Warren Laruth, the founder of La Ruth's restaurant in Gretna, LA (just across the river from the French Quarter) was fanatic about measurement. He weighed things -- especially spices and herbs -- and insisted that his cooks use exactly the same proportions as he did in his recipes.

In contrast, many New Orleans chefs use the same method as bel's Mammie: a bit of that, a pinch of that, a drizzle of this, a toss of that.

As between chefs of the two persuasions, their differences are about as deep and firmly held as the differences between prescriptivists and the practicioners of the Humpty Dumpty school on this board.