Anyone Else Not Like New Orleans?

[snarlingcoyote]

Originally Posted by NotUrsula

That's correct. He created the fad. I know his family and went to school with several of his nieces and nephews; I have to tell you that our area was never as impressed with Paul as the rest of the country was; most locals do not consider him nearly as skilled as someone like John Folse, for instance. (Folse is a master -- he is from the Convent area but trained in Europe.)

FWIW, Spiciness at that level actually wasn't encountered much at all locally except in sausage; and the point of doing it in sausage is so that the rice and or beans would pick up the flavor but mellow it with their starch. Later, after people elsewhere started equating "Cajun" with "very spicy", then the locals got onto a kick of trying to outdo one another with how much heat they could tolerate. Now, I like my food to have flavor, but now that I have some money I don't need it to burn my mouth out - thats a poverty trick. (Cayenne is first and foremost a preservative -- it was originally adapted by Cajuns after the local Native American tribes showed them that it could be used to make it possible to safely eat partially spoiled food.

Growing up I spent a lot of time in the depths of rural Acadiana, and most older folks there would only consider "blackening" the less-desirable roasted game meats in the old days; it was done most often with things like a venison haunch that had been hanging too long, and you would scrape it off before you ate the meat. Also, we didn't actually EAT alligator in the old days except in Sauce Piquant during Lent -- we didn't take young gators because they were hunted for the hides, and mature gator has a texture that is highly reminescent of a steel-belted radial, IMO. (I really don't care if it tastes like chicken -- I don't eat that rubbery garbage unless I'm DANGED hungry. Also, FWIW, wild-caught gator really needs aromatic seasoning to make it palatable -- gamey does not BEGIN to describe the odor of raw wild gator meat. What you buy in restaurants these days is all farmed.)

(To qualify, I'm NOT Cajun. I'm Irish, but for reasons too complicated to go into, my immediate family immigrated to the New Orleans area just before I was born. My Dad was big on hunting and fishing though; we spent a lot of time out in the country and on the water when we were kids. We also spent a lot of time near Parasol's at this time of year, but that's another discussion, LOL.)



Red beans and rice is the one local food that I will not eat -- never could stand the stuff, except that I would pick out and rinse off the sausage to eat with my cornbread. I spent every Monday of the 12 years that I spent in school hungry, because it was guaranteed to be served every single Monday of the school year.

FWIW, however, for those who don't know the distinction: Cajun food was never traditional in greater New Orleans, and certainly not in the more fashionable parts of town. The traditional cuisine of the Crescent City is Creole, and tended to be just as hidebound in terms of preparation styles as French cuisine anywhere. Back in the 1960s a restaurant like Cochon would never have managed to stay in business, let alone become a difficult table to get.
PS: Happy Mardi Gras, all y'all! Laissez les bon temps rouler.

Couchon may have started in NO, but the chef is from SW Louisiana and every time we go in there, DH and I taste something that is unique to our little cultural corner of the world, just dressed up and turned into Fancy. We laughed ourselves silly the last time - they used the recipe for cinnamon stick pickles (cross a pickle with a red hot candy and you've got the taste of it)but did it using watermelon rinds instead of cucumber rinds! Couchon is NOT creole cooking, nor, really, is it cajun cooking, at least as it is classically done in Lafayette or points east. . .it's more the sweet marriage of cultures that is SW Louisiana. It's Coonass cooking in a fancy setting, that's what it is!

[NotUrsula]

Originally Posted by snarlingcoyote

Couchon may have started in NO, but the chef is from SW Louisiana and every time we go in there, DH and I taste something that is unique to our little cultural corner of the world, just dressed up and turned into Fancy. We laughed ourselves silly the last time - they used the recipe for cinnamon stick pickles (cross a pickle with a red hot candy and you've got the taste of it)but did it using watermelon rinds instead of cucumber rinds! Couchon is NOT creole cooking, nor, really, is it cajun cooking, at least as it is classically done in Lafayette or points east. . .it's more the sweet marriage of cultures that is SW Louisiana. It's Coonass cooking in a fancy setting, that's what it is!

