05/21/08

New Orleans

A Recollection

Remember WAAAAAY back when, when I promised I'd post some things about my school trip to New Orleans?  When I promised I'd post some awesome pics of food and good times?  When the hell was that exactly?  Four years ago, minimum?

I've been out of school for a long time now, and I don't think that I'll ever have either the coin or the initiative to go back and complete my culinary degree.  Fortunately, while I was there, we had the Chefs' Club, a bit of an on-the-side catering operation that did stuff for-profit, the ultimate goal being to take a culinary vacation to some place really special!  While our previous president, Autumn, had anticipated raising enough cash to go to France for about a month, after I took over, we had enough cash to go to Bellingham for a quickie at Burger King.  Comedic exaggeration?  Absolutely.  But the difference in her attitude and mine towards the club were similar in goals.  She really wanted to get somewhere NOW and I just wanted to hone and practice my skills.  Thus, we wound up doing far less catering events when I was president than when she was, and we raised a lot less cash.  As if that weren't enough to make me feel completely crappy, Autumn couldn't go on our proposed trip because she was going to hang out in Argentina for some reason.  On the other hand, I think going to Argentina and chilling with a bunch of cowboys might have been cooler than my trip to NOLA, but whatever.

Anyway, I didn't take many pictures from my time there (and I'm not sure how many of them will make it up here), but I *did* keep notes as to what I ate and drank when I was there, so at least that's something.  Considering what's happened with Katrina and all that, maybe some of these places I'm about to describe aren't around anymore...  It's with that heavy heart of remembrance that I present to you my culinary adventure to New Orleans.  Anything in brackets is a postscript note.

Aug 21, 2003 - Lunch at Popeye's: Fast food po'boy with chicken strips, pickles, mayo & lettuce.  [This was actually at the Houston airport, though I thought I was doing something right by having a po'boy.]

Aug 21, 2003 - Dinner at Rita's: Red snapper with "Rita's Same Ol' Sauce" (mushrooms, tomatoes, crawfish tails, white wine, cream), steamed veggies, sweet potatoes, salad w/ spicy cajun dressing, blackened catfish, stuffed shrimp w/ creamy cajun sauce, eggplant strips w/ creole sauce.  Drinks: Dixie, Dixie Blackened Voodoo, hand grenade.  [The first real meal we had in New Orleans, at a place I later found out was a previous spot for none other than Chef Stephan Salinas of Ciao Italia.  I've copied Rita's Same Ol' Sauce a number of times in a few different variations because it's incredibly good.  The only thing I can really tell you about "creole sauce" vs. "cajun sauce" is that the former is more likely to contain tomato than the latter, and that the latter is more likely to contain a darkened roux than the former.  I do remember the catfish tasting of muddy waters, though.  And the two Dixie beers are something that I ask for whenever I find them.  They're delicious.]

Aug 22, 2003 - Breakfast at Cafe Beignet: Andouille hash browns w/ eggs, red onion, green pepper & potatoes, beignets, sourdough belgian waffle.  [Hands down, the belgian waffle was the best thing I ate for breakfast.  It had obviously been left out from the day before, and it's possible the crew were trying to pass it off as normal, 'cuz the other waffles I ate at Cafe Beignet weren't nearly as aromatic, deep or tasty as this one.  The rest of the food was fairly standard--i.e. a repackaged "O'Brien potatoes" hash--and the beignets were nothing more than elongated donut holes with powdered sugar on them.]

Aug 22, 2003 - Lunch at Fiorella's: Shrimp cocktail w/ house dressing (creole mustard & cayenne pepper), fried chicken, jambalaya, shrimp gumbo, "monkey brains."  [I remember having a bucket of Dixies accompanying this meal, and I remember being attracted to this waitress more than normal.  Otherwise, it was a pretty average noontime snack for the kids in my party.  The fried chicken was excellent (though none compare to what I ate at "Chicken Family Restaurant" in Korea), and the monkey brains were a delicious cinnamon pull-a-part that we all managed to enjoy.  All in all, it was a fun lunch, though I wish I'd have scored with the server.]

