As New Orleans people, we talk about food constantly because it means so much to us. It is a cultural asset and a fluency in New Orleans food is one of the threads of our shared identity.
The community has lost an institution who for many years helped forge these links through food. That was Tom Fitzmorris, who died this month at age 74.
Through the years he wrote restaurant reviews, hosted a food radio show, wrote cookbooks, moderated an online message board and worked as an advertising pitchman.
But what he really did was give a voice to the local zeitgeist of this community’s food obsession, orchestrating a conversation about food, and he brought the voices of others into it. He taught many how to talk the talk, and he gave them a platform.
In a topic that people take personally, he brought personality. He sang to his radio audiences. He shared diary entry insight into how his work and his personal life entwined. He pronounced every syllable of "poor boy;” it was never po-boy.
People could call in to his radio show to argue over food and dissect opinions, but also share tips and intel. The same continued on internet message board threads, the precursors to today’s social media comment streams.
Today, social media is flooded with food content, algorithmically designed to be engaging, but generally thin on authority or perspective. That was never a problem for Tom, who drew from a lifelong relationship with his subject.
His cookbook recipes leave behind a tangible legacy for food lovers. So does his insistent message that New Orleans is not just a place obsessed with food, but one blessed with food unlike anywhere else, a cuisine particular to the place that created it and the people who keep it central in our culture.
That includes restaurant pros and a public that appreciates the idea of New Orleans cuisine. As narrator, raconteur, historian and analyst, Tom Fitzmorris was one of these keepers of the culture too.
