Most people can name a celebrity chef with roots in New Orleans, but few can tap into a true family treasure trove of traditional cultural roots and recipes to understand, from the inside out, what really makes New Orleans one of the great foodie destinations of the world. And no one can give you a more personal, joyful, insider’s taste of New Orleans than Frances Kirchon and Linda Meyers, Cousins whose lives were infused from birth with the tastes and traditions of the Big Easy. (They are in fact cousins and share the family surname Cousin!) They both live to cook and love to share authentic family recipes that have been lovingly handed down though generations.
Frances Kirchon can remember her very first taste of New Orleans. She was a toddler when her mother tossed spicy fried crawfish onto her high chair tray table and spooned puréed Étouffée lovingly into her mouth, introducing Frances to the unique, indigenous tastes of Cajun cuisine. Thankfully, the chicory never ended up in her baby bottle, but Frances’s love for New Orleans tastes and traditions were officially ignited.
Linda Meyers shares similar culinary Cajun roots. In elementary school, fellow students elbowed their way to her lunch table, jockeying for the seat next to her in hopes they might steal a bite of her spicy shrimp po’boy or her mile high muffuletta sandwich. The fragrant, smooth, spicy hot chocolate that wafted from her thermos was positively intoxicating. No one packed a school lunch like Linda.
When they started their own families, the traditions continued and “Spontaneous Hospitality” became their way of life. Most nights, their dining room buffet tables are spread with expertly prepared family recipes and new memories are made for dozens of grateful, hungry guests intoxicated by the pungent aroma of buttermilk fried chicken, hush puppies, eggplant pirogues, and flaky crayfish pies. Family weddings became gastronomical events when Frances and Linda’s family freezers would overflow with homemade entrées and baked goods in anticipation for the onslaught of hungry friends and family. Everyone left a Cousin family wedding filled with great family stories and fabulous food.
While Frances and Linda both worked as schoolteachers, family recipes continued to fly from their kitchens into their classrooms. They combined their culinary passion, Cajun roots, and love for children with the creation of “The Storybook Café”. Books like “The Cajun Cornbread Boy” came alive when students had the chance to literally taste the flavors right from the pages by preparing the recipes with Frances and Linda. When teaching and tasting collide, everyone has flavorful fun!
In addition to working as teachers, both women earned the reputation of being expert bakers. Frances and Linda became known for their melt-in-your-mouth pies, cakes, cookies, and bread puddings. Their traditional King Cake was so popular that they often filled dozens of requests from friends and family weeks before Mardi Gras, expertly hiding the traditional miniature toy babies in the batter.
As their kids grew older, Frances and Linda decided to launch their culinary career directly from their kitchen tables onto the streets of New Orleans and started Cook New Orleans.
The minute they decided to share their secret family recipes, word spread across the country and highly coveted seats on their tours were snatched up in record time. Frances and Linda are a success because they teach what they love and their passion for local flavors is contagious. Just ask the legions of loyal fans that come back again and again to spice up their own culinary repertoire.
Together, Frances and Linda have earned the trust of the culinary and cultural elite of New Orleans and have gained complete access to private kitchens, artisanal food factories, and historic hideaways few tourists will ever discover.
Until now.
How nice of them to share.
