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pVy- / grew1 up in Algiers and read any novel, news or informa- > ?v A: ^/jon / mm gather on New Orleans and the area.	':	"	";
Having read several offames Lee Burke?s novels, the word \"(ush-cush? appears as something to eat.
? What is cush-cush? How is it made? Do you have any
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Recipes? And is it eaten only when drinking coffee?	.
Miriam Torres Cox-
Orlando, Fla.
g^I?ve seen the dish spelled several different ways, including coush-,, ^oush, couche-couche and cush-cush. Regardless of the spelling, the, j??* |south Louisiana dish is very different from the couscous of North fAfrican and Mediterranean cuisine. The Louisiana dish is a cornmeal (?mush often served with milk and eaten like cereal.
Although cush-cush seems to be most popular among French ? g!descendants in south-central Louisiana, its cornmeal base makes me |pwonder if it began as an Indian dish, to which the settlers added their i^own touches. It is also possible that the dish is a variation oi polenta, jfa cornmeal porridge popular in Spanish-speaking countries. Whether E 'the dish arrived with the Indians, the Acadians or Spanish colonial set-
*	tiers, it remains most popular in the areas of the state most heavily ^?populated by French descendants.	v
^ As far as a recipe is concerned, there seem to be quite a few varia-te 'tions, each of which sounds like basic combread batter. There are also "several different ways of eating the finished dish - plain, in a bowl with i^rnilk (like oatmeal) or with cane syrup. The Daily Iberian, a newspa-^per deep in the heart of Acadian Louisiana, has an online version of its cookbook, which contains two different recipes for the traditional com-ftneal mush. The Web site is: http://iberianet.com/cajunstuff/cook-*book/. Readers without Web access may check the cookbook?s availability by writing or calling the newspaper office. Their mailing address is The Daily Iberian, P.O. Box 9290, New Iberia, LA 70562-9290. The telephone number is (337) 365-6773-
Dear Julia,
I have two questions to ask you.
I have tried without success to locate a book entitled The Louisiana Connection. Any suggestions of where I could find it would be greatly appreciated. It has been recommended to me to help with a search of ancestors.
Years ago, I was told about a restaurant named Corintte Dunbar?s that was, I believe, on St. Charles. I was never able to find it. Perhaps it did not have any markers to identify it.
Can you tell me about it?
Diane Criss La Marque, Texas
OK, Diane, two questions cost extra. I?ll be looking for your check for $20,000 in the mail.
I?ve checked with several book-search services hut haven?t been able to find anything called 'Ibe Louisiana Connection, hit you certain it?s a book, and not a genealogy Web site?
I	had better luck recalling Corinne Dunbar?s. During the Great Depression, George Dunbar and his wife, Corinne Loeber Dunbar, were living in an 1840s town house at I7l6 St. Charles Ave. Although the
Virginia, Louisiana
Division, in Metairie
Cemetery.
home was graciously and grandly fur- Gen. stonewall nished, its owners were strapped for cash.
. In an act of desperation, they began selling Jackson honors the homemade dinners in their downstairs rooms. Word of Corinne?s culinary prowess Army of Northern spread. But this was no hard-time hash house; it was a genteel home.
A uniformed butler escorted diners into a lavishly appointed parlor where diey would enjoy drinks. When dinner was announced, the guests were led into the formal dining room, where they would partake of a full home-cooked meal, complete with dessert and coffee. George would then oversee the guests? departure. Corinne Dunbar?s never featured a menu.
When Corinne died in 1947 at the age of 68, her daughter Catherine undertook the restaurant?s operation. In 1956, advertising executive James Plauch? purchased the business, but the Dunbar family would not sell the building, so Plauche purchased a similar building in the next block, at 1617 St. Charles, where he operated the restaurant until his 1987 retirement.
Dear Julia,
Recently, a co-worker in my office went to New Orleans (with a group of young people). Naturally, having been to New Orleans so many times, I asked him where he was staying, etc.
Well, he said he didn?t know until he got there, ^>hich made no sense to me. When he came back, he had actually told everyone in the office (before I came in) what a terrible hotel they had, the only thing they liked was Riverwalk, the riverboat trip went from $13 to $50 per person, the streets were dirtier
AMANDA FRANK PHOTOGRAPH
NEW ORLEANS SEI?TEMIIEK 2000