Fonville Winans began his career by documenting the lives of Depression-Era Cajuns in the coastal town of Grand Isle and later became the official photographer for the state of Louisiana. An enthusiastic tinkerer and occasional inventor, Winans experimented obsessively with recipes. The Fonville Winans Cookbook incorporates recipes he found or invented in the 1950s or 1960s, recorded in two journals that his daughter-in-law, Melinda Winans, found after his death. The recipes range from the Cajun cuisine that he claimed as his favorite to Mexican and Chinese recipes that he brought home from his travels at a time when tamales and fried rice where virtually unknown in Baton Rouge. No book on Fonville Winans would be complete without his photographs, and this cookbook features many that have hitherto gone unpublished. Readers will be fascinated by the photos and the biography of this extraordinary man, and home cooks will enjoy cooking his easy and satisfying recipes. Fonville Winans s most iconic image, The Oysterman (1934), illustrates not only the renowned photographer s skill for portraiture but also his appreciation for Louisiana s edible bounty. Indeed, many patrons and friends knew Fonville as a passionate cook who spent decades experimenting in the kitchen and perfecting dishes that ranged from Louisiana creole classics to popular foods and international cuisines. This bon vivant s love of spicy, roux-based dishes is evident in a dizzying array of recipes for Cajun gumbos, bisques, rice dishes, and other Louisiana staples. Fonville also investigated food trends popular in the 1950s and 1960s, developing his own recipes for unusual dishes such as Jook, Azafrán Rice, and Coquina Stew. Along with a biography of Fonville, The Fonville Winans Cookbook presents many never-before-published photographs and features over one hundred recipes created by the world-famous photographer, often accompanied by his notes on cooking trials and successful dishes. It offers a new perspective on a man celebrated for capturing the spirit of Louisiana, pairing beautiful photography with easy-to-prepare, satisfying recipes steeped in the state s culture and cuisine. Fonville Winans's most iconic image, The Oysterman (1934), illustrates not only the renowned photographer's skill for portraiture but also his appreciation for Louisiana's edible bounty. Indeed, many patrons and friends knew Fonville as a passionate cook who spent decades experimenting in the kitchen and perfecting dishes that ranged from Louisiana creole classics to popular foods and international cuisines. This bon vivant's love of spicy, roux-based dishes is evident in a dizzying array of recipes for Cajun gumbos, bisques, rice dishes, and other Louisiana staples. Fonville also investigated food trends popular in the 1950s and 1960s, developing his own recipes for unusual dishes such as Jook, Azafrán Rice, and Coquina Stew. Along with a biography of Fonville, The Fonville Winans Cookbook presents many never-before-published photographs and features over one hundred recipes created by the world-famous photographer, often accompanied by his notes on cooking trials and successful dishes. It offers a new perspective on a man celebrated for capturing the spirit of Louisiana, pairing beautiful photography with easy-to-prepare, satisfying recipes steeped in the state's culture and cuisine. Melinda Risch Winans is married to Fonville Winans's youngest son, Walker. She has one daughter, Lara Phillips. Winans taught English in junior high school and retired from the Louisiana Department of Transportation as a training specialist. She is an active member of PEO Chapter AQ, LSU Campus Club, Baton  Rouge Gourmet Club, The Herb Society of America, and Baton Rouge Amateur Radio Club (KD5PRB). Winans resides in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with her husband. Cynthia LeJeune Nobles is author of The Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook:Recipes from Ignatius J. Reilly's New Orleans, The Delta Queen Cookbook:The History and Recipes of the Legendary Steamboat, and co-author of The Fonville Winans Cookbook:Recipes and Photographs of a Louisiana Artist. She is also series editor for The Southern Table at LSU Press, a former food columnist for The Advocate of Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Acadiana, and a former member of the Newcomb College Culinary History Writers Group. Nobles lives in New Orleans with her husband.