Pontchartrain Petetag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//32007-08-29T22:56:25ZNew Orleans Nostalgia in the Making.Movable Type Publishing Platform 4.02 Years Ago Today...tag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.1972007-08-29T21:21:31Z2007-08-29T22:56:25ZTwo years ago today, I spent the day in front of a computer DSL'ed to the internets, which was in front of a TV that went back and forth between CNN and the Weather Channel. I was at my parent's...Pontchatrain Pete
Two years ago today, I spent the day in front of a computer DSL'ed to the internets, which was in front of a TV that went back and forth between CNN and the Weather Channel.
I was at my parent's house near Hot Springs, Arkansas, having arrived there the day before, after fleeing my home in Slidell, Louisiana, in advance of Hurricane Katrina.
I had been tracking the storm, which had hit Florida a few days before. I had an amateur theory that if a hurricane was in the Gulf, and it was north of say, Sarasota, Florida and east of the mouth of the river, there was no way it would end up hitting New Orleans. Every storm in the past inevitably curved to the east as it moved north; if it was east of the mouth of the river and north of central Florida, it would be impossible for it to hit New Orleans, right?
Katrina almost fit this bill. As it crossed Florida and entered the Gulf, it started turning north. All the experts and computer models had it going east as it traveled north. It was to curve and hit back in the Florida panhandle somewhere.
But it kept going west, and not north, and then started going north, but not east, on a path straight to New Orleans. And as it went north, but not east, it grew quickly, and big and strong.
So Saturday night, I was at my cousin's house. We were trying to decide whether to leave or not. I'm on my own, but she had two kids, a husband, 4 cats, a dog, and a tarantula to move, so it was not an easy decision for them. Most everyone else I knew had already evacuated.
As we watched the TV Saturday evening, there was still a chance the storm would turn east and hit Alabama. I got the two kids chanting with me, "Mobile!, Mobile!, Mobile!" while throwing a gris-gris gesture at the satellite picture, pushing the storm away from New Orleans. The five year-old thought that was fun. I went home, no decision had been made.
At 5am on Sunday, my cousin called and woke me up. Exact quote, "Get your ass up and leave." It had not turned, it was still headed right for us, and was now Category 5. She and her husband came over and helped board up the house. I was already packed, and left around 8:30 to head north to Arkansas. A quick stop at the office to get my computer and some other stuff, and away I went.
After a fairly uneventful 9 hour drive to Arkansas, I arrived at my parent's home just as the outer bands of Katrina were hitting New Orleans.
Stay tuned for more...
Eyewitness to History on Happy America Daytag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.1472007-07-05T00:03:38Z2007-07-05T00:36:18ZI am proud to be an American this July 4th, 2007. Eating a late breakfast, I was treated to the 92nd annual Nathan's International July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest broadcast live on ESPN. The announcers did their best to...Pontchatrain Pete
Joey Chestnut, was expected to take back the crown for the USA.
Indeed he did. Leading Kobayashi for all of the contest except for a brief moment with about 2 minutes left, Chestnut downed 66 dogs in 12 minutes, a new world record. It wasn't pretty. At the end, with a few seconds left, Kobayashi spewed out a dog's worth or two, or, as the ESPN announcers called it, had a "reversal." Wikipedia referred to it as a "Roman method incident" which could have led to his disqualification. After careful review of the spew, (eww), the judges ruled in his favor and the Tsunami ended in 2nd place with 63 dogs (officially) downed.
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Quarter Adventures, Part ???tag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.1332007-06-17T00:00:36Z2007-06-16T20:03:54ZNote: Well, official (late) blog congrats to Nola and CS on the early rising of Sun!!! Well, we finally made it to Mr. B's in the Quarter last Thursday. After a hard day's work helping Pete's mom and dad, who...Pontchatrain Pete
Note: Well, official (late) blog congrats to Nola and CS on the early rising of Sun!!!
