For some people, researching a trip is almost as much as the trip itself. I said, almost, and yes, I’m one of those people. I bask in the nonstop flow of information my mind can consume about my next destination and I rejoice at finding just.the.right.thing.

Culinary firsts see here court of two sisters

New Orleans Magazine September 1, 2003 | Depp, Michael Five signature dishes that were created in New Orleans. by Michael Depp For a city its size, New Orleans has had more than its share of culinary firsts. Dishes invented here have gone on to world renown and turn up on menus in some of the unlikeliest places. Five dishes in particular have entered the culinary canon with staying power reserved for the very best, and though you can now find them in far-flung corners, the originals remain in all their glory where they were born.

Perhaps the best known began at Antoine’s, one of the city’s most storied restaurants and the oldest venue in the nation continuously operated by one family. While the restaurant is distinguished for many reasons. Oysters Rockefeller may be its most enduring legacy. Its origins, as explained by proprietor Randy Guste, reflect Creole food at its essence.

Oysters Rockefeller was devised by Jules Alciatore, son of founder Antoine Alciatore, as a response to a shortage of snails. At the time (we’re talking the late 1880s), escargots Bordelaise were de rigueur for any self-respecting French restaurant. But as young Jules stepped into his second-generation place in the family business, Guste explains, “There came a time when the exportation of snails became difficult, expensive and sometimes impossible to get.” His solution was to take another shell-residing offering – the oyster – and prepare it in a similar fashion. And while Guste notes that cooking an oyster was considered an abomination by any Frenchman at the time, they came around to the new dish which (because of its green topping) was named for the world’s richest man at the time, John D. Rockefeller. “The dish became so well-liked that it made it on the menu,” Guste says. “It proved the test of time.” Looking to borrow a little of the thunder caused by oysters Rockefeller, “Count” Arnaud Cazenave of Arnaud’s directed his kitchen to create an oyster dish of its own. The result is Oysters Bienville, and according to Katy Casbarian, whose family now owns and operates Arnaud’s, it takes its name from the restaurant’s location on Bienville Street. go to website court of two sisters

While; parsley gives Oysters Rockefeller its signature green color, Oysters Bienville distinguishes itself with bacon, heavy cream, mushrooms and a generous dusting of grated Parmesan cheese. The two dishes are the perfect illustration of culinary competition being a very good thing.

Another oyster dish that has won hearts with its delicious simplicity comes from Drago’s in Metairie. Manager/proprietor Tommy Cvitanovich, whose family has deep ties to the Croatian oystermen in the region, was casting about for a new way to serve the mollusk. Having had some success with a signature drumfish dish served in a garlic butter sauce, he tried the same sauce on oysters that were then cooked over an open fire. After experimenting with additional ingredients – wine and Bordelaise sauce were contenders – Cvitanovich and staff realized that less was more. His diners quickly agreed, and 90 percent of Drago’s customers now order charbroiled oysters, which have a separate walk-in cooler, high-heat grill and exhaust fan reserved exclusively for their preparation. And while they can be a little complicated to mass-produce elsewhere, the recipe has become a simple-to-prepare home favorite.

New Orleans has also contributed its share to the world’s dessert classics, and no native dish is more famous than Bananas Foster, which remains the most popular dessert at Brennan’s, whore it was born. Back in the 1950s, original proprietor Owen Brennan was looking to promote bananas, which at the time were a major port of entry item in New Orleans. He asked his chef, Paul Blange, to come up with something sweet and original. The result was a decadent mix of bananas, brown sugar, rum, banana liqueur and cinnamon, flambeed and served over vanilla ice cream, and it was an instant classic. (It’s named, incidentally, for a close friend of Brennan’s.) The restaurant now uses 35,000 pounds of bananas each year to make the dish.

Looking ahead to classics in the making, a variation on bananas Foster has been edging for its place in history. Strawberries a la Ray, devised and served at the Court of Two Sisters, is named for a veteran waiter there and features strawberries and brandy. It’s particularly delicious during strawberry season, and it might just be working its way into the city’s pantheon of beloved – and well-traveled – dishes.

[Sidebar] CREATIVE NATIVES Antoine’s, 713 St. Louis St., 581-4422 Arnaud’s, 813 Bienville St., 523-5433 Brennan’s, 417 Royal St., 525-9711 The Court of Two Sisters, 613 Royal St., 522-7261 Drago’s, 3232 N. Arnoult Road, 888-9254 Depp, Michael