom of Red Goat” (Kindle, Nook), a comic crime novel about the culture clash between pre-Katrina New Orleans wise guys, poor rednecks, greedy exotic dancers and uneducated Cajun pirates all bent on hitting a big payday. He’s also penned “Love and Death: Two Louisiana Stories” (Kindle, Nook) involving a Mississippi spinster who writes a note to an “Unknown Gentleman” and casts it into the Mississippi River and “An Ugly Day,” which explores the relationship of a young boy and his Cajun grandfather. 

            UL-Monroe senior Luke Holloway has published his debut novel with Publish America titled “Game of Morality,” available on Amazon.com. The novel revolves around a journalist and a man suspected of hunting down and punishing ruthless poachers in the heart of urban Africa. “I believe in the subject matter of my book: the story is fresh and original, carries a strong anti-poaching message, as well as the classic and universal themes of friendship and an unconquerable will to survive through the greatest adversities,” Holloway wrote me.

            “Home at Last: An Acadian Journey” (Inspiring Voices Publishing Company) by Ollie Porche Voelker is historical fiction suitable for middle graders through adults that tells the story of a young Acadian boy deported from Grand Pré, Acadie, with his family. The family lives in exile in Maryland for 11 years until they move to Louisiana and live along the Acadian Coast just north of New Orleans on the Mississippi River.

            Voelker is a retired teacher and educational diagnostician whose interest in genealogy led her to write the book. She is a descendant of several Acadian families who were deported from Nova Scotia. She was born in Houma and lived in Lafayette while her husband worked as a reporter for The Daily Advertiser. Voelkner is now retired and lives with her husband in Destrehan.

            “I began writing after I retired,” she wrote me. “Two of my nonfiction articles were published in Nature Friend Magazine. An interest in genealogy and an inability to find books of this kind led me to write ‘Home at Last.’

            “I am now working on another historical fiction manuscript about one of my ancestors, Pelagie Benoist, who was deported to France, lived there for 26 years, then came to Louisiana in 1785, a widow with five children,” she added. “I am a seventh generation Louisianan. I also have Thibodeaux and Giroir ancestors who were deported from Grand Pré.”

Book News

            The 10^th Saints & Sinners Literary Festival, celebrating LGBT literature and publishers, will be Thursday through Sunday, May 23-26, at the Hotel Montelone and other venues in New Orleans. The Festival features panel discussions and master classes and special events such as literary walking tours. For more information, visit http://sasfest.org.

            The Lafayette Public Library Foundation awarded the Foundation Award to Susan Hamilton at its April 19 luncheon with Pam Stroup receiving the President’s Award. A special recognition was given to Library Director and Essae M. Culver Award recipient Sona J. Dombourian. J.C. Chargois was also remembered as a past Foundation Award honoree. The LPLF also presented a check for $3,000 to the Lafayette Public Library System with the funds purchasing books.

Book events

            17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series presents Megan Kaminski and Jonathan Brown at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 23, at the Gold Mine Saloon, 701 Dauphine St. in New Orleans. All shows are followed by an open mic. For information, visit http://17poets.com/.

            Rosemary Smith will read from and sign copies of her children’s books at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 25, at Barnes & Noble Shreveport.

            The May 2013 Edition of the Lafayette Spoken Innovation Poetry Slam & Open Mic Poetry Reading will be from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 23, in the Acadiana Open Channel Community Media Multi-Purpose Room of the Rosa Parks Transportation Center, 101 Jefferson St., Suite 100, in downtown Lafayette. The event features the 2013 Lafayette National Poetry Slam Team. There is no charge (donations accepted) and the open mic poetry reading is open to all poets.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at chere@louisianabooknews.com.

