A Culinary Education

Who taught you how to cook? Perhaps it was a favorite family member or Julia Child on public television. Maybe you devour cookbooks on the weekend just for fun. The education of a professional chef can be just varied – be it a formal degree or on-the-job training. On this week's show, we explore culinary learning. We begin at one of Louisiana's educational treasures, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. To mark this milestone, we revisit our trip to the school's Marigny neighborhood campus. There, chefs Emeril Lagasse and Dana D'Anzi Tuohy explain the origins of NOCCA's celebrated Culinary Arts program. Then, chef and cooking school director Dee Lavigne talks with us about African American chef and entrepreneur Lena Richard. By the 1940s, Richard had become the Crescent City's premier caterer, educator, and the first local TV food personality. Finally, we look outside of the state to learn how Anne Willan achieved legendary success on both sides of the pond. Founder of the prestigious La Varenne Cooking School, which operated in Paris and Burgundy, France from 1975 until 2007, Anne's also a prolific author whose award-winning cookbooks are available in 35 different languages. For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.