Mayhaw Man

I can't imagine how anyone isn't.

This thread may be helpful. Somehow I screwed this up when I tried to link this thread about Hidden Pleasures in LA to the thread. I should stop working and just go to egullet full time

You may find this thread about Hidden Pleasures in L.A. useful. I gave big marks to a place in Downey called Kantaro Sushi. I cannot reccomend it highly enough in the "Sushi Joint" category. The place is wonderful and the fish is stunningly good.

THe Pod of the Gods Thank you for that useful new term. There are some people with some very strong feelings about okra around here and I am in the apparent minority ( I love the stuff, grow it, eat it regularly, etc.) among these gastronauts. I believe that these okra haters can be rehabilitated, but it will be a long, hard road for many of them and many people may not be strong enough for the journey. I agree with your theory about gumbo being intitially related to a spiritual experience. Well made gumbo (in any of it's variations, but particularly including Gumbo Z'Herbes, which includes both file' and okra) can be a pretty sublime eating experience. THis link is to Uncle Bill's File. He is a blind guy from Placquemine Parish who is often at festivals and the Crescent City Farmers Market. The stuff is awesome, far superior to anything you can buy in a bottle at the grocery. He does mail order (I think).

There is a well documented history of women in a certain geographical section of Mississippi (east-central I believe) who have been eating dirt for a couple of centuries. When I googled on this (dirt eating Mississippi), I got a number of hits and this site was the most interesting one. I heard about this when I was growing up (I grew up in the Delta Region of extreme Northeast Louisiana) but I never saw anyone doing it. As far as I go, according to my mother I used to eat wafer type goldfish food. I also used to consume whole sticks of butter coated in sugar (this was before I learned how to bake cookies )

I will post a recipe that is both simple and delicious when I get home. With a little practice (and a really good thermometer and the ability to follow instructions EXACTLY) anybody can make these things. I make about 1200 (really) every Christmas and once you get cranked up it is pretty easy to whip them out batch after batch. These are creamy. The grit comes from hitting a temp other than exactly soft ball. They are fun to make and if you are doing a single batch (about 24 to 36 pralines) you can knock out a batch in about 1/2 hour, start to finish.

There is no limit on the number of geese that can be shot in Louisiana or Texas until mid February. They are now considered the eqivalent of flying pests. If they get into my Okra they will not be heading back up for the Springtime.

Add liberal amounts of hummus to the condiment-spread bread, both top and bottom. Because of its texture, hummus has mongo surface area. Thus, the hummus will provide more than adequate friction and will keep the sandwich contents from sliding. I don't want to get into a Fawlty Towers "Waldorf Salad" kind of an argument here, but by adding Hummus to a Club Sandwich (not that I don't think it is a good idea or that it wouldn't be good ) I believe that you would need to find another moniker for this creation. Mudd Club Sandwich comes to mind

I am guessing that Prudhomme's is closed as both of the telephone numbers listed are disconnected. What a shame, although I pretty much stopped going there after I started dining at Joe's Dreyfuss Store in Livonia (once again, this is possibly the best "Louisiana Style Restaurant on the Planet"). I did enjoy Enola's Fried Eggplant Pirouge's. A hollowed out eggplant filled with a very spicy shrimp, crawfish and crabmeat mixture. Man were they good. They also had some of the best sandwiches in the Lafayette areaa. That reminds me of something. ---Evangeline Downs is right next door to where Prudhomme's used to be. If you would like to go experience a completely untouristy evening in South Louisiana head for the track. Go down onto the rail with all of the MawMaws and PawPaws in the lawn chairs and mix it up. I promise you will not have a hard time finding a conversation (but you might have a hard time getting out of one or two, especially if you ask where they like to eat when they go out). You will see kids, od men, rail birds, high schoolers on dates, a great cross section of the whole population and you will be the only tourist. I don't know why I don't remember to tell more people this because the place really is a hell of a lot of fun. HINT-If it is raining bet the horses on the extreme outside of the track. The inside rail is like a swamp and even Secretariat would have lost if he had been running on the i. rail.

thank god! it isn't just me! i often cook shrimp in a sauce with more than just the tail shell on and just chomp the entire shell up--you should also see just how much of chicken and goat bones i crunch up with my curries. most bengali shrimp dishes (including highly sauced ones) are made with the whole shell on (head too)--most bengalis will sort this out while eating --though this has its origins in the fact that most bengalis (other than hyper-westernized ones like me) eat with their hands. In the traditional version of New Orleans BBQ'd shrimp (which has very little do do with BBQ) the shrimp are cooked head on/peel on. Veterans eat the whole thing (sans head). The peel just adds to the APEEL of the dish (sorry, I sometimes can't control my keyboard) and makes for a much more satisfying dining experience (not too mention that broiled shrimp are REALLY hard to shuck.