Well, we finally made it to Mr. B's in the Quarter last Thursday. After a hard day's work helping Pete's mom and dad, who have been painting at the sister's still-hurricane-ravaged condo building out at the lake, we went down to the recently re-opened bistro for nice dinner. We started off with some cocktails; mom had a Chopin vodka and tonic with lime, dad a Crown and water, and I with a vodka martini, straight up with a twist. Sister stuck with iced tea.
We decided on a crab cake and tasso shrimp for appetizers, both fantastic. Soup three ways for mom and dad--demitasses of gumbo ya-ya, seafood gumbo, and soup of the day, which was tomato-basil. I just had some of the gumbo ya-ya, Mr. B's signature thick, dark, smoky and spicy version of andouille and chicken gumbo. Entrees—dad the barbecue shrimp, mom a softshell crab, sister a bowl of the gumbo ya-ya and a tomato salad and I the shrimp and grits, despite my original craving for the grilled fish.
Celebrity sightings: James Carville walked in while we were eating, and earlier in the week sister's landlord said hello to Angelina while walking on Royal Street. She was walking on the sidewalk, and passed a woman with a child in a stroller. Angelina told her hello, sister's landlord said hello, and was inside the house before she realized it was Angelina she had passed.
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Greek Festtag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.1142007-05-27T23:34:17Z2007-05-31T17:56:15ZBasically a big ditto to Nola's post on the Greek Fest. It was a good move to go on Friday in the evening. There was a nice breeze coming off the lake; it was very pleasant after sunset. The mini-food...Pontchatrain Pete
Nola's post on the Greek Fest. It was a good move to go on Friday in the evening. There was a nice breeze coming off the lake; it was very pleasant after sunset. The mini-food market inside was nifty. Nola bought some olives, CS a bottle of wine, and I opted for some pistachios and a couple of shots of Ouzo. OPA! indeed.
I dove in right away with the food, joining CS in an initial dose of calamari. Add some lemonade, and another shot of Ouzo, and then I went for the souvlaki, which is a shish kebab of grilled marinated pork tenderloin, which they sold in a combo with some Greek sausage, also on a stick. The souvlaki was definitely the tastier of the two, and I should have gotten the hint that some of the people were requesting two souvlaki's instead of one souvlaki and one sausage in their order.
Nola's awesome purchase of many pastries rocked; the almond covered crescents and baklava hit the spot for dessert.
Getting there early was the key. Around 7or 8 the lines at the food booths were staggeringly long. There were also some booths with jewelry and art for sale. If you wanted, you could even climb Mt. Olympus (or Mt. Olympus, Jr.). We passed.
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A Little Slice of NOLA on the Northshoretag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.1132007-05-26T22:07:29Z2007-05-27T23:19:44ZI just came off of a tour of Northshore Sno-Ball (or Snowball) stands. We found one on Hwy. 59 in Abita Springs, which Pete-in-Exile passes daily on his way to work. Passes, but never stops. Too bad, because I've been...Pontchatrain Pete
The lady who owns the place is also an Abita Springs city council member and Mayor Pro Tem of Abita Springs. She's got a bunch of New Orleans memorabilia and old-fashioned hard-to-find kids items, like candy cigarettes, big wax lips and violet gum (the "Other Cool Stuff'). She's also the Northshore's source for New Orleans Nectar Soda and Angelo Brocato's Italian ice cream and bakery products. Yes, there's lemon ice on the Northshore.
But the standout item is a re-creation of Ignatius J. Reilly's favorite drink, Dr. Nut. Working with New Orleans food guru and Dr. Nut aficionado Tom Fitzmorris, she's developed a sno-ball syrup which captures the almondy essence of this extinct New Orleans soft drink.
