For the Foodie

For more gift ideas, check out our Purple and Gold, Go, Go Gadget or Stock the bar gift guides.

It starts in earnest this month: the pressure to start your holiday shopping for friends, family and business associates. One thing is for sure; most of us in Louisiana love both buying and receiving food-related gifts because they speak to our appreciation for cuisine and fun. Here’s our roundup of what’s hot this year for the foodies on your list—and let the buying frenzy begin!

In her new cookbook The Fresh Table (LSU Press, March 2013), Baton Rouge-based blogger and food photographer Helana Brigman revises and updates what you love about Louisiana fare. The Bayou State might be best known for shrimp poboys and red beans and rice, but at its core is an endless bounty of seasonal foods begging to be prepared inventively. Brigman has created luscious recipes inspired by her trips to the Red Stick Farmers Market and to other venues around the city and state. But while she uses lots of Gulf seafood, regional meats and produce from local farmers, she makes it easy to source ingredients no matter where you live. The more than 100 original recipes in the cookbook include petite crab cakes with Cajun dipping sauce, rosemary pumpkin soup served in a baked pumpkin, fig prosciutto salad with goat cheese and spinach, grilled sausage with blackened summer squash, blueberry balsamic gelato and watermelon juice with basil. Brigman created the award-winning blog Clearly Delicious and writes the “Fresh Ideas” column in the food section of The Advocate.
AVAILABLE THROUGH: LSU Press at lsupress.org or in Baton Rouge bookstores.

Even the best cooks get stuck in a rut, and a great source of inspiration is the casual cooking class. There are several good options in Baton Rouge, including the LSU Leisure Class series, which allows you to brush up on topics like cupcake making, Scotch and wine tasting and the basics of healthy cooking. In addition, the Louisiana Culinary Institute features Saturday and evening one-time classes for home cooks that show you how to make your own charcuterie, Mardi Gras king cakes and much more. Classes are taught by chef instructors at LCI’s state-of-the-art facility on Airline Highway.
FOR MORE INFORMATION about LSU Leisure Classes, email [email protected], and for the Culinary Institute, visit.lci.edu.

Collecting items for stockings or gift baskets? Community Coffee, Zatarain’s and Louisiana Fish Fry have always made great filler gifts, but don’t pass over the growing number of smaller producers in Louisiana that are turning out home-grown sauces, jams, pickles, spreads, marinades and dressings. For example, Cut Off, La.-based Wow Wee produces delectable tartar and dipping sauces that each come in either regular or Cajun varieties. Use the dipping sauce for fries or hot wings or to slather on burgers, and use the tartar sauce on fried shrimp or on homemade fish tacos with raw cabbage, avocado and lime. Hahnville-based Omi’s Gourmet Foods makes a sumptuous remoulade sauce that is based on a family recipe and made with all-natural ingredients. It’s the perfect enhancement to this season’s plump white shrimp from the Gulf.
AVAILABLE AT: local independent grocers.

Cooks love serving their creations in pretty vessels, and Louisiana is full of ceramicists who produce stunning bowls, trays and items for baking and cooking. Ruston-based Kent Follette is known for his food-friendly line of pottery, which includes signature gumbo bowls, salt and pepper shakers, goblets and bakers of various sizes and shapes that can cook anything from whole apples to eggs to beer can chicken. And Dennis Sipiorski, an established artist and professor of ceramics at Southeastern Louisiana University, produces one-of-a-kind trays, pitchers, oil decanters and more (pictured) that feature his signature textures and dynamic imagery.
AVAILABLE AT: Caffery Gallery, cafferygallery.com