cape chef's mardi gras party

Hey, shroomgirl. Just back from NO. Sadly, only went to one restaurant which was totally underwhelming except that I was with the entire family!!! which was a treat in itself.
My parents are really aging -- very hard to watch. I brought a beautiful mallard duck which Daddy had a very hard time cleaning. In years past he would have made short work of it.
The town was all atwitter over a recent article in a restaurant trade mag about the sloppy presentation in the finer local restaurants -- the use of very cheap, inferior flatware, china and "crystal", sloppy service, etc. The populace was incensed but I had to admit the truth of the article. Everyone was offended but no one seemed to say "hey, maybe we ought to look at this." Wish I could remember the name of the magazine or the author.
I was troubled at the reaction. Creole cuisine is such a gumbo (as you always say) that it is sad that the locals are so resistant to outside influence and criticism. My attitude regarding this surprises me because (as you may have inferred from some of my posts) I am such a strong proponent of tradition.
By the way, freshly boiled crawfish were $3.50 per pound at the seafood market! They were wonderful but I remember the days of 3 pounds for a dollar.
I made a pot of glorious red beans Wednesday -- with Camellias and a good ham bone. Wish you were here.

[shroomgirl]

Me too!!! Live crayfish(ahem!!!) were $3 #here in St. Louis....they don't understand crayfish are bait and crawfish is dinner.
I too bought um boiled for under $1 per #
it was nothing to eat 7# each with potatoes and garlic.

Stansils rice is phenominal!!! popcorn or esoteric whatever they call it It's fine...I had them ship 80# up...I'll get you their phone # if you'd like...it's on my fridge.

Service had much to be desired at one of the high end NO restaurants I went to last winter....exceptionally BAD. Trend???? It's sad because that's so much of the experience...and noone could do it like NO except maybe Justines in Mfs.

I stocked up on ham bones and scraps from Mother's still got 20# of dried camillas, just ran out of chicory coffee...bummer.
It's about time for a boil

[ March 10, 2001: Message edited by: shroomgirl ]

[mojofearless]

I realize that this is a very old post, but I was so appalled that I actually joined this forum just to rebut this post. Momoreg and all who read her post, NO DOING THAT TO BEIGNETS! Yes, it's obvious that you've never been to New Orleans. I'm from New Orleans, and let me tell you that there is something so inherently wrong about doing some wild-flavored beignet bar, that I can't stress to you enough how deeply troubled the thought of it leaves me. Beignets are sacred in that city, and they are rustic. This is a very old tradition where I'm from, and people should not be confused about what it really is by upstarts who think to improve on something already so established. You want to flavor beignets? It's called a freakin donut. And don't try to pin it on us, especially when you've never had the experience. See what I'm saying? You want to make donuts? Flavor them however you want. You want to serve beignets? Get it right. The other person was correct: callas would also be authentic. Kudos for even knowing what that is. Impressive. Bread pudding would also work, and you could screw around with the flavors there much more convincingly. Everyone does their own bread pudding thing, but beignets are beignets, and never should one be contaminated with peaches or plums or the earnest intentions of folks who have never eaten them. Whew. Now that that's off my chest...

[shroomgirl]

wooooeeeee....this is an old one. First off Welcome Mojofearless. Obviously you've been playing in the archives. I lived in DeRidder, Baton Rouge and New Orleans more years than anywhere else.....Southern Louisiana has a strong place in my heart including beignets and cafe au lait.
thanks for the callas compliment....I really dig in to an areas food history/current culture.

So, not to fan the flames but John Folse, HUGE La. ambassador of food for years....even cooking nutrias as a campaign to get hunters to start ridding the wetlands of the critters. Has a prune beignet recipe along with a standard verison what I now use as my standard beignet recipe (if you've not used it try it....). Seafood beignets have been around an awfully long time.

Are you still in NO if so let us know what's going on in the food scene?