Cookbook utilitzes plants for healthy humans and planet

            Whether you’re looking for better health, worried about the global food market’s impact on the environment or have issues about the welfare of animals, there’s a lovely new cookbook embracing the plant-based diet. “Crazy, Sexy Kitchen: 150 Plant-Empowered Recipes to Ignite a Mouthwatering Revolution” by Kris Carr with Chef Chad Sarno (Hay House) and other guest chefs offers 150 nutrient-dense recipes, including using beans, whole grains, smoothies, vegetables and fruits.

            There’s lots of great advice here, from limited dairy, meats, wheat (glutin) and sugars to understanding the acid/alkaline balance in your body, eating more raw produce and getting enough protein.

            If you’re wondering about the title, “crazy” refers to forward thinking, “sexy” to being empowered and “kitchen” as the household pharmacy. Carr is also the author of “Crazy, Sexy Diet,” which “digs deep into the philosophy and science of my diet and lifestyle, with a sample recipe near the end.” She calls her latest book “the perfect sequel.”

            “These recipes will teach you how to turn your newfound knowledge, commitment and desires into a beautiful (and healthy) reality on your plate, meal after meal,” she writes in the “Crazy, Sexy Kitchen’s” introduction.

            By the way, the cookbook won the 2012 Books for a Better Life Award for Cookbooks.

            Here’s a Louisiana-style dish that’s made entirely by plants.

Heart of Pam Style Crab Cakes with Remoulade

From “Crazy, Sexy Kitchen: 150 Plant-Empowered Recipes to Ignite a Mouthwatering Revolution”

By Guest Chef Tal Ronnen

Remoulade

1 cup vegan mayonnaise

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons minced capers

2 teaspoon minced shallots

1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley

2 teaspoon minced red bell pepper

Crab Cakes

2 teaspoons nori flakes

½ cup canola oil, more if needed

Two 14-ounce cans hearts of palm

1/4 cup finely diced red onion

1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper

3 tablespoons Vegenaise or other vegan mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes

2 teaspoons arrowroot or cornstarch

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 cup panko bread crumbs

            Directions: Place all remoulade ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend on high for 1 minute. Set aside or store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

            Toast nori sheet by holding it with tongs and fanning it over a low gas flame or electric burner. Be careful not to let it burn. Turn the sheet frequently so that it toasts evenly.

            Grind the nori using a spice grinder or a coffee grinder that you use exclusively for spices. Break the nori into pieces, place it in the grinder, and pulse until powdered. Alternatively, crumble it as finely as you can with your hands or pulverize it with a mortar and pestle.

            Drain the hearts of palm and press in a towel to dry them. In a food processor, pulse gently until it looks like the consistency of crabmeat. Place a small sauté pan on medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of oil and heat for 30 seconds, being careful not to let it smoke. Sauté the onion and bell pepper until soft, 3 to 5 minutes.

            In a large bowl, combine the hearts of palm, onion, bell pepper, Vegenaise, 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning, nori flakes, nutritional yeast flakes, arrowroot or cornstarch, and salt and pepper. Mix until incorporated. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

            Scoop with an ice cream scoop or a large tablespoon to portion into small cakes. Combine breadcrumbs with 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning. Coat the small cakes with breadcrumbs. Form and let sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour or until firm.

            To cook the crab cakes, place a sauté pan on medium-high heat. Add some canola oil and heat for 2 minutes. Working in batches, sauté the cakes (make certain that the oil comes about halfway up the sides of the cakes) until browned on both sides and heated through, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Remove the cakes to a baking shet lined with parchment paper and place in a warm oven until you finish all of the cakes. Place the cakes on a plate and garnish with remoulade.

Author sheds light on living with leprosy

            In the 20^th century patients of leprosy, now referred to as Hansen’s Disease, were often admitted to the leprosarium in Carville, upriver from New Orleans along the River Road. One such patient was Edmond Gilbert Landry, who spent time at Carville from 1924 to 1932. Edmond was actually one of five children born in New Iberia who contracted the disease and who spent time at Carville.            

