looka, <lʊ´-kə> dialect, v.
1. The imperative form of the verb "to look"; in the spoken vernacular of New Orleans, it is usually employed when the speaker wishes to call one's attention to something.
2. --n. Chuck Taggart's weblog, hand-made and updated (almost) daily, focusing on food and drink, cocktails as cuisine, music (especially of the roots variety), New Orleans and Louisiana culture, news of the reality-based community ... and occasionally movies, books, sf, public radio, media and culture, travel, Macs, liberal and progressive politics, humor and amusements, reviews, complaints, the author's life and opinions, witty and/or smart-arsed comments and whatever else tickles the author's fancy.
Please feel free to contribute a link if you think I'll find it interesting. If you don't want to read my opinions, feel free to go elsewhere.Page last tweaked @ 8:43pm PDT, 5/30/2008
Looka! RSS feed
If you like, you are welcome to send e-mail to the author. Your comments on each post are also welcome; however, right-wing trolls are about as welcome as a boil on my arse. Search this site:
Barack Obama for President
"Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol' Box of New Orleans" is a 4-CD box set celebrating the joy and diversity of the New Orleans music scene, from R&B to jazz to funk to Latin to blues to zydeco to klezmer (!) and more, including a full-size, 80-page book. Buy my New Orleans music box set!
Produced, compiled and annotated by Chuck Taggart (hey, that's me!), liner notes by Mary Herczog (author of Frommer's New Orleans) and myself. Now for sale at your favorite independent record stores (such as the Louisiana Music Factory, because you should be supporting local New Orleans retailers) or via Amazon if you insist.
The box set was the subject of a 15-minute profile on National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition" on Feb. 6, 2005, and a segment on Wisconsin Public Radio's "To The Best of Our Knowledge" on Apr. 3, 2005. Here are some nice blurbs from the reviews (a tad immodest, I know; I'm not generally one to toot my own horn, but let's face it, I wanna sell some records here.)
* * * "More successfully than any previous compilation, Doctors... captures the sprawling eclecticism, freewheeling fun and constant interplay of tradition and innovation that is at the heart of Crescent City music." -- Keith Spera, New Orleans Times-Picayune.
"... if you DO know someone who's unfortunate enough to have never heard these cuts, press this monumentally adventurous box and its attendant booklet upon them. It's never too late to learn" -- Robert Fontenot, OffBeat magazine, New Orleans
"... the best collection yet of Louisiana music." -- Scott Jordan, The Independent, Lafayette, Louisiana.
"[T]he year's single most awesome package" -- Buddy Blue, San Diego Union-Tribune
"This four-CD box set doesn't miss a Crescent City beat ... For anyone who has enjoyed the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, this is Jazz Fest in a box. ***1/2" -- Dave Hoekstra, Chicago Sun-Times
"... excellently compiled, wonderfully annotated ... New Orleans fans will know much of this by heart, though they may not remember it sounding so good; those who don't know what it's like to miss New Orleans will quickly understand." -- Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press.
"... a perfect storm when it comes to reissues. This box set is musically exciting, a complete representation of its subject matter, and just plain fun to listen." -- Charlie B. Dahan, AllAboutJazz.com
"... one of the best impressions of a city's musical blueprint that you're likely to ever find." -- Zeth Lundy, PopMatters.com
"... an unacademic, uncategorized album that suits the city's time-warped party spirit." -- Jon Pareles, The New York Times
How to donate to this site: Your donations help keep this site going. PayPal's the best way -- just click the button below, and thanks!
You can also donate via the Amazon.com Honor System, if you wish (but they deduct a larger fee from your donation and I keep less).
(Also, here's a shameless link to my Amazon Wish List.)
Buy stuff! You can get Gumbo Pages designs on T-shirts, mugs and mousepads at The Gumbo Pages Swag Shop!
Looka! Archive
(99 and 44/100% link rot)May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
2007: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.
2006: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.
2005: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.
2004: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.
2003: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.
2002: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.
2001: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.
2000: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.
1999: Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.
My Photos on Flickr
www.flickr.com
My Darlin' New Orleans...
Shop New Orleans! Visit the stores linked here to do your virtual online shopping in New Orleans. The city needs your money!
Greater N.O. Community Data Center
New Orleans Wiki
Media:
Gambit Weekly
NOLA.com & The Times-Picayune
OffBeat
Scat Magazine
WDSU-TV (Channel 6, NBC)
WGNO-TV (Channel 26, ABC)
WNOL-TV (Channel 38, WB)
WTUL-FM (91.5, Progressive radio)
WVUE-TV (Channel 8, FOX)
WWL-TV (Channel 4, CBS)
WWNO-FM (89.9, classical, jazz, NPR)
WWOZ-FM (90.7, Best Radio Station in the Universe)
WYES-TV (Channel 12, PBS)
New Orleans ...
proud to blog it home.
2 Millionth Weblog
A Frolic of My Own
Ashley Morris (in memoriam)
Blogging New Orleans
Dispatches from Tanganyika
Home of the Groove
Humid City
Library Chronicles
Mellytawn Dreams
Metroblogging N.O.
People Get Ready
Da Po'Blog
Suspect Device Blog
The Third Battle of New Orleans
World Class New Orleans
The Yat Pundit
Your Right Hand ThiefCocktail hour. "We are still heartily of the opinion that decent libation supports as many million lives as it threatens; donates pleasure and sparkle to more lives than it shadows; inspires more brilliance in the world of art, music, letters, and common ordinary intelligent conversation, than it dims." -- Charles H. Baker, Jr.
CocktailDB
The Internet's most comprehensive
and indispensible database of
authenticated cocktail recipes,
ingredients, reseearch and more.
By Martin Doudoroff & Ted Haigh)
Museum of the American Cocktail
Founded by Dale DeGroff and many
other passionate spirits in Jan. 2005.
Celebrating a true American cultural
icon: the American Cocktail.
(Their weblog.)
The Sazerac Cocktail
* * *
(The sine qua non of cocktails,
and the quintessential New Orleans
cocktail. Learn to make it.)
