Sunday, January 4, 2009
Randol's - Lafayette's Family Restaurant on Monday
Monday night dinner at Randol's - crabcake appetizer (amazing!), the fried crawfish platter, bread pudding, a couple of cocktails, and if that sounds like a lot, it was. I paid the price the next day. Dinner was very good, live Cajun music, and lots of people dancing the "Cajun two -step" or whatever. - Arthur Matluck
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Thus Spoke Arthur Matluck
If it isn't fried, covered with powdered sugar, or stuffed in innards, they just don't eat it.
After the Commander's Palace, back to the French Quarter, a little shopping , a three man Hanukkah parade complete with music and menorahs, and Johnny's Po Boys. Johnny's ran out of oysters, but the shrimp were fresh gulf ... you could tell. Later that evening, onto Mother's for Mae's file gumbo, crawfish etoufee, fried oysters, and the second bread pudding of the day which was free, no less. This was real New Orleans (not the free part). I would have had a Po Boy but they ran out of bread.
Monday morning and onto Cafe du Monde for coffee and beignets. Powdered sugar all over the floor. For our frigid friends: it looked good for skiing. This was tasty and good for a long car ride.
Next stop: Poche's Country Market in Breaux Bridge. I had my first boudin. A casing stuffed with meat, organs, whatever, and rice. If I have to ask what parts am I not supposed to eat, it drops several places on my must have list. I tasted the best crawfish etoufee ever. This was a cafeteria set up in a real Cajun country sore. Cool! That was also my last boudin. And they ran out of t-shirts.
That night dinner at Randol's - crabcake appetizer, a fried crawfish platter, bread pudding, a couple of cocktails, and if that sounds like a lot, it was. I paid the price the next day. Dinner was very good, live Cajun music, and lots of people dancing the "Cajun two-step."
And then Tuesday, the most fascinating day of the trip: T-Coons for breakfast, which turned out to be a different style of begniet; next, to Bourque's market ... all kinds of regional specialties, most of which I can smell today when I open the fridge; onto two specialty meat/Cajun/smoke house stores, almost side by side and had been competitors for years; two shacks (really): Andre's whose specialty is curious pig parts, like lips and tails; and Doris', which sells tamales. Which are actually pretty good. That night it was dinner in Pensacola at McGuire's Pub, a touristy place A 3/4 pound over cooked burger, poor service. I could have gotten that at home.
Next day to Bradley's Country store for fresh and smoked sausage, both with good texture and seasoned perfectly. Brought six links home and just had them grilled for supper tonight, along with pickled quail eggs. This is another real country store in a beautiful part of Florida. And then the second stop at Pearl Country store to bring home some 'que for the family on New Year's day. This is good stuff and only 206 miles from here. But please note that this was a two stopper.
And then home. This trip was just fascinating. Well planned, well thought out, interesting all the way. I am glad that I took the journey.
You cannot take a trip through this part of the United States without noting the terrible devistation wrought by Katrina. Biloxi, along Highway 90, is being rebuilt. Lots of casinos, beautiful beaches, and lots of construction. New Orleans will take decades to rebuild, the destruction being so widespread. Neighborhoods gone, wrecked and abandoned houses everywhere. It truly is a shame.
A good trip, well done, and even the boudin tastes better when you share it with your son.
After the Commander's Palace, back to the French Quarter, a little shopping , a three man Hanukkah parade complete with music and menorahs, and Johnny's Po Boys. Johnny's ran out of oysters, but the shrimp were fresh gulf ... you could tell. Later that evening, onto Mother's for Mae's file gumbo, crawfish etoufee, fried oysters, and the second bread pudding of the day which was free, no less. This was real New Orleans (not the free part). I would have had a Po Boy but they ran out of bread.
Monday morning and onto Cafe du Monde for coffee and beignets. Powdered sugar all over the floor. For our frigid friends: it looked good for skiing. This was tasty and good for a long car ride.
Next stop: Poche's Country Market in Breaux Bridge. I had my first boudin. A casing stuffed with meat, organs, whatever, and rice. If I have to ask what parts am I not supposed to eat, it drops several places on my must have list. I tasted the best crawfish etoufee ever. This was a cafeteria set up in a real Cajun country sore. Cool! That was also my last boudin. And they ran out of t-shirts.
That night dinner at Randol's - crabcake appetizer, a fried crawfish platter, bread pudding, a couple of cocktails, and if that sounds like a lot, it was. I paid the price the next day. Dinner was very good, live Cajun music, and lots of people dancing the "Cajun two-step."
And then Tuesday, the most fascinating day of the trip: T-Coons for breakfast, which turned out to be a different style of begniet; next, to Bourque's market ... all kinds of regional specialties, most of which I can smell today when I open the fridge; onto two specialty meat/Cajun/smoke house stores, almost side by side and had been competitors for years; two shacks (really): Andre's whose specialty is curious pig parts, like lips and tails; and Doris', which sells tamales. Which are actually pretty good. That night it was dinner in Pensacola at McGuire's Pub, a touristy place A 3/4 pound over cooked burger, poor service. I could have gotten that at home.
