NATCHEZ &045; Chefs from Friday night’s Taste of the River, shared secrets to their dishes Saturday morning at the Main Street Marketplace.

Cooking demonstrations from 8:45 a.m. until about noon filled up a section of the marketplace.

Salads, pasta, fish, dessert and wine loaded up the menu of items audience members learned about.

Did you know that white chocolate bread pudding was &uot;embarrassingly easy&uot; to make? According to Chef Robert St. John from Hattiesburg’s Crescent City Caf and Purple Parrot Caf it is.

The &uot;Best Chef&uot; from last night’s voting at Taste of the River and sous chef Linda Nance showed the audience how they too could make the dessert.

St. John told the crowd as they watched him pouring and whisking into a double boiler, &uot;I always try to do something people (at food demonstrations) can take with them.&uot;

Rhonda Altazin from Baton Rouge said the bread pudding was &uot;absolutely&uot; something she could make at home although she had never used a double boiler.

St. John even gave the audience a hint about how to get the same effect without an actual double boiler &045; put a stainless steel bowl on top of a saucepan of boiling water.

Altazin, who is opening a catering business soon, was writing each step to the recipes, all things she could do herself.

&uot;It’s neat to get some new ideas,&uot; Altazin said.

Earlier in the morning, Chef Fred Heurtin made a dessert of sweet potato pancakes topped with duck. It was a breakfast Walter Redden said was &uot;better than mother makes it.&uot;

He and his wife are in town from Jackson for this weekend of food, visiting Monmouth Saturday night for Great Chefs in Great Houses.

Heurtin said he makes breakfast at home and these &uot;wonderful&uot; pancakes are ones he is &uot;gonna try to make.&uot;

Chairwoman of Great River Road Food Festival Regina Charboneau estimated about 200 people attended the demonstrations. Charboneau said she thought the day was great and its purpose of giving people access to these chefs for free was achieved.

&uot;I want everyone to know of good food and good wine,&uot; she said. &uot;There is no way you could sit here and not learn something.&uot;

With the recipe sheets being handed out and the chefs giving step-by-step direction by microphone for the whole crowd to hear, few escaped learning something.