re: Celebrating 35 years of Tom Fitzmorris's Food Show: TulaneLSU's Top 10 books on NOLA food

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I noticed a typo in the description for the seventh (7th) book in your list. I do read all of your threads in their respective entireties.

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Sir, I think you made a typo in your post as well.

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Many thanks as always for sharing your thoughtful literary and artistic contributions.

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I think you meant autistic contributions.

Friend

This list is incomplete w/o gulf south culinary icon, James Beard award winning, Chef Mason Hereford’s cookbook.

My mom gave me an autographed copy for my 30th Birthday. I cherish it because she is no longer with us and its a great book of really good recipes.

I miss the heyday of the Tom Fitzmorris show. I have been to many of the Eat Club dinners and even went on 3 Eat Club cruises. Great times.

They were a blast.

One was to New England and Canada in 2016.

A couple of years before that we went on a Mediterranean cruise beginning and ending in Rome.

Then there was the maiden voyage of the flashiest new ship on the seas, a Transatlantic crossing from Southhampton to New York. No, it wasn't the Titanic, although we did leave from the same pier the Titanic left from. The ship was the Norwegian Epic. Tom had to cancel on this one , but we still had about 40 or so Eat Clubbers on boart. Fun times.

New Orleans sucks its own dick more than any other place I swear.

This is nauseating. And the prose is more purple than alternate LSU football jerseys.

How did Chef Paul Prudhomme's book not make the list?

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How did Chef Paul Prudhomme's book not make the list?

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That book is fabulous, but I'm guessing even Chef Paul wouldn't consider that to be a "book on NOLA food." It's got to be considered #1 on Louisiana Cajun Food - maybe much John Folse's chagrin.

Friends,

notiger1997, both Mother and I were listening and horrified to hear what those crass and crude words. He was such a lout. I remember when Mr. Fitzmorris had his own message boards, brilliant as they were, and bam bam was a constant scourge there. The ever gracious host, Mr. Fitzmorris, made that place the best food message board ever to exist.

Be sure to hold on to that signed book. It is a priceless treasure. I want to ask Mary Ann if he is still signing books, but am afraid that could be insensitive.

t00fe, for me, the golden years of The Food Show were bimodal. 1998-2000 were incredible. I remember once calling in 1999 perhaps five minutes after the show began. And there were so many callers that day that I did not get through! I waited nearly three hours, and when the show was over, Mr. Fitzmorris came on the line and apologized. He sent me a gift card to Christian's and told me to call the next day and he would get me on first. He was true to his word. A great gentleman, and anyone who says something bad about him never met him.

The other peak of the show was 2005-2008 when Tom basically was the only speakerphone for New Orleans restaurants. The Times Picayune and Brett Anderson inexplicably went silent on food. I do not think there was a single restaurant review in those pages for three years. It was then that everyone in New Orleans who loved food realized that Tom was the city's champion. More than anyone else, he rebuilt the city's dining scene.

Epic Cajun, I reread it and Lost Restaurants last night. Both are exceptional. We are so blessed that Mr. Fitzmorris documented all the wonderful eating experiences of New Orleans. The pictures, the stories, the intimate details, the recipes. What other city has a better documented food scene than that of New Orleans from 1965-2005? A hint: there is none. And we have Tom Fitzmorris and Tom Fitzmorris alone to thank for that. His singular focus on one city's food is a remarkable lifetime achievement, and all of us are richer for it.

cgrand, I have not before seen that book, but on your recommendation, I will fetch it from the internet sellers. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Y.A. Tittle, while Collin's work is unquestionably a landmark and worthy of all the praise it gets, when you place it next to Fitzmorris's work, whose stories and reviews are much more vivid and profound, it is hard for me to put TUG higher than Tom's best works. Nonetheless, I can also understand why it would appear as #1 for many people. I would love to see your Top 10 books on NOLA food list.

Frenchman, Desire, and Good Children, 1949 in good condition, goes for $65-$85 online. The last time I saw one at auction, it was part of a lot of seven books that went for $400. I would say its value at auction, unsigned, is $100. If I were appraising a signed copy in good to very good condition, I would say $200-$250. I hope you will first contact your landlord, however, and offer to return it to him. It would be a shame to continue possessing a stolen item. Who knows? That book could have been the only gift your landlord's mother ever gave him for Christmas.

TackySweater, I did not read your message, so I cannot answer your question.

Paul Allen, thank you for your incalculable contributions to this forum, most especially, those that bring light to the glory of Tom Fitzmorris.

SportsGuyNola, an alumnus is correctly defined as someone who matriculated, was fostered or was a pupil at a school. Although commonly assumed to require graduation, graduation is not a requirement to be an alumnus of an academic institution.

Tom was also an alumnus of that street-wise institution, Time Saver. At the young age of 16, he was promoted to interim store manager at the location on the northwest corner of Jefferson Highway and Central Avenue, making 75 cents an hour, which he saved to pay his way at LSUNO. He always has incorrectly called this store a River Ridge Time Saver (it is Old Jefferson). Anyway, it was at Time Saver that Tom first learned how to brine chicken (these were the days when Time Saver served fried chicken). He used that knowledge to develop his world famous turkey brine recipe, which I think is even greater than his root beer glazed ham recipe!

Doctor Technical, stories like yours, I have no doubt, are aplenty with Tom. Sure, he had an on-air persona that rubbed many the wrong way -- it was how he gained such a large audience. But in person and behind the scenes he was the most kind and generous and humble human you could imagine. Do you happen to have any of those old publications? It would be marvelous if you could share them.

Legion of Doom, Andrea was Tom's most faithful sponsor, but you could often hear the sardonicism in Tom's voice when Andrea called.

TexasTiger33, why you edit and void nearly every post?

LeGrosChat, Tom is not doing well health wise, but he is still with us. The rumor is that he has Alzheimers, but I do not have the heart to ask Mary Ann.

SixthandBarone, I assume you are referring to Davis's Seafood Notebook, which is an exceptional work. I, however, prefer the one I listed. If you could also share your Top 10, I would gladly read it.

btrcj, thank you for sharing that link with us.

TwentyFourEight, I have never heard of that book. It does not look like a book about New Orleans food.

lsufan1971, your mother must have been a lovely woman to give her son such a wonderful gift. I am so happy you cherish it and use it often. Think of how many unthoughtful gifts people give and receive. And yours? A grace to treasure forever, and even to pass on to younger family members one day.

RedPop4, TUG to me was a much more significant and interesting book than his recipe book. But I am glad you mentioned it in this thread because it is worthy of discussion. I look forward to reading your Top 10 list as well.

geauxpurple, I never went to an Eat Club because the large crowd that he talked about on air intimidated me. He assured me in private that the Eat Clubs were very welcoming, but I could not get over my social fears to go to one. Plus there was presumably alcohol on the table, and I will not eat at a table, other than the Lord's Table, that has alcohol on it.

NickyT, as Mr. Tittle mentioned, I see Chef Prudhomme's book as a Cajun, not a New Orleans cookbook. It is in my top three cookbooks in American history.

Yours,
TulaneLSU

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