The Footloose Cocktail
(An original by Wes;
"Wonderful!" - Gary Regan.
"Very elegant, supremely
sophisticated" - Daniel Reichert.)
The Hoskins Cocktail
(An original by Chuck;
"It's nothing short of a
masterpiece." - Gary Regan)
* * * Chuck & Wes' Liquor Cabinet
(Frighteningly large, and would
never fit in a cabinet)
Chuck & Wes' Cocktail Book Collection
(Constantly growing)
Chuck & Wes' Cocktail Menu
(A few things we like to
drink at home, plus a couple
we don't, just for fun.)
* * * Peychaud's Bitters
(Indispensible for Sazeracs
and many other cocktails.
Order them here.)
Angostura Bitters
(The gold standard of bitters,
fortunately available everywhere
worldwide. Insist on it.)
Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6
(Complex and spicy orange
bitters for your Martinis,
Old Fashioneds and many more.
Order them here.)
Fee Brothers' Bitters
(Classic orange bitters,
peach bitters and a cinnamony
"Old Fashion" aromatic bitters,
plus new lemon & grapefruit bitters!)
The Bitter Truth
(A new brand of bitters
from Germany: orange, lemon,
aromatic bitters and more!)
Bittermens Bitters
(Fantastic new small-batch
bitters company with forth-
coming products including
Xocolatl Mole Bitters,
grapefruit, "tiki" spice,
and sweet chocolate bitters, wow!)
* * * Alcademics
(The study of booze with Camper English)
Ardent Spirits
(Gary & Mardee Regan)
The Art of Drink:
An exploration of Spirits & Mixology.
(Darcy O'Neil)
Bar Mix Master
(Brad Ellis, New Orleans)
Beachbum Berry:
(Jeff Berry, world-class expert
on tropical drinks)
The Cocktail Chronicles
(Paul Clarke's weblog)
Cocktailians.com
(Group drinks blog by Vidiot,
Mr. Bali Hai, Kosmonaut,
Chico and me).
Cocktail Nerd
(Gabriel Szaszko)
A Dash of Bitters
(Michael Dietsch)
DrinkBoston.com
(Lauren Clark)
DrinkBoy and the
Community for the
Cultured Cocktail
(Robert Hess, et al.)
DrinkBoy's Cocktail Weblog
Drink Trader
(Online magazine for the
drink trade)
Esquire's Drinks Database
(Dave Wondrich and
his forbears)
Happy Hours
(Beverage industry
news & insider info)
Imbibe Magazine
(Celebrating the world in a glass)
Jeff Morgenthaler
(Bartender/mixologist, Eugene OR)
Jimmy's Cocktail Hour
(Jimmy Patrick)
Kaiser Penguin
(Rick Stutz, bringing us cocktails
and great photographs)
King Cocktail
(Dale DeGroff)
La Fée Verte
(All about absinthe
from Kallisti et al.)
LUPEC.org
(Ladies United for the
Preservation of
Endangered Cocktails)
Fine Spirits & Cocktails
(eGullet's forum)
The Ministry of Rum
(Everything you always wanted to know)
The Modern Mixologist
(Tony Abou-Ganim)
Mr. Lucky's Cocktails
(Sando, LaDove,
Swanky et al.)
Mr. Mixer
(Hundreds of cocktail recipes ...
in Hungarian. Well, why not?
Sajnos, nem beszélek magyarul.)
Nat Decants
(Natalie MacLean)
Off the Presses
(Robert Simonson)
Oh, Gosh!
(Jay Hepburn)
Rowley's Whiskey Forge
(Matt Rowley)
Sloshed!
(Marleigh)
Spirit Journal
(F. Paul Pacult)
Spirits and Cocktails
(Jamie Boudreau, of
Vessel in Seattle.)
Spirits Review
(Chris Carlsson)
Tastings.com
(Beverage Tasting
Institute journal)
The Thirstin' Howl
(John Myers)
Trader Tiki's Booze Blog
(Blair Reynolds)
Vintage Cocktails
(Daniel Reichert)
The Wormwood Society
(Dedicated to promoting accurate,
current information about absinthe)
Let's eat! New Orleans:
Appetites
Culinary Concierge (N.O. food & wine magazine)
Mr. Lake's Non-Pompous New Orleans Food Forum
The New Orleans Menu
Notes from a New Orleans Foodie
Food-related weblogs:
Bacontarian
Chocolate and Zucchini
Honest Cuisine
Il Forno
KIPlog's FOODblog
MeatHenge
Mise en Place
Sauté Wednesday
Simmer Stock
Tastespotting
Tasting Menu
Waiter Rant
More food!
à la carte
Chef Talk Café
Chowhound (L.A.)
eGullet
Epicurious
Food Network
The Global Gourmet
The Hungry Passport site and weblog)
A Muse for Cooks
The Online Chef
Practically Edible
Pasta, Risotto & You
Slow Food Int'l. Movement
Southern Food & Beverages Museum
Southern Foodways Alliance
So. Calif. Farmer's Markets
Zagat Guide
&c.
In vino veritas. The Oxford Companion to Wine
Wine Enthsiast
The Wine Spectator
Wine Today
Wines.com
Zinfandel Advocates & Producers
Wine/spirits shops in our 'hood:
Colorado Wine Co., Eagle Rock
Mission Liquors, Pasadena
Silverlake Wine, Silverlake
Chronicle Wine Cellar, Pasadena
Other wine/spirits shops we visit:
Beverage Warehouse, Mar Vista
Wally's Wine & Spirits, Westwood
The Wine House, West L.A.
Reading this month:Duma Key, by Stephen King.
Old Man's War, by John Scalzi.
Mister B. Gone, by Clive Barker.
Jude: Level 1, by Julian Gough.
