Making the most of Mardi Gras celebration at home
After reader James Johnson of Lafayette, Indiana, wrote to me with a recipe question last month (which I published in my column), he thanked me by sending me recipes from his own mother’s kitchen file.
Johnson and his family are all originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, so Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras are part of their celebration heritage.
Of course, this year, the streets of New Orleans are empty compared to the centuries of revelry, which have traditionally welcomed Fat Tuesday, observed this week on Feb. 16, as the day before “the last hurrah” while anticipating the arrival of Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season.
“My mom Malvina has many great recipes, from her yeast bread rolls and red beans and rice, to shrimp and crawfish etouffee,” Johnson said. “We love our Cajun cooking.”
Like Johnson, I too have my own delicious recipe memories associated with Louisiana. For a decade of travel writing adventures, I loved my annual trips to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, a trek tenure that spanned from 1993 to 2003. I always returned from my French connection with a stacked boxes of Mardi Gras King Cakes to share with the newsroom and my family.
From the parades along Canal Street and mingling celebrities (David Schwimmer, John Larroquette, Anne Rice, Drew Carey, Ashton Kucher and KC, of KC and the Sunshine Band notoriety) to naughty nights on the balconies of Bourbon Street toasting hurricane cocktails, the beautiful Garden District and exciting concerts and the always gracious hospitality.
The restaurants, with shining star chefs like Paul Prudomme and Emeril Lagasse, are unmatched anywhere in the world. And the favorite morning coffee ritual of
New Orleans is still serving up platters of the powdered sugar covered warm donuts called beignets, the specialty of the legendary outside gathering space Café Du Monde.
I haven’t been back to New Orleans following the 2005 devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Today, I still have baskets of beads and trinket treasures from my years of lining the parade routes to catch the tossed gifts hurled from elaborate gliding themed-floats created by my favorite Krewes, such as Bacchus and Endymion. It is with hope and sentiment that next year, Mardi Gras 2022 returns to once again recreate the lavish celebrations of the past decades. For this year, the recipe of Johnson’s mother Malvina and family will help suffice for at-home menu celebrations.
Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at pmpotempa@comhs.org or mail your questions: From the Farm, P.O. Box 68, San Pierre, IN 46374.