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NICHOLLS STATE UNIVERSITY | FALL 2014 A PUBLICATION OF THE MASS COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT En Louisiane Making Her own Rym Bustin’ Out Spices Inside PAGE 1 BY KAMERYN ROME SPICEScooking cajun and creole food He starts off with a tablespoon of salt. Measures a teaspoon each of granulated onion and granulated garlic with his measuring spoons. A teaspoon of thyme. A half a teaspoon of oregano. And, lastly, he adds a half of teaspoon of basil. “And that’s a good general Cajun seasoning mix,” Chef Randy Cheramie says as he mixes the spices together. And believe it or not, the spices are not only tasty. Research shows they’re good for you too. Garlic. Cayenne pepper. Jalapeno pepper. Vinegar. Lem- ons. Onions. Even crab boil. And more. So break out the Tabasco, the Louisiana Hot Sauce, and just about any citrus WRITERS.....................KAMERYN ROME you can think of. And enjoy with a clear conscience. They all LEAD DESIGNER..........DEVIN HARTMAN kill bacteria. DESIGNER.............LINDEN-SMITH-HYDE But more on that later. Returning to Chef Cheramie, execu- tive director and instructor at the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University, we find a master pur- veyor of bacteria killers extraordinaire. Like so many other bacteria executioners, Cheramie grew up in south Louisi- SPICES.............................................. ana. In 1981, he purchased Randolph’s Restaurant from 3 his family in Golden Meadow. The restaurant was a place “down the bayou,” serving lunch and fine din- FINDING HER OWN RYTHM...............6 ing. Being so close to the Gulf of Mexico, it was known for the Cajun and Creole foods such as BUSTIN’ OUT.....................................10 fresh seafood flavored with Cajun spices. It was here he learned from his father and grandmoth- er how to cook true Cajun cuisine. And he also learned that food, particularly seafood, had to han- PAGE 2 dled and cooked correctly for not just taste, but safety. PAGEPAGE 33 One of Cheramie’s greatest culinary influences, first thing I do is wash my hands,” Cheramie says. and one of the legendary bacteria killers, is interna- Now we come to another Nicholls professor in- tionally-known chef Paul Prudhomme, one of the volved in this story. When it comes to bacteria and first people to successfully market his special blends preventing food poisoning, Dr. Raj Boopathy, Dis- of Cajun spices. “In the early 80s Prudhomme pub- tinguished Service Professor at Nicholls, has done lished The Louisiana Kitchen, and if you look at that research on Cajun spices and through testing has book…” Cheramie goes over to the bookshelf in his discovered that some kill bacteria on meat, as well as office, grabs the book, and says, “This book is very seafood. He specializes in environmental microbiol- near and dear to my heart because I didn’t go to ogy, and when he first came to Nicholls, the culinary culinary school.” school was just starting. He was curious about the Even without traditional culinary training, Chera- different spices used in cooking in the classes and mie’s passion for cuisine fueled his learning. “Every- observed some of them. thing that I had learned from my family were good “I thought, ‘wow, the cooking school mainly use French, family cooking . and I wanted to learn the spices for taste and enhancing the food’s flavor’, everything I could about fine dining and Cajun-Creole and I thought as a microbiologist that there is another cuisine,” Cheramie says. “And the only master of it at purpose to the spices. Spices can control some of the time was this guy Paul Prudhomme.” the bacteria that cause disease,” Boopathy explains. Cheramie cooked every recipe in Prudhomme’s Boopathy describes chefs as culinary profession- book and used most of them in his restaurant. There als with different mindsets when it comes to bacteria, is a Cajun seasoning blend consisting of dried sea- and he believes that some of these professionals sonings as well as dried herbs listed at the beginning do not even realize that the spices are controlling of each recipe. bacteria when they are being used. As a scientist, Cheramie always makes sure that his dishes are he observed the spices through a different looking cooked at proper temperatures, wears gloves when glass and discovered some spices could regulate the handling food and takes precautions to prevent food bacteria in foods. contamination. “It’s part of professional pride too. I “Humans are made up of 37 trillion human cells,” would hate to know that something I did made some- Boopathy says. “But we have 100 trillion bacteria one sick,” he says. living inside. There are more good bacteria living on “If the chemical is effective, the