N'awlins et al.: Food and Finery

Good food abounds in New Orleans, and you don't have to take a food tour or cooking class to discover it.  However, we did take both.  On May 12, 2021, after our swamp tour, we joined the New Orleans Food Walking Tour.  We climbed to the top of a park, next to the levee, to look out at the Mississippi River on one side and Jackson Square on the other.

We then stopped at the nearby French Market for fried alligator bites with remoulade sauce.

We also stopped at Central Market, where the muffuletta sandwich was invented, for slices of that sandwich.  I frankly thought the version I make is better!

And we stopped at a candy store for freshly made pralines.  

On May 14, after arriving back from Mobile, we took a cooking class at the New Orleans School of Cooking.  

The food was fabulous and the portions large.  The guest chef had a catering business, and the food she cooked was better than we had eaten at any restaurant during the trip.  We started out with a biscuit and butter.  She then showed us how to cook crawfish etouffee, shrimp and artichoke soup, and bread pudding.  Each dish was better than the last.  I bought the school’s recipe book, as well as a bag of Cajun spices.  I plan to cook  a New Orleans Sunday dinner. 

We then walked several miles to Mardi Gras World, with its displays of floats.  Our granddaughter, Sophie, had told me how much her family enjoyed Mardi Gras World, and so we didn't want to miss it.

Characters for the floats were first sketched on paper and then created out of paper mache and painted.  

It was fascinating to walk through the warehouse and see not only finished floats, but the characters and accessories that are repainted and used over and over, year after year.

The floats were huge, carrying up to 90 people apiece.  The themes ranged from Disney characters to famous athletes and musicians, to strange beasts, to Roman debauchery, and much more.

I found a green/gold/purple jester’s hat at the Mardi Gras World store, which I brought home to wear during my Mardi Gras Sunday dinners!