Listen to music! Chuck's current album recommendations
Altan
BeauSoleil
Beck
Luka Bloom
La Bottine Souriante
Billy Bragg
Cordelia's Dad
Jay Farrar
The Frames
Kíla
Sonny Landreth
Los Lobos
Christy Moore
Nickel Creek
OK Go
The Old 97s
Anders Osborne
Planxty
The Proclaimers
Professor Longhair
Red Meat
The Red Stick Ramblers
The Reivers
Zachary Richard
Paul Sanchez
Marc Savoy
Son Volt
Richard Thompson
Toasted Heretic
Uncle Tupelo
Wilco
Tom Morgan's Jazz Roots
Miles of Music
New Orleans Bands.net
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
No Depression
RootsWorld
Appalachian String Band Music Festival - Clifftop, WV
Long Beach Bayou Festival
Strawberry Music Festival - Yosemite, CA
Talking furniture: WWOZ (New Orleans)
Broadcast schedule
Live audio stream
KCSN (Los Angeles)
Broadcast schedule
Stream the last "Down Home"
for 1 week after broadcastk
Live MP3 audio stream
Bob Walker's New Orleans Radio Shrine
(A rich history of N.O. radio)
PublicRadioFan.com
(Comprehensive listings)
Air America Radio
(Talk radio for the
rest of us)
Folkscene
Joe Frank
Grateful Dead Radio
(Streaming complete
shows!)
KPIG, 107 Oink 5
(Freedom, CA)
KRVS Radio Acadie
(Lafayette, LA)
LouisianaRadio.com
Mike Hodel's "Hour 25"
(Science fiction radio)
Raidió Idirlíon
(Irish language & music)
Raidió na Gaeltachta
(Irish language)
RootsWorld's Rootsradio
RTÉ Radio Ceolnet
(Irish trad. music)
WXDU (Durham, NC)
Films seen this year:
(with ratings):In the cinema:
Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (****-1/2)
Atonement (****)
No Country for Old Men (****)
Juno (***-1/2)
On DVD:
Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (***)
Eastern Promises (***-1/2)
Omagh (***-1/2)
Transformers (**-1/2)
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (**-1/2)
Across the Universe (***-1/2)
Sicko (****)
Michael Clayton (****)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (****-1/2)
Lookin' at da TV: "Lost"
"Battlestar Galactica"
"ER"
"Smallville"
"One Tree Hill"
"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"
"The Simpsons"
"Top Chef"
"Father Ted"
Photography: A Gallery for Fine Photography, New Orleans (Joshua Mann Pailet)
American Museum of Photography
California Museum of Photography, Riverside
International Center of Photography
Ansel Adams
Jonathan Fish
Noah Grey
Greg Guirard
Paul F. R. Hamilton
Clarence John Laughlin
Herman Leonard
Howard Roffman
J. T. Seaton
Jerry Uelsmann
Gareth Watkins
Brett Weston
The Mirror Project
(My pics therein: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.)
My photographs at Flickr
Comix: The Amazing Adventures of Bill,
by Bill Roundy
Bloom County / Outland / Opus,
by Berkeley Breathed
Bob the Angry Flower,
by Stephen Notley
The Boondocks,
by Aaron McGruder
Calvin and Hobbes,
by Bill Watterson
Doonesbury,
by Garry B. Trudeau
Electric Sheep Comix
by Patrick Farley
Get Your War On
by David Rees
Goats
by Jonathan Rosenberg
L. A. Cucaracha
by Lalo Alcaraz
Leviathan,
by Peter Blegvad
Lil' Abner,
by Al Capp
Lulu Eightball,
by Emily Flake
The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green,
by Eric Orner
Pogo,
by Walt Kelly
Suspect Device,
by Greg Peters
Ted Rall,
by Ted Rall
This Modern World,
by Tom Tomorrow
XQUZYPHYR & Overboard,
by August J. Pollak
Must-reads: Polly Ticks:
AlterNet.org (Progressive politics & news)
Daily Kos (My favorite political weblog)
Eschaton (The Mighty Atrios)
Hullaballoo (The Mighty Digby)
Media Matters for America (Debunking right-wing media lies)
Orcinus (David Neiwert)
PostSecret (Secrets sent in via postcards; astonishingly beautiful, funny and sad.)
Talking Points Memo (Josh Marshall)
TAPPED (The American Prospect Online)
Think Progress
TruthOut (William Rivers Pitt & Co.)Miscellany::
Borowitz Report (Political satire)
The Complete Bushisms (quotationable!)
The Fray (Your stories)
Landover Baptist (Better Christians than YOU!)
Maledicta (The International Journal of Verbal Aggression)
The Morning Fix from SF Gate (Opinions, extreme irreverence)
The New York Review of Science Fiction
The Onion (Scarily funny news/satire)
"Rush, Newspeak and Fascism: An exegesis", by David Neiwert. (Read this.)
Whitehouse.org (Not the actual White House, but it should be)
Weblogs I read: Alicublog
AmericaBlog
American Leftist
BoingBoing
The BradLands
Cardhouse
The Carpetbagger Report
Cheesedip
Crabwalk
Franklin Avenue
Ghost in the Machine
Hit or Miss
Jesus' General
kottke.org
Making Light
Neil Gaiman's Journal
Not Right About Anything
NowThis.com
Pandagon
August J. Pollak
Sadly, No!
telescreen.org
This Modern World
Your Right Hand Thief
L.A. BlogsFriends with pages: bill
chris
dule
ellen
jon
jordan
mary
mary katherine
michael p.
nancy
peter
robb
sean
shel
steve
ted
todd
tracy and david
The Final Frontier: Astronomy Pic of the Day
ISS Alpha News
NASA Human Spaceflight
Spaceflight Now
SF: Locus Magazine Online
SF Site
SFWA
Quotationable: "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
-- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States (1901-1909), speaking in 1918"There ought to be limits to freedom."
-- George W. Bush, May 21, 1999"You don't get everything you want. A dictatorship would be a lot easier."
-- George W. Bush, describing what it's like to be governor of Texas, Governing Magazine, July 1998"If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."
-- George W. Bush, CNN.com, December 18, 2000"A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it."
-- George W. Bush, Business Week, July 30, 2001
Déanta: This page is coded by hand, with BBEdit 4.0.1 on an Apple G4 15" PowerBook running MacOS X 10.3 if I'm at home; occasionally with telnet and Pico on a FreeBSD Unix host running tcsh if I'm updating from work. (I never could get used to all those weblogging tools.)
