Every Day's a Party: Louisiana Recipes For Celebrating With Family And Friends
Anyone who loves the sound of Chef Emeril's voice as much as he does is going to enjoyEvery Day's a Party. Yet it is something of a "big hat, no cattle" kind of book. The 125 recipes seem like reheats, like afterthoughts, flavorful and evocative though they may be. But the editorial copy is rich and thick, like a wicked cake frosting that begs for a finger swipe or two.Lagasse walks the reader through the 12 months of the year, selecting holidays and occasions out of each month on which to hang a celebration and several recipes. So you have the Sugar Bowl and Twelfth Night in January, Mother's Day and the Crawfish Festival in May, The Sugar Cane Festival and Pirogie Festival in September, and in November, let us not miss the Omelette Festival. (DoesDave Barryknow about this?)The history and the tradition of Louisiana are about as exotic as anything in the U.S. is ever going to get, and the writers exploit this to great advantage. In this sense,Every Day's a Partyis really more of a travel book that happens to have recipes and Lagasse's high-proof enthusiasm leaking off of every page. A sense of place and purpose come through, as well as the opportunity to taste a little bit of what the author is aiming at. You'll find Salt-and-Herb-Crusted Red Snapper and Bananas Foster Ice Cream Pie, Crawfish and Sausage Jambalaya and Emeril's Martini with Chocolate Grapes, Cold Cucumber Soup and Pecan Florentines. This doesn't sound a bit like a New England Boiled Dinner, now, does it? For which we can thank God and Emeril Lagasse for small favors.--Schuyler Ingle