Even for many aficionados, a piping hot cup of coffee on a sweltering summer day in New Orleans is about as appealing as running a 10k in a goose down parka. Though many folks can be found sheltering inside well air-conditioned spaces where a steaming cuppa Joe can be had […]
Killer Queso
Like many of the world’s most marvelous inventions, cheese was likely an accidental discovery. Some lucky goat herder thousands of years ago was attempting to prolong the life of milk and in the process, made it curd. Oh what a happy day that must have been! Unbeknownst to the fortunate […]
On the Beaten Path: The Cajun Boudin Trail
Fondly called “Cajun fast food,” boudin is seasoned rice and pork stuffed into a sausage casing and steamed, smoked or grilled. Easily one of the most unique foodstuffs found in Acadiana, otherwise known as South Louisiana, boudin has gone from being an obscure dish loved by locals and fastidious foodies […]
Fearless Fries
Smother them in cheese and chili, or drown them in ketchup and mayo, fries are just a blank canvas for a limitless palette of flavors, right? But it doesn’t have to be that way. Fresh or frozen, plain French fries, with maybe a few shakes of salt, tell their own […]
Lettuce Eat!
Like having a tonic and lime at a bar, ordering a salad at a restaurant has long been associated with abstention and self-denial. In the 80s, salad was practically synonymous with dieting. A pile of iceberg (a nutritional nada, by the way) dotted with a few cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber […]
Stinkin’ Delicious
There are five elements: earth, air, fire, water, and garlic.” -Louis Diat If a recipe calls for two cloves of garlic, do you triple it? Are your steaks lavished lovingly in a heavy drizzle of garlic butter? When dining at an Italian restaurant, do you load up on the garlic […]
Garden Varieties
Spring has officially sprung! The flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, ferns are stretching out tendrils from brick walls, and bright green mosses are forming lush, natural carpeting just about everywhere. When the rain takes a break, everyone in the Greater New Orleans Area is out and about enjoying […]
Currying Flavor
Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a dearth of great Indian cuisine in the GNO. But the restaurant scene, oh boy it is a-changin’! In the past decade, pandemic and hurricanes notwithstanding, the region has seen a huge influx of Mexican restaurants (tacos a-go-go), Thai food, […]
Louisiana: It’s the Berries!
From Watsonville, California to Stilwell, Oklahoma, there are quite a few cities who’s claim to fame is the “Strawberry Capital of the World,” but for folks around here that title will forever and always belong to Ponchatoula. For almost two centuries, farmers in and around Tangipahoa Parish have been growing […]
Feeding an Irish-American Tradition: Corned Beef
Digging into food origins can tell you a lot about history, including revealing some of our widely-held misconceptions. Take for example the belief that for centuries, the Irish have celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by devouring plates of corned beef and cabbage. Like most customs, the truth is far more convoluted […]