This is a wonderful cross-section of the cooking of New Orleans. As a lover of New Orleans food, I can certainly attest to that. The recipes run the full spectrum of easy to hard and a wonderful history of each dish is provided. I made the easy recipe Heavenly Hash and it reminded me of the candy that was sold at DH Holmes department store. I also have prepared a roasted asparagus dish that was EASY and FANTASTIC. Something that needs to be mentioned is that Mr. Fitzmorris is a great everyday chef, he has provided many recipes that he has concocted himself. This is in addition to many recipes from famous restaurants. See especially, his recipe for Oysters Rockefeller (which, by the way, Antoine's has asked him for because it's "embarassingly close" to the very secret one at that restaurant. I have a recipe that has been in a Louisiana friend's family for many generations, and was supposedly given to her family by the original propiretor of Antoines - and no, neither has spinach in it) and for Aline's (his mother) Crawfish Etouffee. His idea for substituting boulette's for the stuffed crawfish heads in Crawfish Bisque is masterful. Oh, I could go on and on, but I am getting so hungry! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in eating GOOD food.