"Eating, drinking and carrying on..." -- Adelaide Brennan
Friday, May 30, 2008 Make way fo' da Reeeebirth! The ReBirth Brass Band is celebrating their 25th anniversary with a two-night throwdown at Howlin' Wolf in New Orleans. I ain't in town at the moment so I can't go, but if you are, that's the place to be.
Rebirth Brass Band's 25th Anniversary "We got New Orleans on our shoulders," [bandmember] Keith [Frazier] said. Their most important words of wisdom? "Don't take anything for granted, " Keith said. "Until you leave here, you don't understand what it's like, so don't take it for granted. Just play like it's your last time every time."
Yeah you rite.
Cocktail of the day. Sorry, I know I haven't done this in a while. Out of town, busy with all kindsa stuff and posting New Orleans food porn (and yeah, I know, it's been three weeks and I'm only just gettin' started). Let's have a drink.
This one hails from Saratoga Springs, New York in the 1880s. According to David Wondrich's Imbibe!, there were two cocktails by this name, one being basically "a Fancy Brandy Cocktail with a squirt of Champagne," the other being this, similar to a Manhattan in which half the rye has been switched out. It's mighty tasty.
Oh, and the rye was Rittenhouse Bonded, the brandy was Hennessy VSOP, the vermouth was Carpano Antica.
The Saratoga Cocktail
1 ounce rye whiskey.
1 ounce brandy.
1 ounce sweet vermouth.
2 dashes Angostura Bitters.
Combine with ice in a mixing glass and stir for no less than 30 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass or, as the book suggests, "a thin stemmed glass with a curved lip." Garnish with a quarter slice of lemon, either perched on the rim or floated in the drink."Replace the vermouth with absinthe," Dave says, "and you have what the Hoffman House called a 'Morning Cocktail.' If that's what you need to get going in the A.M., God help you."
Quirky New Orleans. From New Orleans Magazine:
New Orleans. Endlessly interesting. Mysterious. Offbeat. What can you say about a city that has been through so much, yet remains as vibrant and intriguing as any city in America? We New Orleanians know that we have something special in this low-lying plot of earth between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. But how many of us take the time to explore those unique little treasures that dot our landscape? How many of us take for granted those little gems that make us stop and think, give us a giggle or make us cock our heads and say, "Wow."
Each local has a favorite site -- historic, quirky or inspiring -- that he or she feels sets this city apart. Here is a locals' guide to some out-of-the-way favorites, some of the areas best kept secrets -- 97 to be exact. Explore them with us as you walk the neighborhoods of New Orleans and some of its outlying communities. Most of all, appreciate the uniqueness of our city and those who still proudly call it home.
I've done or seen 52 of those 97 things. (Man, I've got some catchin' up to do.) How 'bout you?
[ Link to today's entries ]
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 The Cocktail Spirit: "Saturated with Sazeracs, Episode 1" Robert Hess begins a three-part series about my favorite cocktail.
Saturated with Sazeracs, Episode 1
In this first episode of our very special series - Saturated with Sazeracs - Ann Tuennerman, founder of Tales of the Cocktail, visits H. Joseph Ehrmann's Elixir Saloon in San Francisco. During this unique happy hour on May 16th H and his colleagues behind the bar mixed up countless classic Sazerac cocktails.
Although I think a Sazerac needs more Peychaud's bitters than what you can saturate a sugar cube with (and I prefer simple syrup anyway), and that was an awful lot of water in that drink, dude ...
Yeah, I'm a persnickety pain in the ass, but still.
Dante's Kitchen. Oddly enough, I'd never been to this Riverbend restaurant, but I'd been across the street at Brigtsen's more times than I could count. Our friend Ti Martin of Commander's Palace raves about it -- she should know, as the chef Emmanual Loubier had cooked with Jamie Shannon at Commander's for 10 years. She goes often, and told us that we were overdue for a visit. Diana made plans for the first Friday of Jazzfest, and off we went.
I'm going to want to go back, especially because I think a Jazzfest weekend is not the world's greatest time to try a restaurant for the first time. Predictably, they were slammed, although they seemed to manage things as well as can be expected. The service was friendly from the moment we walked in.
I have to say, though, that there was a problem with the drinks.
I ordered two Sazeracs for Wes and me while we waited, and as I stood there and watched the bartender make them I imagined Jeff Morgenthaler next to me, and together imaginary Jeff and I counted the mistakes the poor fellow made:
1. Too much simple syrup. (The scourge of the Sazerac.)
2. Glass rinsed with Pernod. (Dude, we're in New Orleans. Herbsaint is our pastis, plus it's 1/3 the price of that other stuff and ten times better. Absinthe is legal now too.)
3. Incorrect amount of bitters. (I watched the guy dribble two dashes of Angostura and barely one of Peychaud's, and at that point I had to step in. "Excuse me, could you put more Peychaud's in there, please? At least three more dashes." He picked up both bottles, looked at them quizzically, and actually said, "Oh yeah ... I can never keep these two straight, I always get 'em confused." *facepalm*)
4. The drink was shaken, not stirred.
5. The lemon twist was simply dropped in the drink with no lemon oil being expressed.
6. A cocktail glass was used rather than a rocks glass. (OK, this is one of Jeff's don'ts, but Wes said I was being too persnickety about this one.)I don't want to sound like I'm picking on this place in particular, because I see this sort of thing far too often around the city, but folks ... you're bartending in New Orleans. Learn how to make a Sazerac properly.
We were seated not long after that, in our own little room, no less, and very well taken care of by two friendly, attentive and attractive servers. Almost immediately they brought this:
This was one of their signature offerings, Molasses Spoonbread. It came in a little skillet, swimming in melted honey butter and was ... oh my. Oh my. Fortunately they brought three of these for the table, because there was a bit of a feeding frenzy and someone might have gotten hurt had there been fewer lil' skillets. Next time I would like a 10" skillet full of this stuff, please. Just for me. (Buzz off, all y'all, it's all mine, mine I tell you!)
