Weatherford cooks shrimp that will be poured over blackened catfish and dirty rice.
Weatherford blackens the catfish filets.
By Bakersfield Life Magazine
Phots by Jessica Frey
T
roy Weatherford is crazy about Cajun and Creole cuisine. After all, he is originally from Louisiana. The 44-year-old now lives in Bakersfield and works as an electrical construction consultant for a local oil company. When he’s not working, he’s cooking up some gumbo, jambalaya, and other Cajun and Creole specialities. “I grew up in Louisiana where we love to cook and have really large outdoor cooking gatherings,” he said about the famous crawfish, crab and shrimp boils. “It bonds family and friends.” He shared with Bakersfield Life a little more about his passion for food.
Cooking advice When I developed an interest in cooking: At a young age, but really in my late teens when you begin to understand the ingredients in those wonderful Cajun dishes. My first experience in the kitchen: My dad teaching me how to make a roux at age 12. He was cooking for some rig workers, and I wanted to know why he was stirring the pot so long. My disastrous kitchen story: When I was 20 years old, I
learned about glassware. I cooked a pot roast — it was so tender, and the roux was perfect. I decided to heat it up, so I placed it in a glass-serving dish and placed that on the electric stove. After a few minutes, it exploded and glass went everywhere. We had to order pizza that night. Everything goes better with: Wine. I always mess up: Deep-fried chicken. I have to pan fry it. I rock at making: Pork, chicken and sausage jambalaya, shrimp Creole and seafood gumbo. One of my cooking secrets: When you cook in a black iron pot or skillet, it’s OK to fry the meat until it sticks to the bottom. When you add the onions and let them sauté for a few minutes, turn the fire off and put the lid on it for 15 minutes. After that, start the fire and stir the onions. They will wipe the bottom clean and also give you that nice dark brown color for your jambalaya and gumbos you need to have. How I find inspiration to create a new dish: Trying different things from other cities but adding the Cajun flare to it. If I could spend a day with a famous chef or fellow foodie, it would be: Chef John Folse, Emeril Lagasse or Paul Prudhomme. They all have different cooking styles that I like. Advice I would ask them: I want to start my own cooking show. I would like pointers on what not to cook live. Some things just don’t look good,but taste fantastic, like turtle soup.
Tools of the trade My favorite piece of cooking equipment: Black iron skillets and pots. Must-have kitchen tools: Sharp knives — very sharp knives. Go-to cookbook: “The Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine” by John D. Folse. Ingredients that I avoid: Sassafras (also known as “file gumbo”) and cumin.
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