About me

Being Raised on a Roux is all about growing up in and living life as a New Orleanian no matter where you are and sharing that lifestyle with everyone around you. It’s about never meeting a stranger, working and playing hard, caring about your family, neighbors and community and living a meaningful, relaxed life. It’s about eating and drinking with total abandon (well, most of the time) and honoring your ancestors by preparing their recipes and passing them on. Being a New Orleanian is also about conveying life experiences and recalling major milestones in terms of food and sharing yourself with others by inviting them to your table for a home-cooked meal.

Cooking Influences

In New Orleans food and family go hand-in-hand, so my early cooking influences comes from my wonderful mom, my grandparents, my great-grandmother and my mom's sister and youngest brother. Outside influences initially came by way of public television and the personalities I welcomed in my home through that TV station: Chef John Folse, Chef Paul Prudhomme, Chef Martin Yan and Chef Mary Ann Esposito. Today, I continue to draw inspiration from those sources as well as from the New Orleans restaurant scene, my 400 plus cookbooks (which cover every region and style of food) and all the wonderful food blogs, recipes websites and cable cooking shows. No wonder I'm always hungry!