We also got a little amuse:
Hooooo ... Marinated Crabmeat with Watermelon Rind Pickles. Looka dat. How beautiful is that jumbo lump crabmeat? The pickles were interesting, a bit tangy. I have to confess I've never been a big fan of watermelon rind pickles. I believe it was Garrison Keillor who described them as coming out of the jar and going onto the relish tray on holidays, whereupon after they remained untouched they'd be scooped back into the jar for the next holiday, and a redeployment onto the relish tray, ad infinitum. Wes loves them, though, and he was a very happy Midwestern boy. It was a nice Southern touch, though, and I enjoyed the dish very much. Once again, my bouche was highly amused.
Shrimp and grits, another Southern perennial, and in this particular case a wonderful presentation that was, more specifically, Grilled Gulf Shrimp with Stone Ground Grits and Andouille Red Eye Gravy. A dish like this makes me laugh. Not only because it tastes so good, and really good tasting food can elicit a number of emotional reactions from me, one of which is laughter, but because of where I live. I'm a Louisiana expatriate living in Los Angeles, California. The sight of a dish like this makes me salivate. The sight of a dish like this makes the average Angeleno leap up from the table in horror and run screaming for the door. Apparently these people out here have never seen a shrimp head served to them on a plate, poor bastards. Some might be getting more used to it, but I do remember hearing stories from the wait staff at one of the first fine dining Louisiana-style restaurants to take advantage of the '80s "Cajun craze" in Los Angeles (but actually doing it well). They served New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp, heads and shells and all, and people literally shrieked and leapt up from the table.
I keep those entertaining scenes in my head, but I hope that L.A.-ites have grown up a bit since the '80s, mostly because it'd be sad for them to miss a dish like this, a dish this good. The grits were perfect, slightly chewy as good stone ground grits should be, and andouille red eye gravy ... what a great idea. I forgot to ask if it was chicory coffee used to make it.
This was one of the appetizers specials for the week -- Crawfish Gratin, in light cream and baked with a crispy Cheddar cheese topping. This wasn't one of my dishes and I don't recall getting a bite (d'oh), but word around the table was that it was good.
We love pâté and other charcuterie, and frequently go for a charcuterie plate when it's offered, and here it was -- Housemade duck and cherry pâté, duck liver mousse and duck rillettes served with house made pickles, relish, and mustard. All very nice, and the begininng of a rillette-filled two weeks, as it turned out. (Boy, I could eat duck liver mousse out of ice cream cones. Hmm, hey, there's an idea ...)
Here was my entrée -- Pork Loin Roast, Stewed Collard Greens and Goat Cheese Grits, with a Coffee-Pecan Demiglace. Gorgeous seasoning on the pork, the collards were simple but intense and lovely, and although I love cheese grits I'd never had them with goat cheese before. I hope I do again, soon. Excellent dish, but unfortunately my pork was a little dry. Again, I attribute this to the kitchen being slammed -- it wasn't a dealbreaker, and it's still a well-conceived dish which I enjoyed. If only that pork had been a little juicier ...
The Gulf fish special for the day came along with Warm Creole Potato Salad, and although it wasn't listed as one of the available a la carte sides, I asked if I could have a side of that, and of course they gladly obliged. Simple yet very tasty.
This was Wes' entrée -- Roasted Duck Breast with Barq's Candied Sweet Potatoes, Andouille Cornbread Dressing and Louisiana Kumquat Sauce. I think that although the basic preparation of the dish remains the same, the chef changes the sauce sometimes due to inspiration and what's available and good-looking; the sauce listed on the web menu is a fig and habanero barbeque sauce, yum. This was fairly inevitable, what with Wes being Mr. Duck after all. I really liked the taste I got, and I know Wes enjoyed the dish, but as far as it being as the server described -- "the best duck dish in New Orleans" -- well, mighty big shoes to fill. Maybe we'll get more on this dish from Himself in the comments.
This was perhaps the most adventurous dish at the table that night, a Jazzfest week special which Robin ordered: Mixed Grill, with a raised short rib over a poblano grits cake, Louisiana boudin rouge with grilled green onion vinaigrette, and a Piney Woods beef and sweet potato empanada with beet slaw. I didn't get to taste it all, but Robin said the shortrib was fantastic (most shortribs are, yumm), but after that she kind of hit a stumbling block.
Boudin rouge (red boudin), also sometimes called boudin noir (black boudin, similar to what some people would call black pudding) is a fresh blood sausage. I think it was very ballsy of Chef to put it on the menu during Jazzfest when he was liable to get a lot of tourists who'd blanch at the idea, and even more ballsy for Robin to order it -- yeah you rite, girl. Turns out that, unfortunately, she didn't like it. It's a strong flavor and can be an acquired taste. Fortunately for me I do like boudin rouge, a lot, and she gave the rest of it to me.
I thought it was out of this world. This is such a rare treat to see this on a restaurant menu -- I can't remember the last time I've seen it, and it can be hard to find even in Acadiana. I hope Chef does it again, especially next time around. The empanada was an interesting yet odd choice to include on a mixed grill, and although I didn't get a taste of that I got the impression from Robin and Wes that that part wasn't entirely successful.
Desserts were simple and straightforward -- on the left, a Trio of Crème Brûlée (Vanilla, Orange and Cardamom) and on the right, Chocolate Molten Cake with Housemade Port Ice Cream and Fruit Preserves. The crème brûlées were good, although I found the orange and cardamom flavors to be almost too subtle, and the port ice cream was lovely with the cake.
We enjoyed our visit to Dante's Kitchen, and once again had special praise for the wait staff, who given how insanely busy the restaurant was did a great job and helped to make it fun. I'm looking forward to trying them again, on a non-festival weekend next time.
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Thursday, May 22, 2008 Jazzfest 2008, Day 1. Gorgeous day, and always happy to set foot back in the Fairgrounds. As some of my friends (Hi, Sarah!) consider this to be a food festival first and foremost, we'll start wtih the grub.
