Hey Mardi Gras! Who you callin’ Fat?

Since we can’t all be like Homer Simpson and eat our way through New Orleans, sampling every dish there is, we will have to settle for just a couple highlights. Let’s start with what Mardi Gras is and how it became the festival it is today. Well, not this year. I guess there will be different masks for Mardi Gras 2021. https://www.pexels.com/@aijaphoto Hopefully, next year will be closer to normal.

The celebration of Mardi Gras didn’t originate in New Orleans. And New Orleans isn’t the only place it is celebrated. You may have heard of Carnaval celebrated in Brazil, Venice, and elsewhere. The origins can be traced back to pagan rites of fertility and spring that were incorporated into Christian celebrations of lent. The French term literally means Fat Tuesday. It is celebrated the Tuesday before ash Wednesday, the beginning of lent. There are many interpretations of how it became an important day. But, the one that makes the most sense is the last hurrah before Lent.

Lent is the 40 days leading up to Easter. To mark the occasion, Christians abstain from pleasures they would normally indulge in for this period. People give up meat, but are allowed to eat fish. For the duration of lent they are supposed to act like the pious Christians they purport to be and eschew all pleasures of the flesh. This is where Mardi Gras comes in. It is the last day of debauchery before lent. So, people indulge and overindulge in all things pleasurable. The most important (for our purposes here) is food. Mardi Gras is a time to let loose, chow down, and drink like you won’t enjoy these pleasures for 40 days.

Why seafood before lent?

One thing I find curious about the New Orleans take on Mardi Gras is that a number of the dishes people indulge on are shrimp or crawfish based. If the only animal protein you are allowed to eat during lent is seafood, why would you want to overindulge on seafood the night before? You would think it would be a giant steak. I suppose that after a few hurricanes, you forget why you are celebrating anyway. The whole thing is based on an ingenuous premise, so I guess nothing really matters. The fact that you are trying to get all your debauchery into one night, before judgment, shows that you really aren’t as pious as you should be. Hence, the masks: a duplicitous attempt to fool the gods into not knowing who you are. Good luck with that.

There’s Fried Shrimp, Shrimp gumbo… and that’s about it.

Jambalaya, Etoufe, Gumbo, Muffaletta, Beignets, Po Boys, King Cake, and hot sauce come to mind when we think of New Orleans. There are hundreds of recipes for each out there. We could be traditional and just follow along or we can truly understand what the taste of New Orleans really is. There are some base elements that evoke the Big Easy. Once you know those elements, you can build on them. We aren’t out to impress the purist. We are trying to create a mood. Just like New York, it’s party city after all. So, let’s look at the most common ingredients in New Orleans.

Of course, there is always shrimp, as Bubba explains in Forrest Gump. Between that, crawfish, and catfish, you have a pretty good basis for anything Louisiana. But, as I mentioned before, if you are preparing for lent, you’re going to be sick of seafood pretty soon. For any other time of year, though, this trilogy is a great way to experience New Orleans. These are just proteins. They can be substituted. What gives New Orleans food it’s distinct flavor is the combination of vegetables and spices that underlie the dishes.

Sticking with the religious roots, most New Orleans cooking starts with what is referred to as “the holy trinity” of bell pepper, onion, and celery. This is the Cajun or Creole adaptation of what we generally refer to as mirepoix, using peppers instead of carrots. While Cajun and Creole may seem similar to outsiders, there is a big difference to people who live the life. Creole are descended from Upper-class French and Spanish while Cajun are descendants of French Canadians. Creole is considered more refined and Cajun more rustic. Think of sitting at a fancy table indoors versus one pot stews on the banks of the Mississippi. Creole tend to use tomatoes or tomato sauces in their dishes while it is less dominant in Cajun cooking. Another difference can be found in Gumbo. Creole cooking uses okra which naturally thickens the broth, while Cajun versions tend to use a roux.

It’s all about the spice

Spices make the taste of New Orleans. Creole seasoning generally relies on a blend of traditional herbs with cayenne pepper added to give zing. A typical Creole spice mix consists of: onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, basil, thyme, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika and salt. A typical Cajun blend tends to be heavier on the peppers and more about the heat, with similar base spices, but lighter on the herbs. Again, we see small differences that matter a lot to a purist.

Let’s not forget the hot sauce. Tabasco is the Kleenex of hot sauces. Not in a derogatory way. It’s name is synonymous with hot sauce just like Kleenex is synonymous with facial tissue. It is a perfect blend of vinegar, heat, and flavor for New Orleans cooking. Traditional Tabasco is considered tame to true heat aficionados. In keeping up with the times and competition, they have produced several different versions now. Of course, you need to experiment with hot sauces. Every week there is a new one on the market. And, everyone is trying to outdo each other. Some are just heat for heat’s sake. Others are a different blend of fruits, vegetables, hot peppers, and vinegar. Check the Scoville ratings on this website. You will find Tabasco way down the list at a 2,500 rating compared to the hottest sauces coming in at 16 Million.

And now…The Meal:

Whether it’s spicy food or potent drinks, we have you covered here. As mentioned above, there are merits to both Cajun and Creole cooking. So, our offerings will be sort of hybrid. Since our mission is to help you cook restaurant quality food at home, these recipes will trend toward the Creole side. Presentation is equally important as flavor.

In Keeping with Our tradition of multi-course meals, we would like to propose the following menu for a stay at home night of debauchery while binging Netflix:

1. Appetizer: Spicy Cajun Hush-puppies with Fried Green Tomato Dip
2. First Course: Creamy Cucumber and Onion Salad
3. Entree: Andouille Sausage and Chicken Gumbo with Cinnamon scented Rice
4. Home made Beignets with A trio of Dipping Sauces

Before starting, let’s get “lubricated”, Here is a Hurricane recipe (And a scorpions video. Sorry, the scorpion bowl recipe will have to wait for Chinese new year).

1. 2 ounces light rum
2. 2 ounces dark rum
3. 1 ounce each Lime, orange, and passion fruit juice
4. 1 ounce simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar boiled on the stove to make a syrup)
5. A dash of grenadine (Or the strawberry soup from Valentines day menu)
6. Garnish with Fruit, citrus, and a cherry if you have them.

If you can’t find passion fruit juice, nectar, or puree, feel free to substitute. Mango, pineapple, peach, or pear make nice variations.

A few words about the menu:

Hush Puppies are a classic southern staple. And, they come in handy to absorb some of that alcohol. The lore behind hush puppies is that people had dogs running around the house, bothering the cook. To keep them quiet, the cook would fry a ball of cornmeal batter and toss it to the dogs so they would hush. Hence, hush puppies. I know: that is cornier than my jokes.

While salad isn’t necessarily something one thinks of at Mardi Gras, I think it is an important part of any menu. This is a variation on what would usually be a side dish. Cucumbers in a cool creamy dressing helps counter the heat of the spicy food, so I feel it is appropriate.

Most Gumbos have shrimp and you can definitely add shrimp into this recipe or substitute. I left it out because, as stated above, why eat seafood if you are looking at a 40 day period of nothing but seafood. Sorry Bubba…

Beignets are basically a New Orleans doughnut or fried dough. Served fresh out of the fryer, sprinkled with powdered sugar, they are a light and tasty end to a heavy meal. Never mind the calories. You have 40 days of abstaining and starving yourself to work them off.