Next day to Bradley's Country store for fresh and smoked sausage, both with good texture and seasoned perfectly. Brought six links home and just had them grilled for supper tonight, along with pickled quail eggs. This is another real country store in a beautiful part of Florida. And then the second stop at Pearl Country store to bring home some 'que for the family on New Year's day. This is good stuff and only 206 miles from here. But please note that this was a two stopper.
And then home. This trip was just fascinating. Well planned, well thought out, interesting all the way. I am glad that I took the journey.
You cannot take a trip through this part of the United States without noting the terrible devistation wrought by Katrina. Biloxi, along Highway 90, is being rebuilt. Lots of casinos, beautiful beaches, and lots of construction. New Orleans will take decades to rebuild, the destruction being so widespread. Neighborhoods gone, wrecked and abandoned houses everywhere. It truly is a shame.
A good trip, well done, and even the boudin tastes better when you share it with your son.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Poche's Boudin
Boudin. Pronounced "boo-DAN." Boudin is a sausage made from a blend of pork, rice, onion, parsley and green onion. Traditionally, the pork was organ meats, but that is rarely the case in boudins sold in grocery stores or quick stops. While boudin can be eaten with a fork or cut open and eaten like a dressing, locally it is usually eaten by raking a portion of the sausage out of its casing between one's teeth. (It can thus be eaten with one hand while the other hand holds a cold drink.) Taken from http://www.lafayettetravel.com/foodtour/glossaryofterms/
This is the look of complete satisfaction. Man! Was that crawfish etoufee good!
This is the look of complete satisfaction. Man! Was that crawfish etoufee good!
ay-2!-fay
The greatest dish I ate in Louisiana is crawfish etouffee. Three versions tested our tongues; the best, barely, was Poche's.
We had crawfish etoufee at Mother's, Poche's, and Randol's. Poche's, so chunky and filled with more crawfish than one should hope for, this dish was a highlight of the trip. Too bad that Breaux Bridge proved to be outside of our route homeward; we just had to be careful about keeping frozen foods frozen and other food items chilled in our cooler. I also grabbed some garlic sauce and pepper sauce from Poche's chelves, not to mention the hat with Poche's logo.
Boudin alert! Boudin alert! Boudin alert! Boudin alert! Boudin alert!
Babineaux's Slaughter House
Here I am, gazing into the sun outside of Babineaux's Meat Market. We had just experienced the interior, where a male customer was placing his order. This man wanted his deer meat, venison, ground with pork, at a 75% Venison to 25% Pork ratio. The bonesaws in the very next room nearly drowned out the butchery going on. Unfortunately, they were out of cracklins. This seems to be a recurring theme. Out of bread. Out of oysters. Out of cracklins. Is this shortage merely a by-product of the holiday season? Perhaps businesses are cutting back when it comes to inventory? Maybe they don't like the way I look - nah!
Check it out on the Southern Foodways Alliance: http://www.southernboudintrail.com/babineax.shtml
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Cafe Du Monde
Powdered sugar dominates all that is Cafe Du Monde:
Begneits adorned with powered sugar, a cup of cafe au lait, and the bright face of the world: sugar rush and crash expected.
Begneits adorned with powered sugar, a cup of cafe au lait, and the bright face of the world: sugar rush and crash expected. One may feel like Al Pacino at the end of "Scarface" when confronted by these mounds of sweet, white powder.
Mother's on Magazine Street, NOLA
Sunday evening we went to Mothers for Mae's file gumbo, crawfish etoufee, fried oysters, and the second bread pudding of the day which was free no less. This was real New Orleans (not the free part). I would have had a Po Boy but they ran out of bread. Just two blocks from the St. James Hotel, too! Our location for New orleans was extremely well-placed.
A street sign:
Eating a friend oysters, without the bread:
A street sign:
Eating a friend oysters, without the bread:
Johnny's Po-Boys
After a mega-filling breakfast at Commander's Palace, we needed to return to the St. James Hotel to fully test their mattresses, while searching for a soap dish and avoiding "incidental" charge$ to our final bill. Re-gathering our strength, we waltzed on down to Johnny's Po-Boys. My father has been on a mini-quest to savor fried oysters, and we need to re-adjeust when we discovered that Johnny's is out of oysters. So we split a fried shrimp po-boy. Wow! This is a good sandwich, fully dressed with lettuce, tomato, onion and french dressing. The shrimp that continually fall out of this "sandwich" make great side bites while scarfing down the fried shrimp paragraph. All of my eighth grade essay-writers will eagerily agree that delicious meals equal essays.
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