Poppy Tooker

Sicily, Louisiana Style

November 14, 2020 Louisiana Eats

If you’re a Louisiana native with a distinctly Italian last name, you’ve got lots of company here. Since the late nineteenth century, more families of Sicilian descent have called Louisiana home than anywhere else in the world except Sicily. This is a topic that has fascinated Loyola history professor, Justin Nystrom – enough to compel him to record their history and influence here in his 2018 book, Creole Italian: Sicilian Immigrants and the Shaping of New Orleans Food Culture.

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Last Call

September 19, 2020 Louisiana Eats

Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on businesses of all stripes, none more than the hospitality industry. In that struggling sector, there is one category seemingly without hope – the New Orleans neighborhood bar. These watering holes, where for generations people have gathered to celebrate and mourn, are on the brink of extinction. Since the initial shutdown in March, most Orleans Parish bars were only allowed to operate for a brief and very confusing time between June 13th and midnight on July 12th.

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Born And Bread In New Orleans

September 13, 2020 Louisiana Eats

If you’ve ever had a New Orleans Po-Boy then you know it’s all about the bread…  Real New Orleans French bread is something you can’t just get anywhere, or at least that’s what we thought.  We decided it was time to get down to the dough of it and see what is happening with bread…

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Channel Surfing Safari

December 7, 2019 Louisiana Eats

On this week’s show, we meet food television stars from the newest to the medium’s most seasoned.

We begin by checking in with one of our favorite home grown celebs—Chef Isaac Toups. After several years in front of the camera, he and his wife Amanda have seen food TV as both a boon for their business and an exploitative behemoth. We join them to discuss how they have been taming that beast, and get the scoop on Amanda’s first foray into television.

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Culinary Historians

November 16, 2019 Louisiana Eats

The origins of food and spirits are usually not well known and can sometimes be hard to track down. After all, how do you figure out where something that’s been around for centuries originated? On this week’s show we’ll speak with several culinary historians about the history of some fabulous foods, and some spirits too.

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