Susan Spicer’s Gulf Fish “Cha Ca La Vong”

ABOUT THE DISH

In August 1960, a plane from the Netherlands touched down in New Orleans carrying six-year-old Susan Spicer, her six siblings, and her parents. Louisiana was her father’s final post before retiring from the Navy. Susan was raised on the West Bank.

Her first memory of Southern Louisiana? “There’s a picture of all seven of us lined up on the stairway coming down from the plane to the tarmac, and you can see the heat waves rising behind us. And the mosquitos! They loved me—they still do!” Laughing, Susan says her love for New Orleans—from the cuisine to the people to the music—has grown deeper and deeper throughout the years.

Susan is chef-owner of Rosedale and Bayona, New Orleans restaurants offering traditional Louisiana cuisine with innovative twists. Susan came to cooking later than most, but went on to be named one of the Best Chefs in America by the James Beard Foundation in 1993.

In 2010, Susan and her business partner, Regina Keever, filed a lawsuit against BP following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. They were motivated not only by the damage done to the environment but also to Louisiana’s economy. As Susan explains, “New Orleans cuisine is based on seafood. It’s just a fact of life that we have in abundance, that’s what makes us a little bit different from the rest of the country.” She still sees the impacts of the oil spill to this day in New Orleans, noting that the oyster industry, for example, never fully bounced back.

Susan does her part to encourage and maintain the local economy, buying as much local seafood as possible for both of her restaurants. Her Gulf Fish Cha Ca La Vong is a nod to both the local fishing industry and the flavors brought by Southern Louisiana’s thriving Vietnamese community. Perusing local markets, Susan was surprised to learn that dill was a major ingredient in Vietnamese food. Her dish uses local fish “cut into pieces and dusted with a turmeric rice powder, then fried and served with peanuts, herbs—one being dill! —and scallions.”

Gulf Fish Cha Ca La Vong speaks to Susan’s commitment to preserving New Orleans’ culture while embracing new and innovative ways to ensure its survival and evolution. “It’s easy to get distracted by other things in life, but it’s something that’s with us all the time. It’s important to protect the fisheries, to protect this way of life, to protect the barriers to the Gulf.”

Reflecting on her lawsuit on the ten-year anniversary of the oil spill, Susan states, “I hope it’s brought more awareness of the vanishing coast and the delicacy and vulnerability of our coastline. We really have to fight and try to do what we can to rebuild, to save it, to bring back a lot of the wetlands.”