E.J. Bellocq, Pretty Baby, New Orleans and Shrimp and Duck Breast Gumbo

Pretty Baby, 1978, Brooke Shields, Keith Carradine and Susan Sarandon

It’s hard to believe it was 35 years ago.  Susan Sarandon still looks great, Brooke Shields is beautiful and has kids older than she was in Pretty Baby. 

In the 1970's, New Orleans was in the air in films, art, fashion and even food.  

New York’s art scene swooned over E.J. Bellocq’s Storyville photographs of ladies of the night at MOMA. In New Orleans, Paul Prudhomme was cooking up a storm at Commander’s Palace and then his own KPauls and his recipes started appearing everywhere. In NYC we were “blackening” everything in sight and buying gauzy chemises like mad. 

The time was ripe for an old New Orleans/Storyville film but Louis Malle's  Pretty Baby shocked  sophisticated urban audiences when it came out in 1978 because of the character of Violet.  As with Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver, people were horrified by 12-year old Brooke Shields role in the film. Not only was her character living in a “sporting establishment”, she was served on a silver tray at a gentlemen’s virgin auction –– a shocking  environment for a child even if it was less sordid than the reality of a 1917 New Orleans brothel. The film was a sensation.

Bellocq's Desk

Pretty Baby's visual milieu was rooted in E.J. Bellocq’s eloquent photographs of the demimondaine of New Orlean’s Storyville –– a red light district set up to contain misbehavior in a few blocks around Basin Street in 1897 (by a NOLA alderman named Sidney Story).   Keith Carradine played Bellocq in the film.

The quality of the pleasure houses went from squalid to elegant.  At the height of Storyville, 4000 women within the area were priced anywhere from 50¢ to $10 (although individual celebrities could go for considerably more). Arlington House, which was one of the posher places, boasted that it was a $5 house.

As in Paris and New York, a New Orleans Blue Book was published that let patrons know the services and women available at each “house”.

 Arlington's Vienna Parlor from the Storyville Gallery

Josie Arlington

Hilda Burt's Boudoir

An advertisement for one of the ladies

After its 20 year run of graft, prostitution and drug and alcohol abuse, Storyville was closed by WWI.

US military brass shut it down after a murder or 2 of some of their enlisted men.  They decided it was not a suitable environment for troops on their way to the European front.

Nearly all the buildings (including the beautiful mansions) were torn down during the Depression to build grim housing blocks called The Iberville Projects.

The women live on through Bellocq's work, posing forever –– connecting with those who see them with ancient eyes that have seen too much.

Insoucient pose but a glaze of sadness too… 

My favorite photograph might offend since it is full-frontal (you can click HERE to see it without my polite retouching) but the model is terribly beautiful and the photograph just sensational with all it’s damaged bits –– actually, that adds to its haunting quality (you can see more of Bellocq's photos HERE).

As in the film, Bellocq gained the confidence of the girls, much as Toulouse Lautrec had done in his time with the working-women of Paris (I wrote about that HERE).  Neither man judged or objectified his subjects so there seemed to be an open dialogue between them.

Henri Toulouse-Lautrec,  The Sofa 

Prostitutes playing cards, Bellocq

I started thinking about New Orleans spicy past last week when I helped out on a D’Artagnan shoot and found myself the lucky recipient of Andouille, tasso ham, duck breast and duck fat.  I couldn’t think of a better use for them than to make my own version of New Orleans Gumbo (sans okra). 

Something about gumbo and the earthy quality of the ladies of Storyville went together in my mind –– like the legend of garlicky, pasta puttanesca goodness wafting from ladies of the evening’s rooms, enticing patrons in Italian port cities. Storyville was probably scented with gumbo pots burbling away in many a bordello kitchen. It does have a marvelous dusky odor -– a gorgeous dark caramel-colored, roux-thickened sauce brings all the parts together.  Since I had beautiful duck breast, I decided to just barely cook the duck meat with the shrimp at the last minute so the duck would be juicy and rare and the shrimp pillowy ––  provocative textures to compliment the earthy flavors. 

My own first effort at gumbo in the 80’s was nearly a disaster.  Who knew that simmering fish stock over night would turn my lovely Village apartment into a Superfund-site of dead fish smells?  Borrowed fans and a bit of luck saved the special birthday evening and my gumbo was insanely good – the fish stock was perfect when mixed with all the rest and I didn’t burn the roux (it is a bit dangerous if you go to full dark).  

Here’s a fairly easy recipe for it.  You could even make the base earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it with the duck and shrimp minutes before serving (I like it better the next day). I served it with brown rice but it's also delicious with grits. 

Duck Breast and Shrimp Gumbo, serves 4


1/4 c D'Artagnan duck fat + 1 T

1/4 c flour

1 small green pepper, sliced or chopped

1 small onion, chopped and/or sliced

2 stalks of celery, sliced

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 T + 2t cajun seasoning *(recipe follows)

1/4 t celery seed

3 c shellfish stock or chicken stock, HOT**

6 - 8 oz D'Artagnan andouille sausage, sliced into rounds

2 - 4 oz D'Artagnan Tasso ham, chopped

1 pound large shelled shrimp with tails (4-5 per person)

2 -3 D'Artagnan duck breasts, without the skin (depending on the size of the breast)

salt and pepper to taste (Cajun seasoning has some salt in it, so taste before adding salt)
Hot sauce to taste


2 c cooked Rice

sliced scallions

Filé powder (optional)

chopped parsley for garnish


Heat the duck fat in a skillet and add the flour after it is hot. At medium heat, stir for about 5 minutes until the flour is a light caramel color. Lower the head and stir regularly until the mixture is a dark caramel color, about 30 minutes. Do not walk away. It can burn easily.


Add the vegetables to the mixture and stir at medium low heat for 5-8 minutes, then add the Cajun seasoning and celery seed.


Slowly add the hot stock, stirring as you add. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the andouille and tasso ham and cook another 5 minutes.


At this point you can reserve the mixture for later or proceed (I think the base is better the next day).


Salt and season the duck with 2 t Creole seasoning and sauté for a minute or 2 on each side in 1 T of duck fat and remove –– it should be very rare. Add the duck to the gumbo stock for a few minutes then add raw shrimp to the pan and cook for a minute or 2. Slice the duck and serve individually plated or on a platter with rice and chopped parsley and sliced scallions. Sprinkle with filé if you would like.


**one trick is to shell the shrimp and cook the shells with the chicken stock for 20 minutes to get the flavor.  Then toss the shells and you have the best of both worlds.

*Creole seasoning, Emerils Essence


2 1/2 t paprika

2 t salt

2 t garlic powder

1 t black pepper

1 t onion powder

1 t cayenne

1 t oregano

1 t thyme


Combine all and put in spice jar.

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