Aug 22, 2003 - Dinner at O'Flaherty's: Shepherd's pie, Irish stew, brown bread.  Drinks: '57 Chevy, Pat O'Brien's Hurricane.  [What I ate at O'Flaherty's was hands down the best food I ate in New Orleans.  The portions were mammoth, but both Jim and I ordered seconds, just to wade through the flavors again.  The Ulster Combo is what we got, and it came with both a shepherd's pie and some lamb stew.  But the brown bread...LORD almighty, the brown bread...it was amazing.  Tart from rye flour, moist from Godonlyknowswhat...it bound everything together and made the world right.  Hell, I didn't even care when I got sent up in front of a bunch of people and was made to do strange Irish pub songs and dances.  This was the best stuff I ate there, period.]

Aug 23, 2003 - Brunch at Cookin' Cajun Cooking School: Salad w/ shrimp remoullade; andouille & chaurice (chorizo) jambalaya; microwaved injected chicken; bananas foster.  [I can't remember how this all got hooked up.  I'm pretty sure that it was someone else in my group that contacted Chef Susan Murphy and arranged for us all to go here, but I'm sure glad we did.  In addition to eating the deliciousness before us, we were also able to talk ourselves into getting a bunch more of her recipes (which I still have), and got a discount at the store which was attached to her "school."  It was super fun in that "I'm-watching-Emeril" sort of way, and the injected chicken was unequivocally tastier than I imagined it would be.  Still, the whole process took place inside a mall.]

Aug 23, 2003 - Snack at Dave Anderson's: Deep-fried alligator-on-a-stick.  [I'm certain this isn't what alligator tastes like.  Just like I'm equally certain that the alligator and black bean quesadilla I ate in Spokane isn't what alligator tastes like.  it was lifeless, vaguely fishy and completely covered in batter.  If this IS what alligator tastes like, it sucks.  Oh, and this was in a food court in the mall.]

Aug 23, 2003 - Dinner at Donna's BBQ: Charlie's ribs, coleslaw, red beans & fries.  Drinks: Abita Turbodog.  [Now here comes the life-altering part of my journey.  Donna's was owned and operated by Charlie, who used to be Executive Chef of the Empire Builder train that ran from Chicago to Seattle ("We sold some GROCERIES, ya know what I mean?"), but then later settled down to NOLA to run this little BBQ joint with the help of some local musicians, his wife and a couple of Japanese dudes in the kitchen.  Charlie was everything a young, stupid chef-in-training wants to see: He encouraged job-hopping, he'd lived his dream, and he'd accomplished everything he'd wanted to accomplish.  Now he was winding down his career, training some new disciples and just smoking and drinking every day he was still with us.  It was revelatory to me ("Don't work for one dude for 50 years, work for 50 mu'fuggers for one year."), and I've worked towards my OWN goals since I've met him.  I'm certain that he's told his story to a million other young cooks, and I guess I can count myself amongst them.  Oh, and Abita Turbodog would make Mirror Pond crap itself in comparison.  I think it was this evening that we wound up at The Dungeon, a super heavy metal bar in the French Quarter.  I screamed a lot that night.]

Aug 24, 2003 - Breakfast at Poppy's Grill: Belgian waffle, hashbrowns.  [Hoping for a repeat of my experience at Cafe Beignet (or at least Beth's Cafe), we ventured into local joint Poppy's Grill.  Oh man...bad idea.  Everything was heavy, laden with grease and poorly produced.  I felt like I wanted to give birth to a oleic child right then and there.  This was like going to Denny's, only if everything was REALLY bad.  And for those of you who've gone to Denny's, you know what I'm talking about.]

Aug 24, 2003 - Donuts at Krispy Kreme!  Chicken-fried steak sandwich at Clover Grill. [Even though this was about an hour after eating the rime from Poppy's, I managed to scarf down a couple of donuts from Krispy Kreme, a place that had been whispered in legend prior to its arrival in the northwest.  As I'm sure you've come to realize, Krispy Kreme is merely a donut, and a sugar-laden hype machine at that.  And regarding my lunch at Clover Grill, it was only later that my cohorts and I found out that Clover Grill and Poppy's Grill are sister restaurants, thus serving the same sludge.  Ugh.]

