Mayhaw Man

I just forwarded the good Rabbi's story and this thread to Andrei. I had never really thought about it, but he would make an interesting egulleteer in certain threads, and he damn sure knows how to write. Exquisite Corpse is his longtime site on the web if any of you are interested. He is a longtime resident of New Orleans and has been teaching at LSU for a very long time. Incidentally, if you read my little Thanksgiving missive, he was at the Giant Bizarre funeral for my friend and drinking buddy Everette.

We lived in Louisiana when I was a kid, from like '61 – '64. It snowed once back then. Me and the sibs all had pneumonia at the time, but my parents – diehard Yankees – let us go out and play in it anyway. I wish that some of you could experience a good storm like this here in Vermont (or anywhere that snow is a regular thing). Here is how you have to do it when you have kids that are small and want to see snow. You get the weather report up North (Memphis or North Alabama is North to me ) and figure out where the snow is. Pile the kids in the car and start driving. Slowly it starts to look like what winter is supposed to look like and the kids start screaming "Stop, Dad, Stop!". Dad continues on until he can no longer stand the screams of excited boys. I then find a State Park or some other open space and fling open the doors to the car and the kids run out and play until they are reasonably satiated with snow and cold. Thaw 'em out and do it again until it is time to go home (sometimes a day or two). These impromptu trips are usually alot of fun and we seem to always end up with a few extra boys along for the ride. We have been doing this for years and I will be very sorry when they have outgrown the tradition. Actually, once you get away from the Deep Gulf South there is snow on occasion in Louisiana (generally north of I-20). I grew up in the Mississippi Delta in Northeast Louisiana and it would snow a couple of times a year. The ONLY hills in that area (as it is the largest farmed, arable landmass on the face of the earth) are levees to hold the rivers and streams back. We would go to the levee and slide up and down on anything that was slick (no one, that I knew, ever had an official sled). The best thing that I ever had to slide on was a ceramic square that came out of the bottom of an old stove. Wow, was that thing fast. The downside of our sledding technique involved the end of the ride. We had to duck and go under a barbed wire fence. Potential decapitation, for those of you that have never experienced it, will increase the excitement factor greatly Edited for crummy spelling and worse typing

Well, since you desire more ...... You can go here next time you are in town. The place is wonderful and we are lucky to have it. Incidentally, I know I am a local and all, but most people these days walk around down there pretty worry free. But I know what you mean.

It snowed here-once. They called school for about an inch and a half of snow that didn't even stick. We call it the "Great Blizzard of 91". Hope everyone has a warm and dry weekend

Woohoo, YES. Exactly.

The Hemi was a real whopper. Not some fast food sandwich but a fine use of American Steel. I do,however, think that you are correct about BK's reasoning behind bringing out the sandwich. It is just a "loss leader" of sorts to get people in to buy more tasteless, fatty, not very good to eat or good for you fare. Good point.

Exactly my point (ugghhh...sort of). No I do not think that the crowd that eats fast food regularly has been influenced very much by Bourdain, but I think that is pretty much the same argument I made when I said that the fast food crowd would not be particularly influenced one way or the other by Rick Bayless. In fact Bourdain (with his urbane New Yorker charm and hardened, steely, rode hard and put away wet, good looks ) could sell just as many sandwiches as Bayless. Which is not too many, because none of those people that are buying them know who he is. Tommy is right about another thing- all someone has to do is say that they are an expert and they are instantly influencing the more gullible and uninformed members of the viewing audience. But I still think that having fairly esoteric, not very well known by the general BK public, personality is a waste of money. Rachel Ray-Good Money for BK Rick Bayless-Bad Money for BK Mr. 13,000 Posts-Bad money for BK Bourdain-Good money for Bourdain Al Roker- Good money for BK You see where I am going? All it takes is for the BK public to be influenced (my opinion) is to get a recognizable personality with a good public persona to do the adverts and the money is reasonably well spent. Someone like Rick Bayless, otoh, is a waste of money and will most likely not be doing any more BK ads based on that fact. And I believe that the end result of this will be RB doing some kind of industry wide apology/explanation about his reasons for doing the ads, because with no more BK he will have to go back to doing what he was in his previous life-being an advocate for good food served well and prepared with real ingrediants in a way that benefits both the diners and the world around the diners. And he will need to apologize because he was wrong. Period.

