Big Easy Cookin'
On the Friday before Mardi Gras, NBC's TODAY show hosted the first-of-its-kind "Taste of New Orleans" segment as part of the show's "Destination: New Orleans" Friday, February 28.
The $199 ticketed food reception was filmed at New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute (NOCHI) and featured cooking demonstrations by Toya Boudy, Alon Shaya, Edgar "Dook" Chase IV, and Zoe Chase.
The celebrated New Orleans chefs were also interviewed by TODAY's popular hosts Al Roker, Craig Melvin, and Dylan Dryer, while Boudy, Shaya, and the Chases each cooked their signature Mardi Gras-themed dishes. They discussed topics ranging from life in the Big Easy and how they make their favorite Carnival fare.
Subsequently, the chefs' culinary creations were served as a three-course meal to a salivating audience. The first course featured Chef Alon Shaya's chicken, shrimp, and andouille gumbo with chicken skin cracklins. Chef Shaya explained that the addition of the chicken skin was inspired by the Jewish dish Gribenes, chicken skin cracklins.
The next demonstration was by Edgar "Dook" Chase IV and Zoe Chase. They both see New Orleans cooking as a part of their family heritage as they are one of many generations of chefs in the Chase family, following in Leah and Dooky Chase's footsteps. The entree course that the Chases served featured a delicious blackened Louisiana redfish with Creole sauce and garden succotash.
The final course, dessert, was Chef Toya Boudy's white chocolate bread pudding with white chocolate sauce. Boudy shared the delicious bread pudding recipe with the audience and even gave a few tricks on how to spread the glaze in the most efficient way around the pan. The dish is so personal to Boudy and her family that it is the only bread pudding her father and sister will ever eat.
Despite the early hour—or maybe because it was being filmed in New Orleans during Mardi Gras weekend—the "Taste of New Orleans" event also highlighted a Sazerac-making and tasting. The giddy TV personalities were all too eager to sample the famous cocktail created in New Orleans just down the street. Ti Martin gave the audience a demonstration and a history lesson on the Sazerac cocktail. She explained how the New Orleans' classic cocktail became the modern Sazerac instead of the absinthe and cognac-based original recipe.
Sponsored by New Orleans & Company, the "Taste of New Orleans" was designed to be a celebration of New Orleans food and drink right before Fat Tuesday. The segment aired live in the third hour of the top-rated network morning show to encourage anyone, local or visiting the city, to experience the authentic flavors the Crescent City has to offer.
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New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute (NOCHI) is a New Orleans-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that educates a diverse community of learners to sustain an ever-evolving hospitality industry. The institute offers a platform for professional and personal growth, increasing access and minimizing barriers to career pathways while supporting the promotion and economic development of the culinary arts and hospitality industry.
NBC's TODAY show episode featuring "Destination: New Orleans," filmed at Mardi Gras World across town, and the "Taste of New Orleans" segment filmed at NOCHI can still be watched by streaming on peacock.com.
