I was excited for Cajun cooking. Who wouldn’t be? I wanted cayenne, Tabasco, brown sugar, sassafras, crayfish, barbecue not to mention anything stewed for hours or deep fried in lard. The plan was to eats lots of soft shell crab and smothered crayfish (which I hear is something similar to braising and covering your food with flavor) either way it sounds good to me. The trip was going to be all about food, except perhaps some live street music, which conveniently we encountered at every turn. This band quickly became our favorite and we stalked them shamefully like street performer groupies dancing on the sidelines.
We went to New Orleans to celebrate the New Year and we couldn’t have picked a more vibrant city in which to celebrate. While New York City is fun at New Years (I have spent many a new year running around Manhattan in my heels and noise makers) we wanted to go somewhere far, somewhere different somewhere warmer. Take that 15 degrees and snow! I’m not one for resolutions which I feel I usually break within a week but at the risk of sounding completely cliche but I wanted to start the new year fresh. Last year had some tough moments and my family, friends, and cooking really pulled me through, so why not start the year with a trip based around all around good food.
To ring in the New Year we wandered around Jackson Square and opened up a cheap bottle of champagne in honor of New York City New Year since New Orleans is one hour behind. Crowds of people lined the Mississippi River as fireworks went off overhead. Soon after my group of friends and I met with my cousin and his friends and they quickly suggested we make our way to Frenchman Street. While Bourbon is more famous and verily more tacky, Frenchman is known for live jazz and the local love of music. After midnight we made our way to Frenchman and noticed the difference right away. This video I took is on Frenchman where people took to the street to dance, despite the police car trying to push through the crowd. In the background, mixed in with the piercing sound of a police siren, you can hear our favorite band performing.
On the other side of the spectrum (and other side of town) there is Bourbon Street. Don’t get me wrong, we had lots of fun on Bourbon catching beads from people fishing lines overhead. By the way I wanted to clear something up. Maybe it’s different during Mardi Gras, but it is a lie that you need to take off your top to get beads. Don’t let anyone fool you, especially the creepy old men with cigarettes in their mouths that never leaves their mouth. We received many beads by batting our eyelashes and reaching up with enthusiastic hands. If I had to describe Bourbon Street succinctly I would say it is an adult’s amusement park, one where people compete for prizes (beads), listen to live bands, engage in friendly sport (drinking), and others watch live entertainment (I’ll let you guys use your imagination on that one).
There are many balconies overlooking the street all the way down Bourbon. Apparently it is prime real estate seeing as some balconies can be rented for parties where party goers can throw beads at the awaiting crowds below.
I was only in New Orleans for a couple of days therefore it was impossible for me to see everything that I wanted to and to get a truly accurate view of the city. My opinion on the city is based purely on the good feeling I got from the warm atmosphere and friendly residents. There is truth to the southern charm stereotype, especially noticeable by someone like myself coming from New York City where people can be friendly but can turn on you if you look at them the wrong way.
Jackson Square is the historic center of the French Quarter where you can visit the old city hall the Cabildo which is now a Louisiana history museum or the Roman Catholic St. Louis Cathedral. Outside these buildings you will be amongst street performers, tarot card readers, and even a couple shoe shiners in case your shoes need some sprucing.
Across from Jackson Square is the original coffee stand Cafe du Monde. You should listen to all those guide books that tell you to go here. I for one am all for any place that serves coffee and fried dough of any kind so I was very looking forward to our visit.
Cafe du Monde is famous for its beignets which are essentially deep fried pastry similar to a donut except they are made with yeast. I believe the yeast gives beignets a thicker more doughlike consistency. Eating these fried morsels of goodness inspired me to try some recipes of my own. I wouldn’t mind adding some more fried dough recipes to my repertoire.
My first meal in New Orleans was this crab platter. The restaurant Deanie’s prepared crab four different ways and plopped them all on this plate right here. It was divine and filling, mostly fried or smothered in spices and cream, just as I hoped my first meal would be.
Later in the trip I had some crayfish etouffee, a cajun dish similar to gumbo that starts off with a dark roux (fat and flour mixture usually made with butter), although some chefs prefer using a lighter roux. Etouffer in French means to smother and frankly you can smother my food with flavor and butter and I’ll be very happy.
As a side note, instead of bread Deanies serves baked red bliss potatoes. Brilliant! Perfect way to start off a meal when you are starving.
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