Bot & Nola's is on Hwy. 59 just south of Abita Springs. There's a playground for the kids and umbrella-shaded picnic tables to enjoy your delicious treats. Summer's almost here, people.]]>
Fleur de Listag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.1052007-05-22T01:39:02Z2007-05-22T19:48:51ZThe Fore!Kids Foundation is sponsoring a public art project in coordination with the Arts Council of New Orleans. Fiberglass fleur de lis were given to 40 artists to decorate, and they are displayed at various locations around the city until...Pontchatrain Pete
Fore!Kids Foundation is sponsoring a public art project in coordination with the Arts Council of New Orleans. Fiberglass fleur de lis were given to 40 artists to decorate, and they are displayed at various locations around the city until October, when they will be auctioned off and the proceeds distributed to various charities the foundation supports. Nola and I performed a number of drive-by picture shootings this weekend, getting pics of all the fleurs we could find. Here's a page of pics, with more to come as we get the shots.]]>
Dinner—Or, Proof that New Orleanians will Spend Every Minute of Lunch Planning Their Dinnertag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.992007-05-18T00:26:11Z2007-05-18T01:43:39ZLast night, we had dinner at Irene's Cuisine. The original plan was dinner at Mr. B's Bistro, which is one of my favorite places in the city. Mr. B's just recently reopened. Although IT did not flood the French Quarter,...Pontchatrain Pete
Irene's Cuisine. The original plan was dinner at Mr. B's Bistro, which is one of my favorite places in the city. Mr. B's just recently reopened. Although IT did not flood the French Quarter, many buildings suffered rain damage. Mr. B's suffered doubly. Rain poured in the building, which is bad enough. What's worse, it's also one of the few buildings around here with a basement, where the restrooms and offices were located. The water gathered in the basement and had no place to go.
I kind of had my heart and stomach set on going to Mr. B's. I checked the menu on the internet. I had it all planned out. Gumbo Ya-Ya. Hickory grilled fish. Or barbecued shrimp. Bread pudding for desert.
But, change of plans. Mom called. "It's too far to walk to Mr. B's. We're going to Stella!." I'm thinking, Stella!—what Stella!? I wanna go to Mr. B's. Whaaaahaaahaaah. I check the internet. I find Tom's review. He likes it. He thinks someone should pop out of the kitchen and scream STELLA!!! every now and then. I find the menu.
It looks adventurous. It looks expensive. It looks like:
Sake and Miso Glazed Japanese Mero Seabass with Udon Noodles, Roasted Local Green Garlic, Buna Shimeji Mushrooms and Lobster, Crab and Shark's Fin Broth
is not the same as a nice piece of grilled fish. And it looks like:
Avocado Shake with Espresso Granita and Jalapeño
is not the same as bread pudding.]]>
envie for Mr. B's would remain unfullfilled, I still had a great dinner to look forward too.
Irene's was open pretty soon after the storm. That's very comforting, as it has always been more of a place for the locals than the "others." This may be explained in part by Irene's location, which is deeper into the Quarter than conventioneers would casually tread. The menu is simple and Italian/Creole. Which means that alongside the cannelloni and rosemary chicken you'll find dishes featuring softshell crabs and fish meuniere.
Pete's sister got the cannelloni, Mom the pompano meuniere/almondine, and Pete and his dad both ordered an off-menu special, the crab cakes.
Now, I'm not going to go back into the stuffed crabs versus crab cakes discussion. These were no "East Coast" crab cakes, although our waiter did describe them as "Twin Towers" of crabmeat. Which indeed they were. They stood a good 3 inches tall, covered in a roasted red pepper puree and perched atop corn maquechoux and mirliton fritters. I don't know what kept the crab cakes together duing the pan-searing process, because they were basically big piles of lump crabmeat, well-seasoned, with no visible means of bindage (is that a word?). No breadcrumbs, no mayo, no bechamel.