            Edmond’s granddaughter, Clare Manes of Lafayette, discovered his letters and those of his siblings and compiled a book to shed light on the disease and the experience of living at Carville in “Out of the Shadow of Leprosy:  the Carville Letters and Stories of the Landry Family,” published by the University of Mississippi Press.             Not only is it a glimpse inside Carville from a patient’s point of view, but at the fear, isolation and loneliness that accompanied the disease at the beginning of the 20^th century. Only until Clanes discovered the letters did she truly learn of her grandfather’s condition, for it was never spoken of.

            “Our family never spoke about my grandfather, Edmond Landry, and his siblings: Norbert, Marie, Albert, and Amelie, all of whom spent the last years of their lives in Carville at the United States Public Health Services Hospital #66,” she writes. “We absorbed the message initiated by Edmond’s wife, Claire, that questions about the family were taboo.”

            Manes is a retired English and speech teacher of Remington College. She will speak and sign copies of her books at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 18, at Barnes and Noble in Lafayette.

Bourque’s latest

            Former Louisiana Poet Laureate Darrell Bourque will speak and sign copies of his latest book of poetry, “Megan’s Guitar and Other Poems from Acadie,” at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at the Ernest J. Gaines Center of UL’s Dupre Library in Lafayette. The book has been published by UL Press and copies will be available at the reception for purchase and signing. 

 Contest winners

            The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana has announced the 2013 winners in the annual Letters About Literature contest. This year, 498 fourth- through 10th-grade Louisiana students wrote personal letters to authors, living or dead, from any genre explaining how what they read changed the students’ way of thinking about the world or themselves.

            The Louisiana winners of the competition from throughout the state are listed below.

            In Level I (grades 4 – 6): first place, Alexis Laster, Crawford Elementary School, Arcadia; second place, Adrianna Hawkins, Creekside Junior High, Pearl River and third place, Brailyn King, Northwestern Middle School, Zachary.

            In Level II (grades 7 – 8): first place, Story Frantzen, Episcopal School of Acadiana, Broussard; second place, Mathilda Meyer, Lusher Charter Middle School, New Orleans; third place, Tresaundra Roberson, Lusher Charter Middle School, New Orleans.

             In Level III (grades 9 – 12): first place, Catherine Dunlap, Dunlap Academy, Walker; second place, Logan Buras, St. Paul’s School, Covington; third place, Michael Seenappa, St. Paul’s School, Covington.          

             State winners will be recognized at the Louisiana Book Festival on Nov. 2. Winners will be awarded $100 for first place, $75 for second place and $50 for third place, made possible by a Library of Congress grant. Louisiana’s first place winners’ entries were submitted to the Library of Congress for the national competition.

Book events
            Mary Manhein will address the St. Francisville Rotary Club and talk about and sign her novel “Floating Souls: The Canal Murders” at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Magnusson Hotel. Manhein’s novel is based on her many years in forensic anthropology and as head of the FACES Lab at LSU.  

            There will be a Birthday Bash for poet Patrice Melnick, author of “Po-boy Contraband: From Diagnosis Back to Life” and founder of the annual Festival of Words at 7 p.m. Thursday at Casa Azul Gifts in Grand Coteau. Also, the Baton Rouge Slam Team will hold a “Friendraiser” with Desiree Dallagiacomo, Rodrick Minor, Donny Rose and Jocelyn Young.

            Mel Coyle, Quo Vadis Gex Breaux and Asali DeVan will read from their works at 7:30 p.m. Thursday as part of 17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series at the Gold Mine Saloon in New Orleans, 701 Dauphine St in the French Quarter. All shows followed by an open mic. For information, visit http://17poets.com/.

            Vermilion Parish Library will offer a Mother-Daughter Tea beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Abbeville Library. Registration is required; call (337) 893-2674.

            Children's picture book author/illustrator Rebecca Emberley will sign copies of her latest book, “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” which she created with her Caldacott Medal-winning father Ed Emberley at 11 a.m. Saturday at Octavia Books in New Orleans.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at chere@louisianabooknews.com.

