Chef Paul Prudhomme, who popularized Cajun fare, dies at 75

NEW ORLEANS -- At his New Orleans restaurant, legendary chef Paul Prudhomme proudly showed off dishes and ingredients from his upbringing in Louisiana's rural Cajun country: blackened redfish, jambalaya and sweet potato pecan pie drew diners by the droves to his K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen.

Such fare, in turn, helped helped launch Prudhomme as a culinary superstar who brought Cajun cuisine into the mainstream. At a time when the country's top restaurants served virtually nothing but European food, Prudhomme's message to diners and other chefs was simple.

Prudhomme died Thursday after a brief illness. He was 75.

"'Be proud of our local cuisine, local culture, local accents.' Paul was the catalyst that made that happen," said fellow New Orleans chef John Folse.

Folse is one of the legions of culinary masters and Cajun food fans who are mourning the loss of Prudhomme.

In 1979, Prudhomme opened K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen, a French Quarter diner that served the meals of his childhood and helped launch him into culinary superstardom.

The distinctly American chef had no formal training, but he stirred up a nationwide appetite for Cajun food by serving dishes -- gumbo, etouffee and jambalaya -- that once were largely unknown outside Louisiana.

Prudhomme was known for his innovations. His most famous dishes used the technique he called blackening: fish or meat coated with spices, then seared until black in a white-hot skillet.

Prudhomme was raised by his sharecropper parents on a farm near Opelousas, in Louisiana's Acadiana region. The youngest of 13 children, he spent much of his time in the kitchen with his mother, whom he credited for developing his appreciation of rich flavors and the fresh vegetables, poultry and seafood she cooked.