Desert—creme brulee for Pete's Mom, strawberry cheesecake for the sister; I had wanted bread pudding, they had it, I got it. Dad had a little bite of everyone else's. The bread pudding came with Banana's Foster sauce and ice cream. Really good. A really good meal all around. Mr. B's—we're coming, just not this week. Stella!, you'll have your turn, someday when adventure is the name of the game.]]>
The Wise Man of the Laundromattag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.892007-05-11T01:18:30Z2007-05-11T01:16:37ZEditors note: I'm going against a promise I made myself that I would not blog about ordinary details of everyday life. But after doing laundry this morning, I decided an ode the Wise Man of the Laundromat would be in...Pontchatrain Pete
Editors note: I'm going against a promise I made myself that I would not blog about ordinary details of everyday life. But after doing laundry this morning, I decided an ode the Wise Man of the Laundromat would be in order. Please excuse the drudgery.
Pete-in-Exile is forced to frequent a little laundromat in Abita Springs. I don’t mind this, as I can do 3 or 4 loads at one time, cutting laundry time by a good 1/2 or more. It’s not a bad little place. The machines work; it’s 75 cents a load, the building is pretty clean and it’s next to the town library and a stone’s throw from a pizza place, a coffee shop, 2 groceries, and the Abita Brew Pub.]]>
You hang out long enough at one place and you get to know its quirks. The laundromat has maybe 12 washers, regular size, and one of those big honkin’ triple load spin washer jobs. The dryers are all of the huge commercial persuasion that can easily dry two loads at a time.
The thing is, unlike the washers, the 10 dryers are a mix and match of differing brands and models. A quarter gives you so much time on different models, and each delivers a differing level of heat. One dryer might take 6 quarters and 45 minutes to dry a load, one might take two and 20 minutes.
What’s a guy to do? Consult the Wise Man of the Laundromat, of course. See, twice I’ve been in there when this other guy was there doing his laundry. He stands around, chain smokes, has 5 or 6 machines going at once, and is quick to tell all comers about his laundry life, and to share his bottomless knowledge of the machines.
The first time I saw him he pointed to the most decrepit of all the dryers. It’s a beaten, scratched and rusted monstrosity. Whatever paint or decal that once displayed its brand name has long since been obscured. It is truly out of place among the shiny Dexters and Maytags, and would be the last one to be chosen by any sane laundry-doer. The Wise Man of the Laundromat knows better. “That one lasts the longest and runs the hottest. You put your towels in that one. Or jeans. It works good on a load ‘a jeans.”
He was right. Every time since then I've been sure to use that dryer; inevitably, no one else does. It kicks ass but you've got to keep checking it. Once the clothes get dry, they get really hot.
Today the wise man was there and talkative to the point where ignoring him and putting on the MP3 player and zoning out while waiting would have been rude.
"I've been coming here a year and half—sometimes three times a week," he said. "She don't never do it." He didn't explain whether she is his wife, daughter, girlfriend or mother.
Although today he had dibs on the kick-ass machine, he still didn't hesitate to share his knowledge of all the dryers in Abita Land. He stopped me as I started putting clothes in one of the nice new Maytags. "If you wait a minute I'll be finished with this one," he said, fishing clothes out of an older-looking Dexter model. He dumped them into a basket. "I ain't foldin' these—them's hers." Getting back to the dryer, he told me, "That one looks good, but it don't run hot."
Alas, the Wise Man of the Laundromat will soon be no more. "I got a new place up north..." (I'm thinking—Alexandria? Monroe? Even further? No.) "Out by Folsom. I'm gettin' a new washer dryer delivered in two weeks. Guess who's ass is gonna be doin' the wash?" It's only fair, he says. "She takes two baths a day and uses two towels every time. She changes clothes every fifteen minutes. And she keeps the dogs clean. Which uses even more towels."
Now, I don't think the Wise Man of the Laundromat was joshing. He did have two full loads of towels tumbling around (one in the kick-ass ugly machine, of course) and let me tell you, they were all sparkling white. What's his secret? Guess what—I don't really care so I didn't ask.
