"John Besh" news and stories

Last week we caught up with New Orleans chef John Besh at Food Network's South Beach Food & Wine Festival. Since he's juggling so many projects -- a new cookbook coming out in the fall, a TV show starting in April, managing his six restaurants and focusing on his foundation -- we didn't know where to begin! So we reached out to our dedicated Slashfood Twitter followers and asked: "What would you like to know from John Besh?" The response was great, and we've got the answers to seven of his favorite questions.

@DrinkerX asked: What was his favorite dish to eat growing up as a kid?
JB: Speckled trout sautéed with brown butter -- I can still smell it. You could hear when mom squeezed the lemon over the fish and it sizzled. With toasted almonds -- [shakes his head] -- the whole thing is so good.

@kbGiltCity asked: I'm having my bachelor party in NoLA during Jazzfest. What's the BEST food at Jazzfest? I was told soft shell crab po boy?
JB: My favorite po' boys? That's a toss up between a fried oyster fully dressed or a fried soft shell crab fully dressed, both from Parkway Tavern.

@THeChefatSolago asked: Homegrown hot sauce or store-bought...and if store-bought what brand?
JB: Definitely Tabasco. It's my go-to hot sauce.

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• Color yourself patriotic with red, white and blue recipes.
• Boonies or Big City? -- you decide.
• This princess cake isn't a one-dimensional Disney character.
• John Besh serves a midday mudbug meal.
• If Art Smith can lose weight, you can too.
• Heat up Independence Day with jalapeño nacho cheeseburgers.

As the BP oil spill rages on, politicians have shifted their focus from outrage to retribution. For Gulf Coast seafood producers, that means collecting damages for the large-scale impact on the area's seafood industry. Yesterday, after meeting with President Obama and other Gulf Coast leaders, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal called for BP to approve a $457 million seafood safety program for the region.

Jindal held his press conference in New Orlean's Acme Oyster House in the French Quarter -- a symbolic location chosen to remind Americans how integral local oysters, shrimp, and crawfish are to the region.

Two of the South's most famous chefs, New Orleans's native son John Besh and Food Network's Grande Dame Paula Deen who hails from Albany, Georgia, are teaming up this Saturday to co-host an event called 'Shrimp and Grits.'

The cooking demonstration and tasting is part of The New Orleans Wine and Food Experience, an annual culinary celebration of the city's celebrated fare paired with wines from all over the globe.

But Besh and Deen are not just cooking for the usual culinary fun of it. After 'Shrimp and Grits,' the duo will join other chefs to serve up Louisiana seafood at a $300-a-plate dinner at August, one of Besh's restaurants, to help raise money to help those affected by the recent oil spill. Proceeds will benefit the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation, specifically a wetlands foundation that will help mitigate the long term effects on the fertile marshlands, and a fund that is being set up to help the shrimpers who are unable to make a living right now.

Besh is passionate about getting the word out there that Louisiana seafood is safe to eat.

Celebrated New Orleans chef John Besh has not one, but two upcoming TV shows. The first, Inedible to Incredible, will be on TLC starting in mid June. Besh smartly describes it as the What Not to Wear of the food world.

"It's people who mean well about food but eat terribly and no one has the heart to tell them," explains Besh to Slashfood. "I go in and help them. One reason I really wanted to do the show is because I can attract a huge audience and teach people about food. Unfortunately today there are a lot of people who rely too much on overly processed food. Hopefully I can introduce them to farmers' markets, alternatives in the supermarkets and offer them some cooking tips.

The second show will be on PBS and is based on -- and shares the title of -- his 2009 cookbook, My New Orleans. The series will be a celebration of the wonderfully rich New Orleans culinary heritage. Besh is following in the footsteps of another local chef made good -- Paul Prudhomme -- and even checked with the big man to make sure he was OK with him doing the show before he took up the mantle.