Tuxedo Jazz Band subject of new book; new releases and awards

            The longest continuously performing jazz band in New Orleans and the first jazz band to play the White House was The Original Tuxedo Jazz Band. The group organized during the early years of jazz with Oscar “Papa” Celestin and William “Bebe” Ridgley, among others.

            Sally Newhart, a transplant to New Orleans, follows the band from its inception until today in “The Original Tuxedo Jazz Band: More Than A Century of A New Orleans Icon,” published by The History Press. Curator Bruce Raeburn of the Hogan Jazz Archive at Tulane writes the foreword.

            Reading the history of this long-standing jazz band is to understand the beginning and evolution of jazz in New Orleans. Celestin not only founded the band (shared for a time with Ridgley) but helped organize the local Federation of Musicians union in New Orleans, recorded some of the first jazz albums and introduced a young trumpeter to the world, Louis Armstrong. It was Armstrong, who saw Celestin as a father figure and who gave Celestin his nickname.

            “This book is the tale of a jazz band that has not only transcended the stereotypes but has also survived for more than a century (a feat that has never been equaled in jazz history), working its way from the black tenderloin into the homes and hearts of the city’s affluent, white social elite in less than a decade,” writes Raeburn.

            Later bandleaders included Bob French, who sadly passed away in 2012.

New releases

            Edward Kelsey Moore follows three women in mid-life as they grapple with a husband’s infidelities, a youthful love affair that has returned and a terrifying bout with cancer in “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat.” The Indiana threesome were nicknamed “The Supremes” as young women by the owner of the all-black diner, Big Earl McIntyre. They meet at the same booth reserved for them every Sunday after church, cherishing their friendship as well as being each other’s rock. The book alternates back and forth from real-time booth sitting to the women’s — and the town’s — colorful background. It’s a lovely read full of heart and soul that will leave you smiling.

             Mykisha Mac of New Orleans begins a sci-fi series with “Introducing Star IV,” which examines issues such as child abuse, foster care systems throughout the world, infant loss, miscarriage and bullying. For information, visit www.facebook.com/TheMykishaMacExperience.

            Charlaine Harris, author of the popular Sookie Stackhouse series, announced her latest will be her last book in the series; “Dead Ever After” is scheduled to hit bookstore shelves on Tuesday. I’m torn in my feelings, having loved the paranormal series set in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, but found the latest books taking too long to catch readers up on all the plotlines. That’s not to say that I won’t be in line to purchase my book this week. The story, according to the blub I found online, is that “a shocking murder rocks Bon Temps, and Sookie is arrested for the crime. But the evidence against Sookie is weak, and she makes bail. Investigating the killing, she’ll learn that what passes for truth in Bon Temps is only a convenient lie. What passes for justice is more spilled blood. And what passes for love is never enough…”

Awards

            ForeWord Reviews has named Gerald Duff's novel “Dirty Rice: A Season in the Evangeline League” by the UL-Lafayette Press (2012) a finalist for its 2012 Best of the Year Award in the Adult Fiction category. “Dirty Rice” follows talented pitcher Gemar Batiste of Texas who is recruited in 1935 to play for the Rayne Rice Birds, a minor league team and part of the “Evangeline League.” He brings the team fame with his expertise but, because of his Alabama-Coushatta Indian heritage, is asked to play the stereotypical Indian, encouraged to cheat. Batiste must learn how to honor his heritage and uphold the integrity of the game.

Readers’ Choice

            More than 20,000 students throughout the state voted to choose the winners of the 2013 Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award and Louisiana Teen Readers’ Choice Award. “Young Zeus” by G. Brian Karas was the top choice among third through fifth graders while “Smile” by Raina Telgemeier received the most votes among middle school students. The Louisiana Teen Readers’ Choice Award for students in grades nine through 12 goes to “Clockwork Angel” by Cassandra Clare.

            The Young Readers’ Choice program is one of the core missions of the State Library of Louisiana and its goal is to foster a love of reading.