bacteria will not products that are Temperatures in this profession are important when humans than bad ones.” grow near the disk, and that is called the zone of in processed foods it comes to safe food preparation. Cheramie explains In Boopathy’s research, he discovered antimicrobi- inhibition because it inhibits the growth of bacteria,” are actually harmful to that when cooking, getting food up to a 165-degree als in different Cajun spices that can inhibit bacterial Boopathy explains. “You can clearly see the differ- people. On the other hand, spices temperature is safe and to check meats, you can use growth on food. “An antimicrobial is any chemical ences on the filter paper because one has a big zone are natural products and are evolved to co-evolve meat thermometers. “The temperature danger zone that will kill microorganisms such as bacteria and here,” he says, pointing to the filter paper with a large with people and is actually beneficial to us.” is 41 to 135 degrees, especially around that 100-de- funguses,” he explains. circle in the middle and bacteria surrounding it. “And Chef Cheramie would agree when it comes to food gree mark. Bacteria begins multiplying exponentially Capsaicin was the antimicrobial Boopathy found in this is a small zone here,” he adds, pointing to the in his kitchen, he does not like to use chemicals and one to two, two to four, four to eight and so on… And hot peppers such as cayenne and jalapeno. These filter paper with a smaller circle in the middle. Boo- prefers to use natural Cajun spices and foods. And, within a minute, you have millions of them, so it is peppers are used in hot sauces and other Cajun pathy’s experiment showed that one spice is more according to Prof. Boopathy’s research, the benefits very important that you keep your hot food at proper spices such as crab boil. effective in killing bacteria than the other. of spices go beyond killing bacteria. They also can temperatures for serving.” The other antimicrobial that Boopathy found was Other tests in the lab include injecting extracts from preserve foods. “Cooking will eliminate a lot allicin, which is in garlic. “Allicin is a compound that specific spices into a high-performance liquid chro- So next time you’re cooking in the kitchen and have of harmful bacteria and contains sulfur and phenyl which kills bacteria. The matography machine that determines the names of an envie for some Cajun food, add the spices and put food borne bacteria that more garlic extract you use in food is not only good each chemical used in the spice. that extra dash of hot sauce or cayenne pepper - the causes things such as for your system, but it also controls and kills bacteria “Spices are natural products,” Boopathy explains. spicier the better. And healthier. food poisoning, but in the food,” Boopathy explains. “It’s not man-made chemicals like preservatives. The washing your hands is Boopathy tests different Cajun spices using an ex- a very good policy. When periment called the zone of inhibition, which tells him I work in the kitchen, the the effectiveness of different spices on bacteria. PAGE 4 PAGE 5 making her own RhythmSTORY BY KAMERYN ROME Webster’s Dictionary:: Distinctive- having a quality or characteristic that makes a per- son or thing different from oth- ers; different in a way that is easy to notice; appealing or in- teresting because of an unusual quality or characteristic. She prefers to ride her bike everywhere classes and she offers dance classes to the people hair usually wild and up in bobby pens. instead of using a car because she enjoys talk- she meets. “Oh. Oh. Oh. Every semester someone ing to everyone along her route. Some of them “One of the best things that I did was volunteer asks how long my hair is. So normally what I do are students that go to the university where she a lot and teach dance classes. One time I taught when people want to see it, I take it down to show teaches, or community members that knew her a woman and her blind boyfriend to dance. He them,” she says as she starts to take a few bobby father when he taught at the university or just couldn’t see me, but I was able to tell him how pins out of black hair sprinkled with a few grey plain strangers. Most mornings she likes to bike to dance,” she says. “It was beautiful when they strands. “But it’s so thin and it always falls apart. on Menard Street to get to Nicholls. Sometimes would bicycle together. The blind guy would be I walk around when I do it,” she continues as she she bikes Highway 1 or 7th Street. She often in the back, and she would lead him. It’s just so paces the room and takes more bobby pins out of likes taking side streets at times because she likes interesting how we can do things in different her hair, and it flows to her hips.