Paul Prudhomme

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Paul Prudhomme**
Engraving of Paul Prudhomme on one of his signature spice products
Born	July 13, 1940 Opelousas, LA
Cooking style	Cajun
Restaurants	K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen (New Orleans)

Paul Prudhomme (born July 13, 1940) is an American chef famous for his Cajun cuisine.

The youngest of thirteen children, Prudhomme was reared on a farm near Opelousas, the seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. Members of his family had been active as cooks and in the restaurant business in and around Lafayette, Louisiana. In 1979 he and his late wife, Kay Hinrichs Prudhomme, opened K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen® in the French Quarter of New Orleans. In the early 1980's, the restaurant made the dish of blackened redfish famous. Once considered poor table fare, this fish gained popularity, due largely to the Cajun specialty dish that he created. Redfish were harvested in great numbers until stocks were dangerously low. Various state and federal wildlife agencies and conservation groups began a concerted effort to restore redfish populations, limiting that fish to sports fish status in almost all coastal states and harvests were regulated. Redfish numbers have since recovered, making them one of the most targeted saltwater game fish in the U.S.

Prudhomme has been a key figure in taking Cajun cooking from a style little known outside of the Acadiana region of southwest Louisiana and propelling it to national fame. He is the creator of seasonings such as Meat Magic, Vegetable Magic, and Poultry Magic. He is sometimes credited with having invented the turducken, though this has not been verified.

In 1995 ABC News, in its report on the nutria (coypu) infestation in Louisiana, stated that Prudhomme bought 20,000 such carcasses, freezing them in the hopes of later selling them as cooked dishes to patrons. That effort failed to attract any significant number of patrons.