Sleeping with Ghosts: The Forgotten Sister of Tiana

In 1920s New Orleans, long before the jazz age reached its peak, there was a young chef named Eudora LaRue — rumored to have cooked gumbo that could wake the dead. She claimed her recipes came from “the river people,” spirits who whispered in her dreams.

Her younger sister, Tiana, inherited her restaurant after Eudora vanished. But the first night she reopened, the pots began to stir on their own. Patrons swore they could hear humming from the kitchen even when no one was inside.

Historians later uncovered an old Creole grimoire in the basement — filled with “recipes” that were actually resurrection rites.

One page was marked with Eudora’s handwriting:

“To feed the living, offer what the dead cannot swallow — memory.”

To this day, locals say that when a New Orleans restaurant closes after midnight, you can still smell Eudora’s gumbo — and hear someone whisper, “It’s still warm.”