Yes. You do. Edited to say that I eat shrimp tails. Edited to say that, in fact, I love the tails on fried shrimp and will be the person picking them off of your plate (politely, of course) if you are sitting within arms reach. I also like the dorsal and tail fins off of bream and various kinds of perch. Crunchy is good.

So am I.

That's no big deal. I do the same thing when I am filled with wine.

Fifi, You will also find it very useful for cooking gargantuan batches of Okra and Tomatoes. Enough for the whole neighborhood to enjoy. I don't know how old the thing is, but it had a fabric covering on the cord and the thermostat would shock the hell out of you if your hands were damp. I found a place some years back that sold aftermarket parts and replaced that stuff with a grounded plug and a new thermostat. It has been working wonderfully ever since.

Are there any action shots of you with that lampshade on your head?

Not that I am trying to go off topic (but I am). Do any of you ever use a roaster like this. I use the thing for tamales, keeping lots of gumbo at temp. for parties, making jambalaya, cooking ducks, and any other task that takes something big that I want to keep hot for a long while and not scorch. The one I have was my grandmothers and there is really no telling how old it is, probably 40 plus years. It has seen more Baptist Church Potlucks and family funerals than I ever will or hope to attend and it is still working like a champ. I love the thing and realize as I am writing this just how much use I actually get out of it at parties and hippie potlucks. The roaster is a very useful item in my cooking arsenal.

Okra! 2004 will be known in history as "The Year of the Okra". Cultures all over the world will learn to love this under utilized and wildly misunderstood pod full of slimy deliciousness.

Nicely put Beans, you saved me the trouble and for that I thank you.

I hope that you are not implying Hawk's is on the beaten path. That place is hard to find for me and I have been there (literally I would imagine) 100 times. I also have a serious fondness for Mike Anderson's boiled Crawfish (Baton Rouge Location). I have cooked a gillion pounds in the back of that place on Lee Drive and I can promise you they are done right or they never leave the back of the building. The portions are great and the price is right and as Mike Anderson used to say, "the beer is "Rodeo Cold"". (whatever that means, I just always liked the saying. He is really a nice guy when he is not throwing slightly overcooked seafood at you. If he had skipped football and played baseball he could have been a hall of famer. That guy can throw half cooked fried shrimp as well as Nolan Ryan can throw a heater. I spent many a night ducking hushpuppies and shrimp as they came flying back across the pass line. He is kind of a perfectionist. ).

hopefully someone will post a thorough response. Louisiana people can be a bit standoffish, though. As far as the best crawfish go, I do have a slightly differing opinion than Fistfull- I believe that Hawk's Place in Lawtell, LA has the superior bugs in the region. They are transferred from swimming pool size pond to swimming pool size pond over a period of days until they are as clean as whistles. The spice is added primarily AFTER the bugs are boiled and the things are just about perfect. It is not very far from Lafayette, but you will need to get a decent map to find the place, as the directions often include turning left at the one legged dog.

You need to order a copy of Macon Fry and Julie Posner's Cajun Country Guide. THis will be the most useful friend you meet on your trip. There is a new second edition out and you can get it just by clicking on the link and ordering through Amazon. I have known the two of them for a very long time and they researched the hell out of this book. I have taken a number of sidetrips over the years just because of their reccomendations and have rarely been dissappointed. Also, look over the Louisiana threads and you will find a number of good reccomendations. Let us know what we can do to help and I am sure you will find some willing virtual guides.

He's got a hat. Exactly.

Well, you are getting a new place. maybe it will be the start of a positive trend.

he's got some decent knife skills. I love that guy.

What about Chef Tony? THe guy who sells the knives on infomercials. If this guy can call himself a chef, I say anybody can.