And that was my point ... back in the 60's, the average native New Orleanian wouldn't pay to eat "Coonass" food in a restaurant. It was considered much too déclassé to be commercially viable.

I have all of the River Roads cookbooks, and my original one (THE original one; I got it from an Aunt who was given the first edition when it came out in 1959) has a section called "How Men Cook" -- the good ladies of the BTR Junior League segregated all the game recipes into that section, as if it was permissible to eat the stuff when at the Camp, but not in the house, LOL. Lafayette's Talk About Good didn't go quite that far in 1967; it just has a separate section for Game. (I collect community cookbooks from the South, I have dozens of them from all over, but naturally, I have more from Louisiana than anywhere else.)

I think that when most people not from there think in terms of "classic" Cajun food, they think seafood, or crawfish at the least, and that's very true in the parishes closest to the Gulf and the Atchafalaya Basin, because those folks live on the water. However, as you and I both know, there are a lot of Cajuns who live further inland, and those folks did not traditionally eat as much seafood; back when you had to use a horse (or your feet) to get there, it was a danged long way from Mamou to Delcambre (heck, it still takes an hour and a half by road, not counting traffic in Lafayette.) Those folks ate a lot of chicken and pig and field greens, both wild and domestic, along with game, and thus you have the genesis of the food served at Cochon.

BTW, everyone I know who makes cinnamon pickles makes them with watermelon; I always thought that was the standard recipe.

[North of Mouse]

Originally Posted by NotUrsula

And that was my point ... back in the 60's, the average native New Orleanian wouldn't pay to eat "Coonass" food in a restaurant. It was considered much too déclassé to be commercially viable.

I have all of the River Roads cookbooks, and my original one (THE original one; I got it from an Aunt who was given the first edition when it came out in 1959) has a section called "How Men Cook" -- the good ladies of the BTR Junior League segregated all the game recipes into that section, as if it was permissible to eat the stuff when at the Camp, but not in the house, LOL. Lafayette's Talk About Good didn't go quite that far in 1967; it just has a separate section for Game. (I collect community cookbooks from the South, I have dozens of them from all over, but naturally, I have more from Louisiana than anywhere else.)

I think that when most people not from there think in terms of "classic" Cajun food, they think seafood, or crawfish at the least, and that's very true in the parishes closest to the Gulf and the Atchafalaya Basin, because those folks live on the water. However, as you and I both know, there are a lot of Cajuns who live further inland, and those folks did not traditionally eat as much seafood; back when you had to use a horse (or your feet) to get there, it was a danged long way from Mamou to Delcambre (heck, it still takes an hour and a half by road, not counting traffic in Lafayette.) Those folks ate a lot of chicken and pig and field greens, both wild and domestic, along with game, and thus you have the genesis of the food served at Cochon.

BTW, everyone I know who makes cinnamon pickles makes them with watermelon; I always thought that was the standard recipe.

When I was growing up, there was a *distinct* line between south LA and the north LA - actually there still is as far as food/coffee is concerned. The line has tended to blur more now though.

Also, I remember when *cajun anything* was considered lowest of the low They *made* the children speak English in schools, didn't want to hear any dialect of *cajun french*.

Then, came the time, when cajun was all the rage.

Oh, well, I digress. I could care less what anyone else thinks of the area, or even visiting it. We all know we have the greatest *food* in the world.

Oh, you had mentioned food not always being spicey (in another post). We always had well seasoned, spicey foods, my friends did too. Maybe that was more localized then, than now.

[NotUrsula]

Originally Posted by North of Mouse

...
Oh, you had mentioned food not always being spicey (in another post). We always had well seasoned, spicey foods, my friends did too. Maybe that was more localized then, than now.

