NEW ORLEANS - The family of the late Louisiana chef Paul Prudhomme has donated his extensive cookbook collection to a New Orleans museum dedicated to Southern cuisine.

The Southern Food & Beverage Museum said in a statement Monday that Prudhomme's wife, Lori, donated the approximately 600 cookbooks, as well as wine and food documents and books on food science to the museum.

Prudhomme died Oct. 8. The chef popularized the food of his Cajun upbringing and became one of the first American chefs to achieve worldwide fame.

The museum said Prudhomme made notes in some of the cookbooks. The museum said the collection is a testament to Prudhomme's "love for cuisine of all countries, particularly the regional cuisine upon which he built his career."