Food Traditions of Mardi Gras

New Orleans starts hopping this month as its time for Mardi Gras. Did you know that the word Mardi Gras translated from french means Shrove Tuesday? Now called Fat Tuesday which is the 21st of Feb this year. A time for parades and feasting before Lent begins. In the past, Christians had to use up all their eggs, butter, etc before the Lent fast which starts on Ash Wednesday.

Lots of traditions are associated with Mardi Gras, many include food and drink traditions.The Sazerac, The Hurricane and Mojito are all cocktails favored by the party goers. Food traditions include many of New Orleans favorites; Gumbo, Jambalaya, Etouffee, Red Beans and Rice. On the pastry side there is Kingcake and,beignets. Be sure to try the chicory coffee, a local specialty.

King cake has an interesting tradition of itself. King cake is a pastry, decorated with green, gold and purple sugar sprinkles. Baked inside the cake is a small “baby” - either a plastic one or a fava bean are used. Whomever gets the piece with the baby inside has to provide the king cake for the next party. Now that is a fun tradition!

A lunch tradition in New Orleans is the muffuletta sandwich. Usually made on a 9” round rustic loaf, slathered with olive relish and stack with italian meats and provolone. A quarter of this sandwich is a meal and is usually sold that way. Another specialty sandwich is an fried oyster po’boy as they are called. Hoagie style, loaded with fried fresh oysters and slaw; Tasty!

There are a whole fleet of parades, many of them do not run down Bourbon Street. Many krewes prepare and run their parades in local neighborhoods. Check the parade schedule for 2012. Krewes are small organizations that organize, built floats and perform in parades. They usually have neighborhood barbecues while doing group efforts. Seafood and sausages are both local specialties and vary greatly.

Speaking of sausages, you must have a New Orleans breakfast with boudin and grits. Boudin sausage was originally made with pork, rice and veggies. Boudin can now be found made from everything from crawfish to buffalo. Tasso is another cajun specialty, its a spicy smoked pork butt. Liberal use of cayenne pepper makes this hot smoked “ham” a typical hot and spicy cajun treat.

So in short, its time to put on some green, gold and purple and party before Lent begins. Each color represents something; green = faith, gold = power and purple = justice. Below is the recipe for the Hurricane cocktail, very refreshing. For more recipes like this check our favorite foodie website

1 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
4 ounces dark rum
4 ounces passion fruit syrup
Crushed ice
Orange and/or lime slice
1 maraschino cherry

In a cocktail shaker, add lemon juice, rum, passion fruit syrup, and crushed ice; shake vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes and then strain into a tall glass or hurricane glass.
Garnish with an orange and/or lime slices and a maraschino cherry.
Makes 1 serving.

At our favorite foodie website