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By Deborah Freeland
New Orleans is an
old city that is culturally rich and mysterious. The many different groups
that settled there brought their culinary traditions with them. Creole
cuisine has its roots in French culture but it developed in America and
is multi- cultural. The Creoles combined French cook ing techniques with
seasonings, and ingredients intro-duced by the Spanish, the Indians, and
the many African Americans that inhabited the old part of the city. "
Mama" Lena Richard, an African American who grew up in New Orleans,
became a giant among the Creole cooks of her day. Un fortunately she is
now largely forgotten. Richard began learning her cooking skills at age
fourteen with her mother who was em ployed as a cook. Most of the older
cooks in New Orleans were blacks whose ancestors created the earliest
Creole dishes. These cooks moved at will from job to job in private homes,
boarding houses and cafes. They carried with them their skills, spreading
the traditions to the next generation. Because of her talent Richards’ employer sent her to several cooking schools. After finishing at the cooking
schools Richard decided to go into business for herself. During her career
she operated four New Orleans restaurants beginning in the 1920's, ran
a catering business, and in the 1930's ran a cooking school of her own.
In the early days of television, Richard is believed to be the first African
American to have a cooking show.
Her famous New Orleans Cookbook was composed of recipes she had created
and traditional household recipes that had not previously been written
down. The Museum is delighted to have found Lena Richard’s Cookbook
still in print. A few copies will be available in our gift shop during
the exhibition.
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