How to Enjoy Authentic Bread Pudding in New Orleans

Bread pudding is a traditional dessert in New Orleans, born of the need to use day-old bread. The sweet treat is served in a variety of ways. Sometimes bread pudding has fruit, nuts and topped with a sauce. Here's how to find authentic bread pudding in New Orleans.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Start in the French Quarter at the Gumbo Shop, 630 St. Peter Street. Order the traditional bread pudding with whiskey sauce after a bowl of the world-famous gumbo.
2. Get dressed up and go around the corner to Brennan's, a New Orleans landmark at 417 Royal Street, for an elegant dinner. End with Bananas Foster Bread Pudding with Banana-Rum Sauce, Brennan's spin on the classic in response to bountiful banana shipments in the early 1900s.
3. Visit Emeril Lagasse's eponymous Emeril's, at 800 Tchoupitoulas Street. Order the Banana-Chocolate Bread Pudding with Mint Creme Anglaise Sauce for a refreshing after-dinner treat.
4. Continue the bread pudding journey with a stop at Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen at 416 Chartres Street in the French Quarter. Ask for a heaping serving of Chef Paul's dense bread pudding with peaches and apples topped with a classic hard sauce.
5. Take the streetcar to 1403 Washington Street in the Garden District to world-renown Commander's Palace, the Brennan family flagship restaurant. Enjoy the light soufflé-like bread pudding with rich whiskey sauce.
6. Visit Brigtsen's Uptown at 723 Dante Street. Ask the former Brennan's chef to serve up his rendition of the classic banana bread pudding with warm rum sauce.
7. Make a day of it and venture upriver to Oak Alley Plantation in a picture-postcard perfect setting featured in dozens of films. Visit the cafe for lunch and finish with the traditional bread pudding with rum-soaked raisins with a dash of whiskey sauce.