New Orleans, Louisiana

Hello again, everybody. Last week I posted my review of Voodoo Fest (the music festival we attended in New Orleans). But our trip to the Big Easy wasn't all just bands and booze, there was also one of the best tourist destinations in the country to explore.

Statue of Ignatius J Reilly

 Between the food, the music, the nightlife, and the culture; there's a lot to take in. New Orleans is unlike any city in America, as that it wasn't always a part of America. The foundation of American history is based around the Puritans seeking religious freedom from England, but not New Orleans, it was established as a French outpost to resupply the French merchant fleet bringing goods back from the Caribbean. As such, the city's layout, culture, and even attitudes reflect it's unique origins.
Like many cities that thrive on the tourist industry, New Orleans has built their infrastructure to make it easy to get around to the city's high points. The trolley system there is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world, and has been efficiently moving people around the city for 150 years, and is a wonderful way to see the city. It's cheap as well, only $1.25 for a one way fare.
I can honestly say that after our week stay, there was still a lot that was left undone.

The Sites

There are a lot of "musts" to take in while in New Orleans but a tour of the city's historic Garden District should be at the top of the list. Here you'll find mansions owned by celebrities and dillatants. These amazing homes are intrinsically linked to the history of the city, the district was the "American" district, built to rival the Creole's French Quarter. Many of the homes were built by wealthy American capitalists after New Orleans changed from French hands to American following the Louisiana Purchase; later, theey would be occupied by Union Officers after the fall of New Orleans during the Civil War, now renovated and lived in by celebrities such as Sandra Bullock, Archie Manning, Trent Reznor, Ann Rice, John Goodman, and Nicolas Cage amongst others. Beautiful, elegant homes!

Last year I celebrated Halloween by visiting Paris' amazing cemetery, Pere Lachaise, and this year I was fortunate enough to visit some of New Orleans' awesome, French style cemeteries. They are stunning, above ground tombs, with room inside for 2 caskets at a time. The caskets are left in place for one year and a day before being exhumed, and the remains placed into a small receptacle, then re-interred into an alcove at the bottom of the tomb to make room for the next member of the family. The neighborhoods around the French Quarter were traditionally Catholic, and therefore have more elaborate statuary on their tombs. One thing to note is that it's best to see the cemeteries as a part of a tour group, as that thieves have been known to target tourists at cemeteries.

One interesting stop to make while in New Orleans is taking a tour through Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World, and see the warehouse where the majority of Mardi Gras floats get built. The majority of the props on the floats are made from sculpted styrofoam then covered with paper mache, then painted. The final products are trains capable of carrying 80 or more people laden with all manner of cups, beads, and coins to be tossed to the eager Mardi Gras crowds. All of the floats for the dozens of parades get redecorated every year according to the year's theme, and at Mardi Gras World you can take a look at the floats and props as they are reconstructed for the upcoming festival.

There is no discussion about New Orleans without bringing up it's famous French Quarter. The Quarter is not only the oldest neighborhood in the city, but the neighborhood as a whole is considered a National Historic Landmark, and is dotted with buildings of historic value. We took a Haunted History Tour through the area, which was cool in part because, visually, the Quarter has a beautiful, yet mysterious ambiance at night; as for the "ghost story" part of the tour, the truth is that these tours are really about the lost art of story telling, and are not so much about whether or not someone chooses to believe in the supernatural. The tour could have been just as aptly titled "New Orleans Macabre History Tour" because it's really about the history and the storyteller; nevertheless an extraordinary evening out.