As always, every day of Fest, first thing before anything else, for over 20 years ... I go see a lady named Merlene Herbert from Lafayette and buy one of these -- Creole's Stuffed Bread. You've heard me rave about it for about half that time, but I shall continue to rave. It's one of the best things to eat on the Fairgrounds, is still the most criminally underappreciated and unknown (although despite being ignored by the local media and unknown to the hordes who inexplicably gorge themselves on the wildly overrated, overly cheesy crawfish bread, Miss Merlen sells tons of these). Creole's Stuffed Bread also kicks the everlovin' ass of Natchitoches Meat Pies, which although good are greasier and far less seasoned than these little buns of steel.
Deceptively simple -- ground beef and pork, sausage, cheese, jalapeños and seasonings, inside a thin-shelled delicious bun that's brushed with butter and baked. I would really like to have one of these every day for the rest of my life.
Miss Merlene told us that you can now get these delivered via CajunGrocer.com!
This is one of the other moan-inducers of the Fest -- Cochon de Lait Po-Boys, which you read about in Da Papuh a while back. Porky, smoky, tender, delicious slow-smoked pork butt, served hot with cold cabbage and horseradish sauce. We had at least three of these during the 7-day Fest.
I did mention that this was The Year of Living (Chicken) Livery, and it continued on the Fairgroudns with the Praline Connection's fabulous Grilled Chicken Livers with Pepper Jelly Sauce, with Collard Greens and Rice. Apparently they're not making these in the restaurant anymore -- the ones you get there are fried -- but I may be wrong about that. These amazing little morsels of flavor and cholesterol taste like they've been dipped in bacon fat before grilling, and perfectly seasoned. The pepper jelly dipping sauce, I understand, came about by mistake when someone neglected to add pectin to a batch of pepper jelly, and someone else discovered that these livers tasted really good when dipped into them. I had this several times too, including bites off other people's plates. Fortunately there's time to clear the cholesterol out of my bloodstream before my next checkup, but it was so worth it.
Oysters Rockefeller Bisque, which I believe was originally developed by Frank Brigtsen but is now served in many places around the city. This is one of those restaurant-quality dishes you get in a Styrofoam cup with a plastic spoon for four bucks, and while you're eating it you're eating better than most people in most restaurants around the country at that moment.
We didn't go too overboard with food, as we had a big dinner at Dante's Kitchen set up for that night, but we did see plenty of great music.
We started the day with a fantastic set at the big Fess Stage (which is what it used to be called and how I still refer to it, without mentioning the big car company sponsor unless absolutely necessary) by Susan Cowsill and her band. She's a New Orleanian although not born and raised, but lived there for the last 15+ years barring eight months or so while she and her husband (and drummer and co-songwriter) Russ Broussard wandered around wondering if they needed to find another city to live in after the Federal Flood destroyed their Lakevew home and everything in it. She spent her earlier years with her family band The Cowsills, and even treated us to a snippet of "The Rain, The Park and Other Things" among the set of her own wonderful songs, plus at least one written by her late brother Barry. You can buy a CD or download of Susan's set from Jazzfest Live, and it's one of the really good-sounding ones well worth the money.
We moved on to The Zydepunks (above left; click on small pics to embiggen), whom I'd heard of but never gotten around to seeing, and given that they're New Orleans top (and only) Cajun-Irish-Breton-Klezmer-Slavic-zydeco-folk-punk band, it's probably a foregone conclusion that I'd like them, and I did. A lot. In the pic to the right of the Zydepunks' accordionist Juan is a member of one of many Mardi Gras Indian tribes who come to Jazzfest. Impromptu parades and second lines with cries of "Get out de way!" break out here and there, and are great fun.
We headed to the Blues Tent to catch the latter part of Barbara Lynn's set, the great blues/R&B singer and guitarist from Texas. Besides her big band she was being accompanied on guitar by zydeco/blues legend Paul "Lil' Buck" Sinegal, who played for years in Clifton Chenier's Red Hot Louisiana Band. She was great, but we only caught maybe 2-1/2 songs as she ended her set at least 10 minutes early. Hunh? No mention was made of why. Illness? Technical problems? Diva syndrome? We decided that if it were anything other than the former we were officially annoyed. We then headed over to catch some of Big Sam's Funky Nation, who have a terrific new album out and who proceeded to funk up the house.
I tend to stick my nose up at most non-local, non-international, big-name mainstream rock acts, but this ain't one of 'em. I had been looking forward to the set by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss for months. I never was much of a Zeppelin fan (probably due to spending a great many of my younger days being stuffed into lockers by guys wearing Led Zeppelin t-shirts), but the album Raising Sand that they put out last year is rootsy and folky and phenomenal. As you can see from the pictures above, we were way in the back and relied on the Fess Stage's most excellent video screens for the majority of our view, but that was fine. The sound was fantastic, which was most important. And these two knocked it outta da Fairgrounds. Alternately thrilling and chilling and joyous and outright fun, this set was the talk of the Fest for days. In fact, in his post-Fest roundup Keith Spera in the T-P named this as THE set of the year.
I was particularly blown away by some of the Zeppelin stuff they did, including "The Battle of Evermore." Here's a highly illegal YouTube clip of that performance:
Yeah. :-)
We finished our musical day with Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience, winner of the first-ever Grammy Award in the new Cajun and Zydeco album category. Terrance is and always was a great performer, really playing to the crowd and entertaining as well as singing and playing. At the upper left, he proudly displays his Grammy to the crowd. Upper right, the very photogenic Terrance jams the Jazzefest, as his song goes, on his accordion, and at bottom, Terrance and the very, very, VERY photogenic bassist Taylor Guarisco (formerly of Feufollet) play in an extended jam for the last song, which featured lots of crowd participation and bead-throwing.
Pretty damned good way to start off da Fest.
How far are you willing to go to express your love for bacon? This far?
Ohh ... I dunno, Crow. My first instinct is to say, "I MUST HAVE ONE!" but then common sense kicks in. Where the hell would I wear it other than to a Fat Pack food gathering, and then we'd fight over which one of us got to wear it. It'd be worse than Lucy and Ethel ... "Well, I'm not going if she's wearing that dress!"
