European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 1, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The spicy life of Paul Prudhommer i 1 a a a a i yet v i it v Fth s los a Gatot Fimas Chet Paul Prudhomme wants every american to discard the Salt and Pepper. By Rose Dosti los Angeles times p aul Prudhomme has not changed one bit since 1979, when he opened a Pauls Louisiana Kitchen and introduced cajun cooking to America a and the world. He s still Puppy dog Friendly and so relaxed he d put Dan rather at ease in three seconds Flat. Indeed desire to please is a Way of life for Prudhomme. I love to feed people a he says. Quot i love to watch them enjoy what they eat. What better Reward can there be for a chef a he came to this interview carrying two Gallons of heated ready to eat Chicken Cacciatore air expressed from a Paul a in Louisiana just in Case the staff needed lunch. Quot i always bring food wherever go a he says. Ever since his first Book Paul Prudhommer a Louisiana Kitchen caused a National hot and spicy rage that helped raise americans Freezer temperature seasoning taste a few notches Prudhomme has become something of a a Tophet of seasoned foods. He is determined to persuade every american to throw away the Salt and Pepper and make a grab for hot seasonings a any hot seasonings if not his very own line of them sold through magic seasonings one of his six companies. Prudhomme the businessman happily juggles two a Paul s restaurants the other one is in new York a Louisiana sausage company called Ouber Spruegel a Cookbook company called blackened red fish a mail order business that ships cry packed pralines Jambalaya Sweet potato pie and other a Paul specialities throughout the world magic seasonings the company that ships Louisiana seasoning mixes As far away As Japan and a somewhat less Active video company. He still Cooks up a storm on his own television shows and makes dozens of guest appearances on network shows every year. Now he has written chef Paul Prudhomme s seasoned America to pass on the word seasoning food demonstrations Are his thing he thinks. A showman at heart he beams for the cameras As naturally As a child Star throws one liners like an improve comedian and enchants every audience with his verve and vigor despite his stupendous weight. Even after 54 Book promotion events during a 10-City, 13-Day tour he is As Lively As a Chile Pepper Quot i love talking to people when i do demos around the country a he says. But i found Only about 10 to 12 percent of the people i talk to eat seasoned foods daily. The rest use Only Salt and Pepper. People Tell me they love my Book Louisiana Kitchen but use it Only on special occasions. Now i want to show them How to apply seasonings to their everyday american cooking using dishes and ingredients they recognize. I want them to see How herbs and spices can really make a difference in the taste of food a few Cooks have Ever put As Many seasonings in everyday american dishes As Prudhomme one of his dishes might include As Many As eight spices and herbs. For instance his Cowboy Stew with commeal dumplings is seasoned with Mustard Chile Pepper thyme and cumin. Quot for this recipe a he says Quot i tried to put myself in the place of a Cowboy on the Range tasting what he might want to  a new England Chicken casserole is not Only baptized with a hefty blend of paprika garlic thyme Basil onion and Sage but Given a custard sauce. Quot it needed a sauce a he says a so i used the leftover eggs and drippings from cooking the Chicken and  Sally Lunn a bread that goes Back to colonial Days gets a novel dash of thyme. Red flannel hash is hyped with oregano Nutmeg onion garlic and Mustard. You get the Yff Loy message fast the Book is a sort of culinary tour of America based on Prudhomme s travels Over the years America s Eclectic cuisine already thoroughly interlaced with International dishes Saue Braten. Sopa de Albond Gas and cioppino among other becomes Prudhomme sized As Well to borscht which normally relies on nothing but turnips cabbage Salt and Pepper for flavor he adds thyme onion and garlic powder coriander and paprika a no Brooklyn borscht eater Ever tasted a borscht As spirited and lower East Side potato latkes have never seen so much ground Ginger allspice and Nutmeg but it works the difference for Salt and Pepper Only reasoners could be a revelation or a repulsion depending on the