            For information about the program including previous winners, this year’s second place finishers and the list of books nominated for next year’s awards, visit www.state.lib.la.us and click on Literacy and Reading, then on Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at chere@louisianabooknews.com.

'Fresh Table' honors Louisiana produce

             It’s been an exciting spring for Louisiana books with summer titles right around the corner. My pile of great new books is growing by the day. Here’s a snippet to whet your appetite.

            Baton Rouge food writer and Advocate columnist Helana Brigman has published a cookbook with LSU Press honoring Louisiana’s produce in “The Fresh Table: Cooking in Louisiana All Year Round.” In addition to numerous recipes sorted by season that call for fresh Louisiana ingredients, Brigman includes advice on how to stock your pantry, a produce availability chart and a list of Louisiana farmers’ markets.

            C.M. Andrews, retired from the navy and attending school at Southern University in Shreveport, has published a collection of short stories titled “Bayou Charlie’s Tales, Myths And Legends, “an odyssey deep into a land steeped in myth and magic….” Characters include a virgin with a haunted past, a French duke with a jealous wife and vengeful ghosts. Andrews will follow this book with another by the end of summer, and finish the series as a trilogy. For information, visit www.Xlibris.com.

            New Orleans novelist O’Neil De Noux has released a new novel starring his NOPD homicide detective John Raven Beau. Titled “City of Secrets,” the book takes place two months “AK — After Karina” when the water has gone down but much of the city is coated in a gray, brown film of silt and dirt. Residents have not all returned but murder has and the killers collide with a man who hunts murderers, innate in one who has the blood of the great plains warriors in his veins.
The book is available in trade paperback or eBook at www.oneildenoux.net, amazon.com or smashwords.com.

Awards

            Wiley Cash, who obtained his Ph.D. in English from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and studied under Louisiana author Ernest Gaines, won an Adult Debut Honor Award from the American Booksellers Association’s 2013 Indies Choice Book Awards. The awards are voted on by independent booksellers nationwide. Cash’s debut novel, “A Land More Kind Than Home” has won numerous accolades.

Book news

            The French translation of Shane Bernard’s Cajun history book for kids, “Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader’s History,” is now out by Faustine Hillard (the original English version was released in 2008).  The middle school and high school reader book is available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

Contest

            The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival is hosting its fourth annual Poetry Contest and accepting submissions from now until Aug. 15. The judge will be Robert Pinsky, the only poet to have been named three times the United States Poet Laureate. The top 10 finalists will receive a panel pass to attend the 2014 festival in New Orleans, and their names will be published on www.tennesseewilliams.net. The winner will be announced by Jan. 15, 2014. For information, visit http://con13.tennesseewilliams.net/poetry-contest/.

Upcoming events

            Lafayette writer and artist Kody Chamberlain is offering an intensive workshop “How to Create Comic Books and Graphic Novels” from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 18 at J&R Educational Supplies, 3123 1/2 Johnston St. in Lafayette. The six-hour “walkthrough of the creative process” will include professional level techniques. The price of the workshop is $80. For information, visit http://goo.gl/HTOBU.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at chere@louisianabooknews.com.

Sternberg returns to River Road between New Orleans, Baton Rouge in LSU Press book

            Mary Ann Sternberg, author of “Along the River Road: Past and Present on Louisiana’s Historic Byway,” now available in a new and updated edition, follows up with “River Road Rambler: A Curious Traveler along Louisiana’s Historic Byway,” both available through LSU Press. 

            It’s a sweet little hardback book full of great explorations of places, people and events that occurred along the River Road between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. There’s the Lourdes grotto at St. Michael’s Church in Convent created like no other, the little known slave insurrection of 1811 that happened outside New Orleans, now considered “the largest and bloodiest slave uprising in the history of the United States,” the former Jewish temple now located inside a hardware store, and much more.