Oh, I never meant bland, just not blisteringly hot. Now that I don't live in Louisiana any more, I find that in the rest of the country, if it is labeled "Cajun", it is guaranteed to make your nose run within the first minute -- they think that "Cajun" means so much cayenne that it has to hurt. That was never the norm in most foods when I was growing up. (We used cayenne, of course, but not so much that it made your nose run -- unless you had a cold and wanted it to, LOL.)

Of course, midwesterners who eat at my house often tell me that my cooking is spicy, but I don't see it that way because it is what we are used to. I don't even make gumbo for guests anymore unless I know that they are familiar with it, because they have a tendency to develop intestinal distress. (I was really embarassed by this when I first left Louisiana because I didn't know why it was happening. *I* was eating the same food and not getting sick, but my cooking was making people sick, as if I were not following proper hygiene standards. I finally got the answer: initial exposure to cayenne kills off certain intestinal flora; if you are not used to cayenne, the first time that you eat any quantity of it, it wll do this to you and cause diarrhea.)

PS: Just for fun, where's your traditional North/South line? We always put it at just a little north of Lecompte. Alexandria was definitely on the "Yankee" side of the line.

PPS: BTW, I never addressed the OP's original question. IME, NOLA is the kind of place that very few people can be neutral about: you either love it or hate it. Even among my siblings we divide right down the middle; two of us love the place, and two of us hate it. (Louisiana we all love, though we know she definitely has her glaring faults. Living elsewhere for a while now, I see them all too clearly, but I'll always miss the culture, and I go to great lengths to be sure that my kids know and cherish it, too.)

[FlightlessDuck]

My uncle traveled a lot. He had been to South America, Africa, Europe, etc. He's gone on safari, taken a boat on the Amazon, got pickpocketted in the Lima, Peru airport TWICE...

He HATED New Orleans. I don't really know why, except that I guess he felt it was one big party town, and he was not a party guy.

[EPCOTatNight]

Originally Posted by FlightlessDuck

My uncle traveled a lot. He had been to South America, Africa, Europe, etc. He's gone on safari, taken a boat on the Amazon, got pickpocketted in the Lima, Peru airport TWICE...

He HATED New Orleans. I don't really know why, except that I guess he felt it was one big party town, and he was not a party guy.

That is a media driven stereotype. All people see is the French Quarter and Mardi GRAS. The French Quarter is in New Orleans, not the other way around. I don't assume all of NYC is Times Square or Central Park.

[luvwinnie]

In college (around 1989) my friends and I went to NO for a journalism conference. One of our male friends was black. We were walking down a side street at night and my female friend had her arm linked with his...these drunk guys walked toward us, said things I won't repeat here, things we had never heard before (I mean we had never been victims of such racism nor had we seen it so blatantly) and then threw a full can of beer at us...almost hit my female friend. We took off running. Went to a police station. The cop could NOT have cared less.

I still return to New Orleans for work now and then and enjoy it. Love the food and the charm. I don't base my opinion of the entire city or its people on that one traumatic incident.

[FlightlessDuck]

Originally Posted by EPCOTatNight

That is a media driven stereotype. All people see is the French Quarter and Mardi GRAS. The French Quarter is in New Orleans, not the other way around. I don't assume all of NYC is Times Square or Central Park.

Well, there might be other reasons. I remember asking him once, but I don't remember his answer. I can't ask him anymore; he passed away in 2006.

[EPCOTatNight]

Originally Posted by luvwinnie

In college (around 1989) my friends and I went to NO for a journalism conference. One of our male friends was black. We were walking down a side street at night and my female friend had her arm linked with his...these drunk guys walked toward us, said things I won't repeat here, things we had never heard before (I mean we had never been victims of such racism nor had we seen it so blatantly) and then threw a full can of beer at us...almost hit my female friend. We took off running. Went to a police station. The cop could NOT have cared less.

I still return to New Orleans for work now and then and enjoy it. Love the food and the charm. I don't base my opinion of the entire city or its people on that one traumatic incident.