Then there's the bit about it being made of "chemically treated latex print fabric," which pretty much loses me. There's also the fact that I once bought a bacon-scented car air freshener from this same outfit, and what little smell it had smelled absolutely nothing like bacon.
Sigh. Well, at least you ladies still have the bacon bra.
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Wednesday, May 21, 2008 She's heeeeeeere! Sorry to have been quiet the last few days, but there was a bit of excitement. My niece Molly Catherine Willmon was born last Friday, about two weeks before her due date (but a week before she was actually scheduled to be born via C-section), at around 10:30pm, weighing in at 6 pounds 9 ounces. (YAYYY!!!)
Her mom was surprised, to say the least, and there was much (in retrospect) comedy/stress in getting her to the hospital. Adding to the drama was the fact that her dad, who's a petroleum engineer, was on an oil rig in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico at the time, and had to be airlifted out by helicopter. Such a commotion this kid caused, sheesh!
Mother and daughter are doing fine -- they both went home today -- and she's beautiful.
No "Down Home" stream last week. Those of you who listen in may have noticed that there was no stream. In fact, the KCSN webcast is down indefinitely. Stated reason: "Due to the uncertainty over newly-increased performace royalty structures and mandated reporting guidelines that have been established for all Internet music streaming, we have made the difficult decision to suspend our music stream at this time."
I have nothing to say about this, other than to write your congressperson and senator to get these ridiculously extreme royalties and regulations for web radio rescinded.
Punch and Judy: Official Tales of the Cocktail '08 drink. Tales of the Cocktail approaches, and it's been decided. The official cocktail of this year's Tales is the Punch and Judy, by Charlotte Voisey. It is indeed a punch too, which is great and which will no doubt delight punchmeister David Wondrich too!
Punch and Judy
1 ounce Martell VSOP Cognac.
1/4 ounce Old New Orleans Crystal Rum.
1/2 ounce Hendrick's Gin.
1/2 ounce Bols Orange Curaçao.
2 ounces pineapple juice.
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice.
1/2 ounce fresh orange juice.
1/2 ounce agave nectar.
2 dashes Angostura Bitters.
4 mint leaves.
Assemble ingredients in a mixing glass with as much love and interest that is healthy (that is to say, not in a obsessive fashion but certainly passionate) - no need to muddle the mint, just throw it in - shake properly (hard) and strain over fresh ice in a highball glass.Cut a thinly sliced lime wheel and place on top of the Punch and Judy; add a hearty sprinkle of ground nutmeg directly on the lime wheel fresh from the "nut" with a small grater, instead of using already ground nutmeg from a small shaker.
Oh, and as you can tell, the contest asked that one use as many of the sponsors' products as possible. No worries, though ... alll that stuff's mighty good.
[ Link to today's entries ]
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 Yay, Chicago! Carol just called to tell me that the Chicago city council has overturned the city's ridiculous ban on foie gras. "Monica Davey, the Times.s Chicago bureau chief, says the ban has been a source of embarrassment for the city and the repeal comes as residents have accused officials of trying to micromanage people.s lives, with talk of prohibiting smoking even outside along the lakefront and eliminating transfats from restaurants."
Now we need to start working on California, who are set to start a ban in 2012.
Brigtsen's. Wes and I can't remember if Brigtsen's was the first restaurant I brought him to in New Orleans, or if it was second to Peristyle. A mere eight years later and the memory is all cobwebs, but he seems to remember it as Brigtsen's, which works for me. I've been a huge fan of Frank Brigtsen's cooking for years, and we hadn't managed to get back here since Katrina and the federal flood. The restaurant is at the Riverbend not far from the Mississippi levee, in the Sliver by the River, and suffered no flooding or damage, but Frank and Marna evacuated to Shreveport and apparently considered staying (as did so many others who were displaced), but fortunately decided to come back home. (Countless customers begging them to do so didn't hurt.)
We were both eager to get back there, and we were glad we did.
Our first dish was a showstopper -- Crawfish Shortcake, which was crawfish étouffée atop a basil-black pepper biscuit. This was really, really good. Next time my momma makes her fantastic étouffée I'm gonna make a batch of basil-black pepper biscuits. :-)
Sautéed Veal Sweetbreads with potato-leek cake, shiitakes, capers and a lemon-roasted garlic sauce.
I've had many sweetbreads dishes in New Orleans and elsewhere, and this was one of the best. The brightness of the lemon in the sauce, along with the piquant capers balance the creaminess of the sweetbreads, accented by the creamy nutty roasted garlic. Oh, yum.
Pannéed Rabbit Tenderloin on a Tasso-Parmesan Grits Cake with Sautéed Spinach and Creole Mustard Sauce. YAY! The best rabbit dish in the city, and a perennial on Frank's menu, is still there and still as great as it ever was. I used to get this all the time, but I really wanted to try his newer starters too. Solution? Order this as well, and split it. (We so smart, yeah.)
Now, for the mains. Sautéed Veal Gratinée with Oyster-Creamed Spinach and Brie. This was Wes' main course, which was so good it made both our heads spin. Yes, that's oysters and spinach in the crust of the veal. Oh my.
And rich? Ya think?
And now ... my dish. Brigtsen's Seafood Platter, which he also calls the "Shell Beach Diet". Shell Beach is a fishing village in St. Bernard Parish that got badly slammed during Hurricane Katrina, but has been some of the most fertile fishing grounds in the area for generations.
This one nearly killed me. I couldn't finish, which made me sad because everything tasted terrific.
When you hear "seafood platter" in New Orleans, it almost always means a Gargantuan pile of fried seafood, usually with French fries, sitting atop a layer of toast that's been drenched with butter as well as the grease that drips from the fried seafood. Not bad -- in fact, it can be great -- but it can be a bit much to say the least, and it all develops a bit of sameness after a while, everything being battered and deep-fried the same way.
Brigtsen's seafood platter has nothing fried on it at all, but a half a dozen different kinds of seafood cooked in ways that are both traditionally inspired, very creative and absolutely delicious.