But it is for me to pass down the wisdom of the laundry. The next schmuck I catch putting a load into that no-good Maytag will be told of the Hierarchy of the Machines. Once I get my clothes out of the ugly dryer, that is.
Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?tag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.882007-05-10T02:39:00Z2007-05-10T03:46:35ZBrad Pitt does, and he's only had a home here for a few months. As reported on Nola.com (not to be confused with our honorable host Nolanotes.com), Brad Pitt "pines for his old New Orleans Home." The thing he misses...Pontchatrain Pete
had a home here for a few months. As reported on Nola.com (not to be confused with our honorable host Nolanotes.com), Brad Pitt "pines for his old New Orleans Home."
The thing he misses the most, he said, is bicycling through the streets of New Orleans at night.
"Living in the French Quarter is a thrill for us," he said. "We have some semblance of real family life. People have been very, very gracious with us. If we're on the front deck, people go by and say, 'Hi.' Then they go on their way, very friendly."
That celebrities are treated somewhat nonchalantly in New Orleans is nothing new. Musicians Lenny Kravitz and Peter Buck keep French Quarter digs, as does director Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola's nephew, Nicolas Cage, is now his uncle's neighbor, having bought the Lalaurie house on Royal and Governor Nichols.
Other celebrities who call or have called New Orleans home include Trent Reznor and Bob Dylan. Harry Anderson recently abdicated on his role as French Quarter impresario, giving up on the city after the re-election of Mayor Nagin last year.
Pitt's comments echoed an interview with Reznor I remember reading a while back (1999? 2000?) whose favorite New Orleans activities were rollerblading in Audobon Park and jet skiing on Lake Pontchartrain. And not being bothered by people.
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Friday's Adventures: A Busy and Wet, Yet Unfruitful, Day with a Nice Interlude.tag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.822007-05-06T18:09:57Z2007-05-07T05:12:30ZLast Friday saw another one of Pete's excursions from the Northshore to the Big Easy. The occasion was meeting my sister and the plumber who is supposed to work on her condo out by the lake. Now, Thursday's weather forecasts...Pontchatrain Pete
Last Friday saw another one of Pete's excursions from the Northshore to the Big Easy. The occasion was meeting my sister and the plumber who is supposed to work on her condo out by the lake.
Now, Thursday's weather forecasts were all doom and gloom for Friday. Flash floods! Twisters! Hail the size of canned hams! In fact, sleep was difficult from about 2-4 in the morning, lightning and thunder at the rate of about 1 per second kept even me awake. I got up around 7:30, not knowing how long the normally 1 hour or so drive to the city would take, given the possibility of street flooding and accidents on the roads.
Causeway and headed west to Slidell and entry to the city from New Orleans East.
So far, so good and long story short: the sky stayed clear, I picked up my sister, we got to the condo at the appointed time, and there was no plumber. After waiting an hour, we took time for lunch at the nearby Russell's Marina Grill, home of the original Onion Mumm (Outback's menu once recognized their Bloomin' Onion as a creation of Russell's, I don't know if they still do).
Lunch is a misleading term, we both had breakfast dishes. Mine was the house special with pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon; hers was two fried eggs, toast and fresh fruit salad. High spot of the meal: fresh orange juice, squeezed right before my eyes (but only because we sat at the counter where the juicer is).
We left the restaurant to return to the condo to see if the plumber had shown up. It was raining when we left and starting to rain pretty hard. I thought this was odd as the rest of the day's rain was supposed to stay to the north.
I drove her back to her French Quarter apartment, dropped her off and decided that going back to Covington and the office was foolish at this point. I gave Nola a call, who said Captain Sarcastic was abandoning Jazzfest due to rain. I was pretty close to the Fairgrounds and said, "It's not raining that bad" and hung up.
That's when the bottom of the sky fell out. Traveling up Orleans Avenue I could barely see ten feet in front of me. I got to Bayou St. John and decided to head to the nearby New Orleans Museum of Art for shelter, enlightenment and clean bathroom facilities.