Sorry to hear that you had that experience. Ironically, i have NEVER had a racist thing happen to me here. I am a black man and find New Orleans to be the most racially tolerant place that I've been in the South. I cant say the same about most other areas of Louisiana though.

[Robbi]

Originally Posted by luvwinnie

In college (around 1989) my friends and I went to NO for a journalism conference. One of our male friends was black. We were walking down a side street at night and my female friend had her arm linked with his...these drunk guys walked toward us, said things I won't repeat here, things we had never heard before (I mean we had never been victims of such racism nor had we seen it so blatantly) and then threw a full can of beer at us...almost hit my female friend. We took off running. Went to a police station. The cop could NOT have cared less.

I still return to New Orleans for work now and then and enjoy it. Love the food and the charm. I don't base my opinion of the entire city or its people on that one traumatic incident.

These people may not have been from New Orleans. I've been to NOLA all of my life and have never seen racism. The first biracial couple I ever saw was in 1967 in DH Holmes on Canal Street. It was different to me simply because I had never seen a mixed couple before. I was 9. No one gave a fig.
We now live 60 miles from the city and I don't see racism as a problem in our town. When there are parties, adults and kids of all races attend.

Not saying there are no racist people either in my town or elsewhere in the state. Unfortunately there are racist people everywhere in this country and in the world.

[Bob NC]

I do not like New Orleans.

I'm not going to tell you why because someone will take it personally.

[North of Mouse]

Originally Posted by NotUrsula

Oh, I never meant bland, just not blisteringly hot. Now that I don't live in Louisiana any more, I find that in the rest of the country, if it is labeled "Cajun", it is guaranteed to make your nose run within the first minute -- they think that "Cajun" means so much cayenne that it has to hurt. That was never the norm in most foods when I was growing up. (We used cayenne, of course, but not so much that it made your nose run -- unless you had a cold and wanted it to, LOL.)

Of course, midwesterners who eat at my house often tell me that my cooking is spicy, but I don't see it that way because it is what we are used to. I don't even make gumbo for guests anymore unless I know that they are familiar with it, because they have a tendency to develop intestinal distress. (I was really embarassed by this when I first left Louisiana because I didn't know why it was happening. *I* was eating the same food and not getting sick, but my cooking was making people sick, as if I were not following proper hygiene standards. I finally got the answer: initial exposure to cayenne kills off certain intestinal flora; if you are not used to cayenne, the first time that you eat any quantity of it, it wll do this to you and cause diarrhea.)

PS: Just for fun, where's your traditional North/South line? We always put it at just a little north of Lecompte. Alexandria was definitely on the "Yankee" side of the line.

PPS: BTW, I never addressed the OP's original question. IME, NOLA is the kind of place that very few people can be neutral about: you either love it or hate it. Even among my siblings we divide right down the middle; two of us love the place, and two of us hate it. (Louisiana we all love, though we know she definitely has her glaring faults. Living elsewhere for a while now, I see them all too clearly, but I'll always miss the culture, and I go to great lengths to be sure that my kids know and cherish it, too.)

Gotcha about the food. We don't fix it *that* hot either. But, it is funny about people that do fix bland food. They either *love* what I prepare, or they obviously don't enjoy it. I usually try to tone it down when we do have guests. We can always add Tabasco or Tony's extra to ours in a pinch.

About that *north/south* LA invisible line - we draw it about where you do. LOL

Ohhhh, now I need my afternoon trip to Cafe Du Monde for some coffee and beignets and a long walk on the Riverwalk.

[Ginny Favers]

Years ago DH and I were moving across country and decided to take our time. We'd planned to spend a few days in New Orleans. We left after 2 hours.

[MrsPete]

Count me in the score of people who don't like New Orleans. We like good food and history, and we had high hopes, but we just didn't like the place. I wouldn't go back even if I won a free trip. I can't say that about any other city I've visited.

I do love basil though.

[PatriciaH]

I love New Orleans and can't wait to go back. It is the least racist city I have ever been to and I am from NYC. Loved the food, museums, French Quarter, Garden District and the people.