Emeril borrows from his Portuguese background
Emeril Lagasse was born in 1959 in Fall River, Massachusetts to a Portuguese mother, Hilda, and father John. Southeastern Massachusetts is the biggest Portuguese-American hub in the United States, and a young Lagasse soaked up the local Portuguese culinary culture. “One of my chores for my mom was, every day I would have to go down to the local Portuguese bakery and get bread for the table,” Lagasse told CNN. At age 10, Lagasse went to work at Carreiro’s Bakery, eventually graduating from washing dishes to baking muffins and bread.
As Lagasse’s career took him to a culinary program at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, then Europe, then New Orleans, the chef always held onto his Portuguese roots. Emeril’s website is dotted with recipes for Portuguese favorites, including spicy salt cod cakes with chorizo and stewed fava beans and kale-filled caldo verde. The chef also admits that his mother’s dishes continue to dominate at home and around the holidays. “The biggest influence is really my mom,” he told Tasting Table, citing a Thanksgiving dish called lache, a Portuguese take on stuffing that features chorizo, bell pepper, celery, and onions.
As of this writing, Lagasse is slated to open 34 Restaurant & Bar, his first Portuguese restaurant, in New Orleans in spring 2024.
