Serving St. Bernard: A Cookbook
The spirit of the people of Saint Bernard is perhaps no more evident than in the family traditions of tried and true recipes from our diverse culture. “To know it is to love it” applies both to the parish, and to our food.
With this thought in mind, the Voices Foundation gathered recipes and oral histories from both former and current residents to create ”Serving St. Bernard: Food and Folklore from the Parish”, and premiered it in 2010. Project director Ronda DeForest explained that the book contains both recipes and histories of the diverse ethnic makeup of the parish. The book is in its 6th printing.
“Serving St. Bernard demonstrates our cultural diffusion. Many dishes diffuse from the culture of origin and spread to all of us, making our regional cuisine unique – a pinch of this and a taste of that keep our dishes, and our lives, interesting and exciting,” DeForest said.
Photographs of St. Bernard Parish landscapes by Rose Marie Sand are included in the pages of the book, along with documentation of the journey of each ethnic group to the parish. Each ethnicity begins with a ‘server’ – someone from that ethnicity who serves St. Bernard. Many of these servers are well known in our community and will be familiar faces. Others may not be well known, but they serve our community every day, making a difference in more subtle ways.
Proceeds from the sale of “Serving St. Bernard” are used to fund a culinary arts scholarship.
One of the most popular features of the book are the anecdotal stories given by contributors about their memories of family traditions built around the recipes they shared.
“I couldn’t put the book down, and read it from cover to cover the night I bought it,” said Anna Weidenhaft. Miss Weedy, as she is also known by the scores of students she taught at Andrew Jackson, said she will be submitting a recipe for the next edition of the book.
“Serving St Bernard” is currently for sale at Rocky and Carlo’s Restaurant in Chalmette or by calling 504-884-9307.