individual s palate and sense of adventure. The question is after using a few Prudhomme recipes will readers go Back to their old Way of cooking or As Prudhomme himself would wish a thousand times will they continue to Cook with spices Quot time will Tell a he says. Quot ill know better in a few months when i Start autographing books. If the Book they bring for me to sign is dog eared and matted with Gravy i la know the message got  cooking with spice not fat by Densie Webb new York times news service remove fat and sodium from most recipes and you get dishes that have All the flavor of boiled cardboard. That is unless you add a judicious amount of spice. Making the right choices is easy if you Experiment. Quot even if you know just a Little bit about spices people will always think you re a better Cook than you actually Are a said Erica Levy Klein the author of Skinny spices 50 nifty homemade spice blends that can make any diet delicious. An added but Little known Benefit of using herbs and spices is that they Are nutritious. Paprika for example is an excellent source of Vitamin a. One Tablespoon has 84 percent of the u s recommended daily allowance for adults half a cup of fresh Parsley provides almost 50 percent of the recommended allowance of Vitamin c one Teaspoon of cumin powder has 8 percent of the allowance for Iron and a Tablespoon of Caraway seed has 5 percent of the allowance for Calcium the most practical tip i have about spices is to use them a Klein said i know that sounds Basic but people frequently just put their spices into Glass bottles and never pull them out  she maintained that in practice substituting herbs and spices for fat and sodium is More of a mind set than a specific cooking technique. Still she offered some guidelines. To reduce fat and sodium in recipes without losing flavor she recommended pinpointing the fatty and Salty ingredients then removing or reducing them As much As possible. To keep flavor Rich increase dried spices and herbs in the recipe but be cautious adding about a third of a Teaspoon at a time. In a stuffing recipe for example the fat can be completely removed Low sodium Stock added for moisture and herbs and spices increased for flavor. / in desserts like puddings skim milk or evaporated skim milk can be substituted for whole milk or Cream cornstarch can be used to thicken the recipe and spices like cinnamon and Nutmeg can be increased. Knowing How to substitute is the key to Success said Carol Ann Rinzler the author of herbs. Spices and condiments from Garden to Kitchen to Medicine Chest. Few Cooks keep their refrigerators and cupboards stocked with anything but the basics she said. Quot Lack of the right herbs and spices is one of the most common reasons Novice Cooks won t try new  even the most casual Cooks Are Likely to have cinnamon Nutmeg oregano and Parsley on hand but Mace Marjoram and Chervil Are rarer. Even so Rinzler said some of the former can be used in place of the latter. For example Mace is sometimes used in Gingerbread but Nutmeg can be substituted. And she suggested substituting Parsley for Chervil oregano for Marjoram and crushed Caraway seeds for cumin. She noted that Quot substitute does no to mean  while the substitutes work Well the flavors May differ. But beware of some spice blends sold in supermarkets Many have names that do not reflect their High sodium Content. For example blends labelled garlic Pepper or Lemon Pepper actually have Salt As a major ingredient but you have to look at the ingredient list on the Label to find this out. It seems that the Rule of thumb is that there Are no rules. Spices Are really a great inspiration for food a Klein said Quot and if you just Start with a spice or a combination of compatible spices you can go from there rather than having to go to a Cookbook for a recipe. Quot unless you re using a lot of something intense like Rosemary and combining it with something strange like cinnamon you can hardly go wrong the biggest mistake people make when they begin using herbs and spices is to overdo it is More difficult to overuse fresh herbs and spices than dried. Klein suggests starting with no More than one third to one half Teaspoon of any dried flavor. Use about three times that much of the fresh variety. Taste the dish after it has cooked for about an hour and decide if More is needed the Bottom line in using spices Rinzler said is to Quot ignore