After a visit to the Femme, Femme, Femme! exhibition (83 paintings on loan from 45 French museums--Picasso, Manet, Monet, Degas, etc.—a must-see) I went upstairs to the New Orleans Arts and Crafts Club exhibit. It's NOMA's first joint exhibition with the Historic New Orleans Collection and is well worth a visit. One painting from the 1940's depicted an outdoor art show with works hung on the fence at Pirate's Alley. It could have been painted a couple of weeks ago; the French Quarter Festival and other events still feature outdoor art shows in the alley.
After spending an hour and a half or so at the museum, I decided to brave the elements and drive on out to see Nola and CS. The rain had dwindled to a drizzle. But when I turned on the radio in the car it was people calling in to report flooded streets, closed streets and power outages all over the city. The storm I drove through to get to the museum dumped 5-8 inches of rain, depending on what part of town you were in.
Other than almost getting stuck in some street flooding at the Tulane/Airline/I-10 interchange area the rest of the day was uneventful, with a return home to Northshore later in the evening. A busy, yet unfruitful day with a nice interlude.
Oh, and did I mention another Nor-Joe's muffaletta found its way to Nola?]]>
Numbers Gametag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.812007-05-06T17:50:37Z2007-05-06T18:09:43ZI just heard on the radio that Jazzfest was putting up higher than expected attendance figures. Also, the French Quarter Fest (here, here and here) had over 400,000 people attending! With over 200,000 on Sunday alone! I mean, we knew...Pontchatrain Pete
Jazzfest was putting up higher than expected attendance figures. Also, the French Quarter Fest (here, here and here) had over 400,000 people attending! With over 200,000 on Sunday alone! I mean, we knew it was crowded on Sunday, but Jeez!]]>
Speaking of Black Bears and Their Queens...tag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.752007-05-03T03:06:01Z2007-05-03T21:36:51ZDid you know that Louisiana is home to its own subspecies of American Black Bear, the Louisiana Black Bear? I ran across this headline on the Dead Pelican: "Mama bear, cubs pay surprise visit to Cottonport," which linked to this...Pontchatrain Pete
Dead Pelican: "Mama bear, cubs pay surprise visit to Cottonport," which linked to this article in the Alexandria Town Talk.
Apparently, Ursus americanus luteolus is making a comeback. Efforts by the Black Bear Conservation Committee (BBCC) seem to be paying off, as events like the Cottonport bear visit seem to be happening with greater frequency. The BBCC keeps track of these reports here.]]>
Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival, which was held April 20 & 21, 2007, in Franklin. And yes, a new Black Bear Queen was crowned.
For better or worse, I've also noticed bears popping up in popular culture as an element of the sarcastic/smart-alecky school of comedy. Regular viewers of The Office should be on the lookout for the frequent displays of classic-TV-character-in-the-making Dwight Schrute's encyclopedic knowledge of bears and bear attacks, as is found in this PSA. Comedy Central's faux newsman Stephen Colbert makes frequent reference to bears ("godless killing machines") mainly because he is respectfully (and hilariously) terrified of them.
He may have a point, though. Tips by the BBCC if one encounters a black bear include:
• Black bears are not normally aggressive, but like all wild animals, they will attack if provoked.
• Do not run, bears can reach 35 mph and can easily outrun a person. Running can also trigger the bear’s chase instinct.
• If attacked, fight back aggressively. Bears will be less likely to continue an attack if they experience enough resistance.
This last bit of advice runs counter to Dwight Schrute's admonition that if attacked by a bear, "...simply lie still on the ground and cover your face and head with your hands. When the bear is finished batting you around and mauling you, contact the U.S. Forest Service."]]>
The Black Bear Queen Meets Miss Bunnytag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.702007-05-01T01:39:49Z2007-07-27T19:09:47ZNola couldn’t get enough of the Catfish Queens mentioned in passing in the prior post. I started poking around the old interweb. The same site where the Catfish Queens reside is the home of the Louisiana Association of Fairs and...Pontchatrain Pete
Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals (LAFF). All of the queens of all of the festivals are featured on one page on the site. So I sent that link to Nola. "The crowns! The crowns!--did you see some of the crowns on those girls—there as big as their dresses!" she says. "You've got to blog about them."
