The Jefferson Parish Library will host its third “Food Writer’s Symposium” beginning at 12 p.m., Saturday, June 25, at the River Ridge Library, 8825 Jefferson Highway, River Ridge.

This event is free of charge and is open to the public. Registration is not required.

The purpose of the symposium is to encourage people to create cookbooks so that recipes will not be lost, and instead, will be collected and passed on to other generations. Speakers will address the basic process of creating and marketing cookbooks.

12 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. – The Art of the Cookbook with Elizabeth Williams

Elizabeth Williams is a founder of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum and president of the National Food & Beverage Foundation. Much of her research and writing centers on the legal and policy issues related to food and foodways. She co-authored The Encyclopedia of Law and Food which was published by Greenwood Publishing in 2011. In 2013 AltaMira published New Orleans: A Food Biography. Her latest book, Nana’s Creole Italian Table was published by LSU Press spring 2022. She will open the seminar and talk about the cookbook industry, what is needed to create a successful cookbook, and legal issues, such as copyright of recipes.

1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. – The Importance of Recipe Testing with Poppy Tooker

Poppy Tooker is host of WWNO’s Louisiana Eats! radio and podcast with more than 250,000 listeners monthly. More than 25,000 people watch Tooker weekly on WYES TVs Steppin Out. Her past cookbooks have won a variety of awards, including Best New Cookbook (Crescent City Farmers Market Cookbook, 2007 and Pascals Manale Cookbook, 2018.) The Crescent City Farmers Market Cookbook won the Eula Mae Dore Tabasco Cookbook Award (2007) and Louisiana Eats! was given the Literary Award of the Year from the Louisiana Library Association (2013).

3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. – What Are Publishers and Editors Looking For?

Cynthia Lejeune Nobles’ most recent book is The Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook: Recipes from Ignatius J. Reilly's New Orleans. She also authored The “Delta Queen” Cookbook and serves as series editor for The Southern Table. She is a food columnist for the Advocate of Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Acadiana. She is a member of the Newcomb College Culinary History Writers Group. She will discuss the publishing needs of LSU Press.

Chef Jarred Zeringue is the author of Southern and Smoked: Cajun Cooking through the Seasons. His family has lived, worked, and farmed in the River Parishes of Louisiana and nearby New Orleans since the early 1700s. Today the dishes that Chef Zeringue serves at his restaurants reflect the blend of cultures and influences of South Louisiana. A native of Vacherie, Zeringue splits his time between the New Orleans French Quarter and Wayne Jacob's Smokehouse & Restaurant in LaPlace, a longstanding stop on the “andouille trail.”

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, manager of Adult Programming for the library, at (504) 889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.