what everybody else tells you a Quot if it tastes Good to you it is  Densie Webb a freelance writer and editor is a registered dietitian a taste of Down Home cooking by the los Angeles times the following recipes Are from Paul Prudhomme s chef Paul Prudhomme s seasoned America Chicken Cacciatore 5 Tablespoons plus 1 a Teaspoons seasoning mix 1 3-to 3 impound Chicken Cut into 8 pieces fat removed 2 16-ounce cans whole tomatoes with liquid 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil 1 cup chopped onions 1 cup chopped Green Pepper 1 cup chopped mushrooms 1 cup dry red wine 1 6-ounce can Tomato paste vie Teaspoon minced garlic 2 cups Chicken Stock 1 cup Julienne Cut onions 1 cup Julienne Cut Green Pepper a cup sliced garlic 3 Tablespoons dark Brown sugar 2 cups sliced mushrooms cooked pasta Sprinkle 4 Teaspoons seasoning mix Over Chicken pieces. Rub Well into Chicken with hands. Pour tomatoes with liquid into bowl. Crush tomatoes with hands. Set aside heat Oil in 8-quart pot Over High heat until hot about 4 minutes. Add Chicken pieces skin Side Down and Cook turning pieces Over once or twice until just Golden Brown on All sides about 8 to 10 minutes. Cook Chicken in batches if necessary remove Chicken pieces to bowl and set aside. Add 1 cup each chopped onions and chopped Green Pepper and mushrooms to Oil in pot and scrape up browned bits on Bottom of pot Cook stirring occasionally until vegetables Are lightly browned and beginning to stick to Bottom of pot about 5 minutes. Add Vamp cup wine and scrape pot Bottom clean. Cook stirring occasionally 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in Tomato paste and Cook scraping Bottom of pot occasionally about 4 minutes. Add 2 Tablespoons seasoning mix and Cook stirring about 1 minute stir in crushed tomatoes and a Teaspoon minced garlic scrape Bottom of pot clean and bring to boil add remaining seasoning mix remaining / it cup wine and 1 cup Chicken Stock stir in 1 cup each Julienne Cut onions and Green peppers and a cup sliced garlic Cook stirring occasionally 4 minutes return Chicken pieces and any accumulated juices to pot stir and bring to bubbling boil cover pot reduce heat to medium and simmer 2 minutes stir in remaining 1 cup Stock cover pot and simmer 7 minutes stir m Brown sugar cover pot and simmer 5 minutes add sliced mushrooms and simmer 5 minutes sauce should be Nch dark Reddish Brown color serve 2 pieces of Chicken per person with about 1 cup sauce Over pasta freeze any leftover sauce for pasta dinner makes 4 to 6 Servings seasoning mix 1 Tablespoon Salt 2vi Teaspoons dried Sweet Basil leaves 2 Teaspoons dried Parsley flakes 2 Teaspoons dried oregano leaves 2 Teaspoons dried thyme leaves 1 i Teaspoons onion powder 1 i Teaspoons garlic powder 1 Teaspoon White Pepper a Teaspoon Black Pepper Combine Salt Basil Parsley of Moyano thyme onion powder garlic powder White and Black Pepper. Mix thoroughly makes 5 Tablespoons plus 1 a a Teaspoons West Virginia Sweet and sour Short ribs 2 cups chopped onion 1 i cups chopped Green peppers 1 cup chopped celery seasoning mix 4 pounds beef Short ribs about 8 ribs Cut into individual ribs excess fat removed 1 15-ounce can Tomato sauce a cup Honey a cup dist Ned White vinegar i cup bottled chill sauce 1 cup beef Stock Combine onion peppers and celery in Large baking pan. Sprinkle with i Tablespoon seasoning mix and rub Well Over vegetables with hands. Place ribs on top of vegetables in single layer Sprinkle ribs All Over with 2 Tablespoons seasoning mix and rub Well with hands cover pan tightly with foil and bake at 300 degrees 1 hour. Remove foil and bake 1 hour longer. Remove ribs from baking pan and Drain off All fat. Add Tomato sauce to pan and stir in Honey. Using wire whisk whip in vinegar Chile sauce beef Stock and remaining seasoning mix return ribs to pan meat Side Down and Baste with sauce bake uncovered until Moat becomes tender about 1 hour makes 4 Servings seasoning mix 2 Teaspoons Salt 2 Teaspoons paprika 1 Vic Teaspoons onion powder 1 Teaspoon garlic powder 1 Teaspoon dry Mustard 1 Teaspoon dried thyme 1 Teaspoon ground turmeric 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper 1 Teaspoon White Pepper 1 Teaspoon ground cumin Combine Salt paprika onion powder garlic powder Mustard thyme turmeric Black and White peppers and cumm m Small bowl makes a cup jus Teaspoon Page 14 the stars and stripes the stars and stripes Page 15