Arnaud's Creole Cookbook

Founded in 1918 by Arnaud Cazenave (aka the Count), the history of the venerable New Orleans restaurant, as presented in this lively, thoroughly researched account, is replete with passion, intrigue and debauchery. DeMers, UPI food editor and author of The Community Kitchens Complete Guide to Gourmet Coffee, follows the long-lived landmark restaurant through its tumultuous past to a rosy, profitable present day. The recipes, which bear eponymous, self-consciously cute names, represent Creole cuisine, which takes a strong cue from classic French cookery. Accordingly, they are quite complicated and time consuming, at times calling for duck and veal stocks or involving several sauces in a single dish. Some of the simpler, tempting specialties include a shrimp saute with whiskey, corn and heavy cream; scallops with curry powder and apples; trout with carrot and cucumber balls and chopped hazelnuts; boneless duck breasts glazed in blueberry vinegar and garnished with fresh blueberries; sweetbreads with wild mushrooms; and pasta salad with crabmeat and Dijon mustard dressing. Illustrations not seen by PW. (March)