So here we are.
Now, people who live in Louisiana know that once spring and summer roll around the area is crawling with festivals celebrating even the most obscure aspects of local culture. Fall is usually when the various parish (counties to you “others”) fairs are held. This makes sense because most of the parish fairs also serve as local agricultural showcases; fall is harvest time, etc.]]>
Boucherie Festival?
Whose cuisine reigns supreme? The Louisiana Gumbo Festival Queen's or the Bridge City Gumbo Festival Creole Gumbo Queen's? Can either be any good without a dash from the Cajun Hot Sauce Festival Queen?
What would happen if all of these queens were to meet and compete? Why, it's called the LAFF Queen of Queens competition; won this year by The Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival Queen.]]>
Stuffed Crabs, Crab Cakes and The Googletag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.662007-04-26T23:20:14Z2007-04-27T01:55:52ZWithout anything really interesting to blog about, today will be a brief entry on the stuffed crab I had for dinner last night. Of course, as I was thinking, "this is going to be about a 3 sentence entry," some...Pontchatrain Pete
Des Allemands (the catfish capital of the world--take a look at the Catfish Queens here). We would pull up to this nice little white house off the bayou, park in the shell driveway, and a little old lady would come out to greet us on the back porch. Her name was Mrs. Matherne, and she sold seafood goodies out of the chest freezer on her screened-in porch. Pete's Mom and Dad would always buy a dozen or so stuffed crabs.]]>
What's Cooking in New Orleans?: Culinary Traditions of the Crescent City. The exhibition catalog lists them as:
Box of artificial crab shells
mid-20th century; paper, aluminum by Lorco Industries, manufacturer
courtesy of the George F. Herding Collection
There's a current picture of one here; you can order 1000 of them for $78.50.
You don't see stuffed crabs in restaurants around here much anymore. I remember Tom Fitzmorris talking on this subject at some point, that the East Coast-style crab cake has taken over on the menus of most New Orleans restaurants.
Here's where the Google comes in. A search for the phrase "crab cakes" yields 1,010,000 results. A search for "stuffed crabs" returns only 12,000. Does this mean stuffed crabs are only 1.1% as popular as crab cakes? I don't know why, although Pete's Mom makes a heckuva crab cake. (I would try to tell my nine-year old nephew they were real Krabby Patties from the Krusty Krab, but he's too smart to fall for that foolishness).
Last night's stuffed crab was from the Gourmet Butcher Block. It was in a real crab shell and pretty darn good. I still have a frozen crabmeat au gratin I bought there that I'm really looking forward to now. For the past couple of years I was buying "Nick & Katie's" brand stuffed crabs; they can be found around town at different stores and are pretty darn good, too.
Recipes found through the Google here and here.]]>
The Vietnamese Marketstag:nolanotes.com,2007:/pontchartrainpete//3.632007-04-24T00:51:46Z2007-04-25T13:47:04ZNola's non-stop noshing and her blogging thereof (mainly the dim sum entry) got me thinking. I haven't been out to New Orleans East to shop at the Vietnamese markets in quite a while. On occasion, before the storm, I would...Pontchatrain Pete
non-stop noshing and her blogging thereof (mainly the dim sum entry) got me thinking. I haven't been out to New Orleans East to shop at the Vietnamese markets in quite a while.
On occasion, before the storm, I would trek out to the Vietnamese section of New Orleans East to visit the Vietnamese markets. I would usually buy some ginger and lemongrass, maybe some chili oil or fish sauce, and take time to gawk at all the odd ingredients inherent in Oriental markets.
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Update: I blog about it, they cover it.]]>