Clockwise, starting from the crawfish, we have:
1. Gratin of Crawfish Parmesan.
Creamy, creamy, rich rich rich.2. Baked Oyster LeRuth with Shrimp and Crab.
Named for and inspired by the great New Orleans chef Warren LeRuth, one of the fathers of the modern era of fine dining in New Orleans and creator of some of our best dishes (like oyster-artichoke soup). I think Chef LeRuth would have been honored to have this dish named for him.3. Deviled Crab.
Frank's own take on the old traditional favorite, stuffed crab.4. Grilled Drum with Crawfish and a Jalapeño Lime Sauce.
Gorgeous, with a spicy, bright and tangy sauce with a great Caribbean feel.5. Seared Sea Scallop with Baby Arugula and Jalapeo-Corn Vinaigrette.
A bit of a Southwestern feel to this one, with the corn vinaigrette taking a maquechoux on a weekend to Albuquerque. The scallop was fat and sweet and tender, too.6. Fennel Baked Oyster.
Classic flavor combination, beautifully done.This dish apparently changes somewhat on a daily basis, depending on the availability of ingredients. I hit 'em on a good night, but damn ... I wish I could have cleaned my plate.
I was seriously full, so we decided to split a dessert -- Louisiana Strawberry Shortcake. During this time of year we gorge on Louisiana strawberries, the best anywhere, and we do it in everything from salads to desserts to Abita's Strawberry Harvest Lager beer. This is a classic, traditional strawberry shortcake like ya grammaw used to make. And just as good.
We showed up almost a half an hour early for our reservation, but even though they were very busy Marna seated us immediately. The pre-meal Sazerac was lovely, the service was comforting and embracing without being obtrusive, and although it was a little noisy, given the fact that the restaurant is an old converted home and you're dining with three other tables in small rooms, it was still fine for conversation and seemed lively rather than oppressive. Every aspect of the meal was superb, and we were reminded why Brigtsen's has been one of my favorite restaurants for years.
[ Link to today's entries ]
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 The Cocktail Spirit, with Robert Hess. We got behind on Robert's videos while in New Orleans, so here's a bit of catch-up:
As the Kentucky Derby approaches there is one cocktail that is essential to have in your repertoire, The Mint Julep. Whether at the track or on the veranda watching the sun set, this refreshing, simple and elegant cocktail should be sipped and savored.
# # # Not only must you stock your bar with the best ingredients and most useful tools, you need to be able to take your act on the road. Robert packs up his traveling mixologist bag and let's you in on some secrets of transporting those all important bitters.
To learn about some great historic variations on the classic Mint Julep, read David Wondrich's Imbibe! or Stanley Clisby Arthur's New Orleans Drinks and How To Mix 'Em. (I've got a great "doctor's bag" myself too, and I love taking our show on the road.)
Elizabeth's. After the indulgence of the Swizzle Stick and Cuvée the night before, we slept late on Thursday the 24th -- well-deserved. Forging on ahead, we met Nettie and Robin again for an early lunch. Elizabeth's was the choice, and it had been a while since we'd been. In fact, we hadn't been since Heidi, the original owner, and sold the place and moved out of state. The new owners have pretty much kept the place just as it was, with the addition of a dinner menu and later hours, plus I understand that the people in the kitchen are the same as before, and it was certainly as down home and yummy as it had always been.
We resolved our first dilemma -- which appetizers to order -- with the typical Fat Pack sledgehammer solution of simply ordering them all. (Fortunately there were only four.)
Boudin balls in Creole mustard sauce. Boudin balls are a easy-peasy snack -- you simply take Cajun-style boudin (a spicy pork sauce made from pork and pork liver, seasonings and about 2/3 rice), roll it into balls, bread and deep fry them. Yum yum.
I was reminded of a joke that kinda backfired. Several years ago I was at Jazzfest eating an order of boudin balls when two girls from out of town approached me and asked what I was eating. Now, they were doing exactly the right thing for Jazzfest newbies -- if you see something that looks or smells tasty, just ask the person what it is. As one local wrote a while back, "If the person eating it is from out of town, they'll probably say something funny. If they're local, you'll probably learn something. If they're from the Ninth Ward, they'll probably offer you a bite." I was ready to offer a bite, but first I said, "They're boudin balls."
"What are boudin balls?" one of the girls asked.
Without missing a beat (and for God knows what reason), I said, "They're the breaded and deep-fried testicles of the wild freshwater boudin."
The girls' faces actually elongated with horror, and they made gentle choking noises, when I quickly said, "No no no! Just kidding! It's a pork and rice sausage dressing, rolled into balls and fried. Look! Wanna try it?" But by that time it was too late, and they were backing away slowly. Oh well, I tried for a laugh and it fell flat. I still feel kinda guilty about that. I hope they finally tried boudin balls sometime. They're really good.
Praline bacon. Elizabeth's signature dish. World-renowned. Never spoken of without reverence (or a tone of voice recalling the Deadly Sin of Lust). One of the great dishes of New Orleans. One of the great dishes of the Milky Way Galaxy, for that matter. And yet, deceptively simple: a mixture of brown sugar, a bit of butter, a touch of vanilla, ground pecans and a pinch of cayenne, applied to bacon which is then cooked crisp on a rack and then cooled to room temperature.
It's a brilliant combination of flavors -- the porky and the smoky and the salty and the sweet and the nutty and the spicy and the crispy and the richness of it all.
It is indescribably delicious. It is heaven on a plate. "It is," said a friend of ours once, "better than sex." Okay, it's really really really feckin' good, but let's not get carried away.
Blue Cheese Fried Oysters, reminiscent of the great dish at Uglesich's but different, done in Elizabeth's own style, with a creamier dressing. The oysters were perfectly fried too, crisp and hot and creamy and not a dot of grease.
Fried Chicken Livers with Pepper Jelly. This is a classic combination, but everyone puts their own spin on the preparation. This batch was, natch, battered and deep-fried, crispy little balls of cholesterol. Tasty, tasty cholesterol.
"Hey Chris, how was New Orleans?" -- my friend Chris' cow-orkers, after his first trip to NOLA with me, several ye
