Travel Tips

Leah Chase, Queen of Creole Cuisine

Locations in this article:  New Orleans, LA

Leah Chase, restauranteur & Queen of Creole CuisineWhile broadcasting from the World War II Museum in New Orleans, Peter had a chance to sit down with some of the city’s legends. Here, he chats with the woman known as the “Queen of Creole Cuisine,” Leah Chase of the historic Dooky Chase restaurant.

Peter Greenberg: You can come here and see all the cutting-edge restaurants you want, and believe me there are a lot of them. It is a gastronomic wonderland, and it has been for many years. But my next guest is known as “The Queen of Creole Cajun Cuisines.” I said it.

Leah Chase: You said it.

PG: You have to tell me the history of the name Dooky.

LC: Well I tell you, in the South you acquire a nickname. You could either be Bubba, Junior, Somebody.

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PG: Mine would be Somebody.

New Orleans streetscapeLC: In this case my father-in-law was Dooky. How you acquire the name, we don’t know. I guess kids give it to you, and if it works you hang on to it. See he was popular—a rascal—but he was popular. And then my husband had a big band, so it was the Dooky Chase band. So it just went on and on. Now we got four Dookys.

PG: Now for those people who don’t understand the derivation of the phrase Creole Cuisine, tell me what that means.

LC: It means a lot of different things. For instance, you go to Commander’s Palace, they’re Creole—there’s no doubt about that. And then you come to me, and I say I’m Creole too. So they’re Creole their heritage is Spanish, French, and that’s Creole. Come to me, I might have a little Spanish, maybe a little French, whole lot of African.

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PG: But you’re doing the food differently then?

LC: I do what they call Creoles de Couleur. The Creoles of Color, dear.

A New Orleans historic homePG: So what can you expect to see on the menu then?

LC: You’re going to see gumbo. You’re going to see stewed chicken. You’re going to see macaroni and cheese.

PG: Ah wait stop right there. How are you doing the macaroni and cheese?

LC: You bake it. You put eggs, and cream, and a lot of cheese in there, and season it with a lot of garlic, and all kinds of seasoning, and bake it.

PG: I’m so there, I am so there.

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LC: You like macaroni?

Macaroni - just add cheesePG: Oh, I live for macaroni and cheese.

LC: No calories.

PG: Are you kidding me? That’s called cholesterol in a bowl.

LC: Well cholesterol is healthy. Just don’t over do it.

PG: I can have just a bite of the macaroni and cheese. Now do you torch it on the top? Do you brown it on the top too?

LC: No, we don’t burn it on the top. We just let that golden cheese go on the top. Lots of cheese.

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PG: You know what I love about you? You had a number of books out. Of course there was the Dooky Chase Cookbook in 1990, but the one I love, And I Still Cook.

LC: That’s funny. I also do a lot of other things. You have to understand in my community we’re not a lot of us who can do things. But since I am one who still can do, you have to work in the community, you have to work in the museums, you have to do everything, and still you cook. Basically I’m back at that kitchen.

PG: Let’s go beyond the gumbo, beyond the macaroni and cheese. What is the one dish on the menu that will surprise me, that I have to have?

LC: A shrimp Clemenceau.

Two shrimpPG: A shrimp what?

LC: A shrimp Clemenceau.

PG: Explain that, please.

LC: That is a Cleamenceau. We do it sauteed in garlic and butter. I’m a butter person.

PG: And you’re a garlic person, too.

LC: I’m a garlic person.

PG: Me too, me too.

LG: You sautee your shrimp in garlic and butter. Then you add some mushroom. You add some green peas. You hit it with a little white wine, naturally. And then you put the potatoes in there.

PG: Now why are the potatoes in there?

LC: Because you want to blend it. You want to have something starchy in there. It’s like a casserole dish.

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PG: So you’re giving the macaroni and cheese a run for its money.

LC: Yeah, you sure do. People like that.

New Orleans - Back & Ready to ServePG: Now for somebody who is listening to the show who has not been to New Orleans, and they’ve seen all these images dating back pre-Katrina, and then of course post-Katrina, what’s the biggest surprise that is awaiting them now if they come for the first time?

LC: To see we’re still functioning. You know they think all of the disasters we’ve had we should be flattened out. But we are not. We’re kind of resilient, and kind of crazy, but we do.

PG: How long were you out of town before you came back after Katrina?

LC: Only about a year. I came back, and I lived in a trailer. That was an experience, but it wasn’t that bad.

PG: And you were cooking in the trailer too?

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LC: No, I didn’t cook in the trailer. I waited for the little man to come across with the Red Cross wagon and got whatever he was giving that day, because I couldn’t function in that little area.

PG: You need some space to cook.

LC: I need space.

Gumbo trail & Southern cuisinePG: Now you’ve got it. You’re back at work.

LC: I’m back at work.

PG: So we’ve got the shrimp, we’ve got the macaroni, and we got the gumbo…

LC: We have jambalaya. We have good stewed chicken with brown gravy. We have Creole chicken that has tomatoes, and okra and shrimp.

PG: So what you’re basically telling me is if I’m going to have dinner with you, I shouldn’t have breakfast or lunch?

LC: No, you shouldn’t. Because in New Orleans, people don’t understand, when we go to dinner, it’s a long dinner.

PG: You do one seating a night.

LC: Yeah, most of the times we do. But you know, it’s a long dinner.

PG: You realize I’ve just gained 35 pounds talking to you. Leah Chase, from Dooky Chase Restaurant, thank you so much.

LC: Thank you.

By Peter Greenberg for Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio.

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