            I had ancestors who settled the “German Coast” upriver from New Orleans who helped start and feed a colony, so I know the extensive history that lines the Mississippi River. Sternberg brings it to vivid life in “River Road Rambler” and offers a varied, well-researched telling, giving readers more food for thought than a simple history lesson.

            “Sternberg guides us to that rare intersection of lively writing and intellectual curiosity in her book about Louisiana’s famous River Road,” writes Rheta Grimsley Johnson, author of “Poor Man’s Provence and Hank Hung the Moon.”

            I’d recommend buying both books and taking a drive up or down the curvy River Road, using Sternberg’s “Along the River Road” as a travel guide, then stopping for lunch or coffee and enjoying “Rambler” while you soak up the region’s ambience and history.

            Sternberg is also the author of “Winding through Time: The Forgotten History and Present-Day Peril of Bayou Manchac.”

            She will speak about the River Road in a lecture sponsored by The Foundation for Historical Louisiana at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 25, at the Old Governor’s Mansion, 502 North Blvd.

New releases           

            John LaFleur of Washington follows up his Creole cookbook with “Louisiana’s French Creole Culinary & Linguistic Traditions: Facts vs. Fiction, Before and Since ‘Cajunization’,” with additional text by Brian Costello and photographs by Norris Fontenot. LaFleur believes that Creole is a person of European or African descent born in the colonies, which pretty much relates to everyone, even those who call themselves “Cajuns.”

            In his book, he attempts to correct historical teachings in Louisiana, offering that “Cajun Country” was originally Creole Country and still is, and that Creole in Acadiana doesn’t simply mean those of color. He takes aim at those who have “Cajunized” the region, misrepresenting history, and also those who stopped calling themselves Creole in order not to be associated with those of color.

            La Fleur offers good points in his argument. Being of Creole ancestry from New Orleans I understand the need for clarification; many times have I stressed the differences between Creole and Cajun cooking to outsiders. The culinary traditions of Louisiana have been blurred, and lean way too far toward Cajun, and LaFleur provides research to set things straight.

            His insistence that Cajuns should have assimilated, that they were anti-Creole in a sense, did not sit well with me, however. There is a distinct Cajun culture in Louisiana, mainly because they did not assimilate, and their isolation may be one main reason why the Louisiana French language has survived. Because South Louisiana as a region didn’t assimilate into mainstream American culture is why we’re still so unique to the rest of the country, why our food and music draws the world.

            We need to teach the truths of Louisiana history, and this book strives to do so. But Cajun culture is the reason I moved to Lafayette. I think a panel of historians and LaFleur would make for an interesting discussion.

            The book retails for $49.94, but is also available online as an ebook. LaFleur and Costello are also the authors of “Speaking In Tongues, Louisiana’s Colonial French, Creole & Cajun Languages Tell Their Story: Louisiana’s Creole Linguistic & Cultural Heritage.”

            And if you have an opinion to add, please visit the Louisiana Book News Facebook page and post. We’d love to hear from you.

Library news

            “Partners by Nature,” a lecture series presented by the Acadiana Resource Conservation and Development Council and the Lafayette Public Library System, will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 25, at Lafayette’s South Regional Branch Library. These lectures focus on ways to conserve natural resources through cultural and economic enhancement. Speakers include: Collin Bercier of Louisiana Solar Solutions and Jeff Shaw of the Louisiana Solar Energy Society. The event is free.

Book events

            Elana Bell will read her poetry at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, at the UNO Fine Arts Gallery, followed by a booksigning and wine and cheese reception. This event is free and open to the public. Elana’s first collection of poetry, “Eyes, Stones” (LSU Press 2012) was the winner of the 2011 Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets. Elana also received grants and fellowships from the Jerome Foundation, the Edward Albee Foundation, the AROHO Foundation, the Brooklyn Arts Council and the Drisha Institute. Her work has recently appeared in Harvard Review, Massachusetts Review, CALYX Journal, and elsewhere.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at chere@louisianabooknews.com.