Marcelle Bienvenu
Marcelle Bienvenu is a cookbook author and food writer who has been involved in the culinary scene since the 1960’s. A native of St. Martinville, Louisiana, in the heart of the Cajun country, she wrote a written a weekly food column, Creole Cooking, for The Times Picayune of New Orleans for over 30 years. She is the author of three books: Who’s Your Mama, Are You Catholic and Can You Make a Roux?, Who’s Your Mama… (The Sequel), Cajun Cooking for Beginners and No Baloney on My Boat. She co-authored several cookbooks with renowned chef Emeril Lagasse, including Louisiana: Real & Rustic, Emeril’s Creole Christmas, Emeril’s TV Dinners and Every Day’s A Party. She also co-authored Eula Mae’s Cajun Kitchen with Eula Mae Dore longtime cook for the McIlhenny family on Avery Island, and Stir the Pot: The History of Cajun Cuisine, with Carl A. Brasseaux and Ryan A. Brasseaux.
In 2009, she co-authored Pecans: From Soup to Nuts with the late Keith Courrege, and Wings of Paradise, Birds of the Louisiana Wetlands with Charlie Hohorst, Jr. In 2012, Marcelle developed recipes for a companion cookbook—TRUEBLOOD, Eats, Drinks and Bites from Bon Temps—for the popular HBO True Blood Series. Ms. Bienvenu edited the 1987 edition of The Times Picayune’s Creole Cookbook, originally published in 1901 and re-issued to celebrate the newspaper’s 150th anniversary. She owned and operated a restaurant, Chez Marcelle, near Lafayette, La., in the early 1980s, and has worked for several restaurants, including Commander’s Palace and K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans. Currently she is a chef/instructor at Nicholls State University in the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute in Thibodaux.
