Join Louisiana Public Broadcasting on Monday, March 9 from 7-8PM for LPB Cooks! 40 Years of Flavor, a look back at favorite cooking shows produced by LPB over the past four decades. The program is a compilation of LPB’s rich history of bringing viewers the best in culinary dishes from celebrated Louisiana chefs and much loved cooks. Whether presenting fine dining or tailgating recipes, LPB has served up cooking shows that have entertained and educated audiences all over the world. Of all the chefs that LPB has had the pleasure of working with, it’s Chef John Folse who has shared the most recipes with viewers on over 235 programs! Chef Folse will be LPB’s special in-studio guest to reminisce about some of his most memorable moments hosting A Taste of Louisiana; Hooks, Lies, & Alibis; and more, plus he will share memories of his friendship with Chef Leah Chase. In 2018, Chef Leah Chase, The Queen of Creole Cuisine, was featured in the LPB-produced digital series Nourish, a PBS Digital Studios production. On LPB Cooks! 40 Years of Flavor, viewers will hear her wisdom once again in an excerpt from the Nourish episode, Gumbo 101 with Chef Leah Chase.
Over the years, LPB has entertained viewers with healthy cooking options and arguably not-so-healthy cooking options. LPB Cooks! 40 Years of Flavor includes Holly Clegg and Beverly Church, teaching viewers how to entertain The Trim and Terrific Way, as well as storytelling from Cajun cook Justin Wilson, whose famous “No Potato Potato Salad” is still remembered with amusement by fans of his show.
Other highlights include the heat of the competition during The Great American Seafood Cook-Off, where chefs from around the United States created dishes with seafood native to their home state, and presented them to a panel of industry experts and celebrity judges who crowned one deserving chef “King or Queen of American Seafood.” Another friendly competition hosted for LPB by Chef John Folse and LPB CEO Beth Courtney, was the Five Star Gridiron Gourmet Classic, a tailgating recipe competition with LPB’s public television counterparts in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia, with an assist from special guest, Baton Rouge native, professional football player, Jim Taylor.
The binding ingredient in Louisiana’s cultural traditions passed down through generations has been recipes. One of LPB’s most beloved cooking shows was and still is Ms. Lucy’s Classic Cajun Culture & Cooking. From 2000 – 2006, LPB produced 40 episodes with Ms. Lucy Zaunbrecher. In LPB Cooks! 40 Years of Flavor, viewers will see Ms. Lucy share her recipe for peach cobbler with her granddaughter and namesake, Lucy.
LPB Cooks! 40 Years of Flavor also includes highlights from holiday-themed cooking shows, Louisiana’s farming traditions, and humorous outtakes when things didn’t go quite as planned. The program concludes with a look at LPB’s newest digital cooking series, called Good Gumbo, produced for the PBS Zest YouTube channel, and hosted by Galatoire’s Chef Phillip Lopez, who presents a melting pot of the flavor of Louisiana.
Watch LPB Cooks! 40 Years of Flavor, Monday, March 9 at 7PM for exclusive offers for LPB viewers including cookbooks by Chef John Folse and Ms. Lucy, as well as the Gridiron Gourmet cookbook featuring southern recipes for football season. Other exclusive offers will be presented during the broadcast, as well.