Du Jour with David Gallent, food photographer

Baton Rouge-based food photographer David Gallent’s stunning images of Louisiana cuisine, found each month in 225 and in the two recent tomes of Chef John Folse, are capable of triggering serious mouth-watering. Last month, the 33-year-old media chef released a new work, Room in the Bowl, a heartwarming collection of photography and writing about gumbo, one of Gallent’s gastronomic obsessions. Co-edited with New York food photographer, Jaimie Tiampo, Room in the Bowl features South Louisiana images that depict the ingredients, process and people who make the state’s signature dish. All profits will be donated to two charities, the International Association of Culinary Professional’s (IACP) Culinary Trust and the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans (SoFab).

The project began in 2007, when IACP asked its members to donate their time and talent to the city of New Orleans, the site of its 2008 annual conference. Gallent and Tiampo led the organization’s Food Photographers/Food Stylists section, and conceived the idea of a gumbo project. Before the conference, they scouted worthy locations, and when members arrived, they dispatched 18 food photographers (themselves included) to shoot South Louisiana restaurants, cafes, seafood boats and more. The resulting photos, along with food writing, comprise the work.

Gallent’s personal gumbo obsession is well-documented. He teaches a popular, three-hour class at the Panhandler culinary shop on how to create a perfect gumbo by exploring its essential components. It stems from his days working in the test kitchens of Oxmoor House, publisher of Southern Living, Cooking Light and Coastal Living, among others. Then a recent graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., Gallent was assigned a “four seasons of gumbo” story for Coastal Living, which forced him to break down the subject for the layman in fool-proof terms.

The self-published Room in the Bowl is available on Amazon.com. For more information, gumbogood.com.

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