I would be truely remiss if I failed to talk about the French Quarter's most famous avenue, Bourbon Street. The string of bars, restaurants, cabarets, and trinket shops really do amount to being Disneyland for drunks. New Orleans has no open container law, so you can come and go from any of the bars with your drinks provided that they are in plastic containers (no glass bottles on the street). So revelers can feel free to wander from one crazy party to the next to their heart's content. We had the additional privilege of visiting during Halloween weekend, which meant that Bourbon Street was crazier than normal (even by Bourbon Street's lofty standards) Here's a couple of things to watch out for though. First, don't drink anything unless you see the bartender make it, if it's pre-made than you probably don't want to know what went into it; and second, don't buy the vile shots from the waitresses (they are an overpriced ripoff, and you similarly don't want to know how they are made, see rule 1). Also, at the risk of sugar coating our Halloween/Bourbon Street experience, I need to mention that there was a really terrible shooting on Bourbon Street about a block from where we were celebrating, killing one man and injuring 10 more. The New Orleans mounted police cleared the area quickly and brought order to a horrible incident. Personally I don't feel like this accurately represents the city, and as scary as it was, it would not deter me from returning to New Orleans, but I can't pretend that it didn't happen.

The Food

Wow, where do you start the discussion of the food in New Orleans? This is one of the great foodie destinations not just in the country, but in the world. Look, you're not going to go wrong with anyplace you dine at in the Big Easy, but here's a couple suggestions. We started every day with coffee and beignets at Cafe Beignet. These marvelous pastries are one of the signature dishes of New Orleans and deserving of all the hype. For lunch, you need a muffuletta, (a regional sandwich loaded up with ham, salami, provolone, and a blend of black and green olives, anchovies, and garlic. The home of the muffuletta is Central Grocery in the French Quarter, but honestly, good luck getting in there. Expect to stand in a line.

For dinner you absolutely MUST treat yourself to an evening at the Commander's Palace in the historic New Orleans Garden District. This is the restaurant that introduced the world to legendary chef Paul Prudhomme, who left to become a culinary celebrity, turning the kitchen over to his understudy, Emeril Lagasse. Today the Chef at Commander's Palace is the wonderfully talented, Tory McPhail. The Commander's Palace is on a short list of the greatest restaurants in America. Just fyi: no shorts or t-shirts are allowed at the Commander's Palace (as one might expect from any fine dining establishment) so dress accordingly.

Home Cooking

I couldn't decide whether to include my recipe for beignets, or my recipe for etouffee. In the end I decided the only food that was more of a staple to my New Orleans food experience than Cafe Beignet was the crawfish etouffee that I had at nearly every meal either as an side dish or an entree. Besides that, my recipe for beignets, while good, does not do justice to the magic that happens in the fryers of Cafe Beignet.

Shrimp Etouffee

1/4 cup peanut oil
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 medium onion
1/2 green bell pepper
1 sorano pepper
2 ribs celery
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups bottled clam juice
2 Tbs melted butter
1/2 tsp dried basil
3 scallions (part of the green tops included)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 lb shrimp (either popcorn shrimp, or large shrimp cut into bite sized pieces)
cooked rice

In a large skillet heat peanut oil then add flour to make roux. Cook the roux until golden brown. Add onion, bell pepper, sorano, celery, and garlic and mix until coated with roux, then slowly add in clam juice, stirring to combine. Cover and simmer until vegetables become tender. Add in butter, basil, scallions, lemon juice and return to a boil. Add shrimp (if the shrimp is raw, you may want to add it earlier to give it more time to cook). Serve over rice.

The Tunes

The only thing New Orleans is possibly better known for than it's food, is it's music. Great music venues abound such as Tipitina's, One Eyed Jack's, or Blue Nile, but there are many more to chose from. I recommend stopping by one of my favorite music websites, Jambase, to get an idea of who's playing where during your stay.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Make sure not to miss out on a chance to attend a show at Preservation Hall to see the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Preservation Hall was founded in the 1960's originally as a place to have older, local musicians play, and act as a draw to bring people into a gallery, but more people started showing up for the music than the art. Now the Hall defy's convention by being solely about the music played there, no drinks are served, and the only products sold are recordings of the jazz bands that play there, and a few rare recordings of local jazz artists. The Hall itself is small, only holding about a hundred people, so the sets are kind of short (about an hour) to accommodate several small crowds per night. The line to get in forms a little early, and can get rather long, so I recommend showing up around 7pm, or so to get a good spot in line. Regardless, it's worth the wait.

Shout out to my new friends from Ireland! Hope to see you all again, soon.