Aug 24, 2003 - Dinner at the Acme Oyster House: Fried oyster & shrimp po'boy, oysters on the half shell.  Drinks: too many to mention.  [FINALLY a proper po'boy.  Crusty bread, crispy-yet-sqooshy seafood and spicy mayo/sauce to bring it all together.  I'd also like to mention that this was my first and only encounter with raw oysters, and I didn't die.  They weren't bad, but they weren't to my liking either.  Just kind of salty, mushy and slippery...and God help you if you had to chew one.  There are a lot of other things I'd rather eat in my life than raw oysters, lemme put it that way.  And as far as drinks go, I think this was the night I was dancing with the hot, redhead singer of some crappy cover band.  Since I don't like to dance and generally hate cover bands, that oughta tell you something.]

Aug 25, 2003 - Breakfast at Mother's: Mother's omelette (black ham, mushroom, green onion), grits, biscuits, Mother's ham.  [The only note I have here is for Mother's ham which reads, "Very nice."  Otherwise, this was like trying to go to Beth's Cafe for breakfast, when every seat is filled, and everyone swears by the omelette.  Sure, it was good, but it was transcendental.  Just another batch of eggs cooked on another flattop.]

Aug 25, 2003 - Dinner at the Gumbo House: Gumbo Z'Herbes, espangnole chicken, macque choux corn, chocolate cheesecake w/ raspberry sauce.  [This was the first time I'd experienced a prix fixe menu.  Both Jim and I chose courses to alternate the others, and we were both amazed.  The gumbo was fantastic, the chicken lingered in the mouth for hours, the macque choux corn had been taken to another level and the cheesecake was made expertly.  If not for our travelling companions joining us later on, I'm certain that we'd have cleaned our plates anyway.  As it were, our buddy JMac managed to clear EVERYone's plate after we'd finished eating.  It was an amazing feat of eating.]

Aug 25, 2003 - Dessert at the Quarter Scene Restaurant: Peanut butter pie.  Snack: Krystal Burger.  Drink: Abita Amber.  [I'm pretty sure this was the night that I walked back to our hotel barefoot around 4am.  I wanted something sweet after our dinner at the Gumbo House, so we wandered around the French Quarter until we found something suitable.  After that, we wandered around until we found something UNsuitable, which happened to be the Krystal Burger at the other end of the Quarter.  I'm pretty sure it was a Sunday when this happened.  The only thing I DO remember is walking back to the hotel barefoot, while some dude on my right offers me heroin.  It was an epic evening that ended peaceably enough.  And seriously, Abita needs to be offered up here in Washington.  It's really good beer.]

[At some point during this escapade, we went back to Charlie's (nee, Donna's) for "service industry night" of free BBQ and sides.  At that time, I met some chick who was attending Tulane University, but was from Portland.  I was wearing my Rogue Brutal Bitter shirt at the time, and she asked me if I was from the Northwest.  We struck up an engaging conversation that was as brief as it was deep.  I'm sure I could have scored that night, but I was more impressed by the drumming of the jazz band and the food served at intermission.  I'm sure that says a lot about me.  Also, as we were leaving NOLA, the captain of our plane said, "I'm sorry folks, but we're going to be taking off faster than expected.  Please be advised that there will be turbulence from the oncoming thunderstorm."  What he *didn't* say was how freakin' bad the thunderstorm was going to be.  After a five second ascent, we were treated to a three second free-fall, courtesy of the thunderstorm's downdraft, during which my friend Mi-Hwan freaked out and started crying and praying to Jesus in Korean.  It was definitely the longest three seconds of my life (I mean, you KNEW you were falling), and Mi-Hwan didn't make anything any better by screaming out and clutching to JMac's arm.  After that, however, the rest of the flight was fine, so I guess that all's well that ends well.]

Rating: Lagniappe! out of 10