i think the audience isn't those who are very familiar with rick, and particularly his association with the CC. i think, rather, the audience is the people who might know that he's sort of famous. fast food, and most companies one might argue, don't advertise, and one could even argue that they don't *have* to advertise, to the educted consumer. Sy Syms is the obvious exception. Tommy, I agree exactly. But perhaps I got a little too wound up and didn't put a fine enough point on my point which is (drum roll please)......How many people are even passingly familiar with this guy outside of a fairly small hardcore food community and viewers of television food shows (which is not exactly the biggest audience out there demographically)? I just don't think that many people are going to rush out and try this thing because of him. I think Rachel Ray, in keeping with someone in the TV food community, is a better choice to hit the people they want to hit. After all, she is on the side of every Dannon Yogurt container around and people at least will recognize her as somebody who might be able to reccomend a decent sandwich. As to whether he traded what I thought he stood for (and what he said he stood for) in exchange for money? Hell yes he did and he knew it when he did it and those apologists are wrong. You do what you do and you live with it. We all do. Edited because I forgot to tell Tommy it is not the spelling I have trouble with, it is the typing. I go real fast and edit really badly unless I put it on the printed page and when all of this is going fast and furious that is just not possible. And I have had a rediculous amount of edikashun

I have a question that I do not believe has been addressed on the 42 pages (on my setup anyway) of this fascinating give and take-How many customers who know who Rick Bayless is are going to, just after seeing the ad, jump up from their recliners and rush out the door all the while screaming, " Hey, boy have I been missing out. I usually eat good food and have followed Rick's interesting career and if he says this thing is good, then by God I'm going to Burger King for the first time in years"? Not many I think. In fact, I think that he is a very poor choice to shill fast food. While all of us food folks may have a good deal of knowledge about his career and what it has previously stood for, (incidentally, I believe he washed most of his respect down the drain when he jumped to Burger King's call and, while I agree with most of Bourdain's above post, I do take issue with his new found respect for Bobby Flay. He may have some self respect, but he still seems like the most annoying jerk on TV and is terribly condescending with almost everyone he interacts with. Whoops, I am digressing. Sorry) I don't think that there are many of us who, beyond going out and trying the thing for conversational purposes, are going to start skipping a decent meal for BK. My point is this-Most of the people that are fairly familiar with the otherwise extremly respectable career of Mr Bayless are of an income and education group that is not going to be enticed into BK on a regular basis no matter how swell the sandwich. Some of you are like me (I think). I take great pride in telling coworkers that I have not been in a fast food place in months (in fact the first time I have been in BK in about 5 or 6 years was a couple of months ago to try this sandwich which I kindly reviewed above) and that if they would like some alternatives to traditional fast food I would be happy to give them some. After all, I live in South Louisiana and you can swing a cat around here and hit 5 decent places to eat that are no more expensive (often less) than traditional fast food. I am not so sure about Rachel Ray. She is cute (although I am compelled to change every time I see her as I think she is annoying) and seems to have more general appeal with some groups. Perhaps she is good for sandwich sales. Who Knows? But I am willing to bet that RB is doing them no good and if the thing is selling it is selling on the basis of POS in stores and word of mouth among the BK dining set. So, I think, this discussion is really about two things. 1) Is Rick Bayless a sellout? (yes says I) 2) Is Rick Bayless a sellout? (yes says I) The rest of this is fascinating, but perhaps it should be carried over into some new, individual threads concering the various side topics (like the one I brought up above- Do you think that BK is going to be effective using someone who is not well known to the general BK public as a tool to sell their new sandwich? Or maybe- do you think it is possible that a lack in demand for their current fare could force fast food outlets to offer healthier and more interesting choices?) I will stand back now and watch for another ten or so pages while you folks continue to slug it out.

Actually, after tequila, brandy is the number two spirit. I really used to love all of the 'muy macho" brandy ads for El Presidente and the other top brands. Handsome guys surrounded by gorgeous women and all of them swilling brandy. Great stuff. THere are a number of wineries producing good wine (and apparently getting better every year) at reasonable prices, although most of it seems to be consumed domestically. The largest winery is Cetto (I think) and not only is it located in the stunningly beautiful Valle Guadalupe (between Ensenada and Tecate) but it is also in the middle of the largest concentration of olive trees in the world (their claim, not mine, but there are a hell of a lot of olives down there). I regularly drove this road on the way to spend weekends at Bufadora and used to love the drive. Many of the wineries offer tours and are nice places to visit. You will also see tons of bicyclist and motorcycle guys touring the area as it is a great place to ride. Reasonably good roads and lots of stops. Here is a good list of the places that are generally open year round. Great area to tour and if you are coming down from El Norte you might want to consider coming in throught the border crossing in Tecate. It is a great little town and has the best bakery in Northern Baja, aptly named El Mejor Pan. Tecate is an easy crossing, rarely more than a few cars and can actually speed up your trip across. The drive down through Jamul and East County San Diego is pleasant and you will not get stuck in all of that crossborder traffic at the Tijuana or Otay Mesa crossings. Usually less than 5 minutes.

But the real question is-How did the turkey turn out?

For New Orleans supplies at reasonable prices you might want to try Dorignac's on Veterans Boulevard in Metairie. The place is crammed full (you'll see what I mean) of every New Orleans/Louisiana centric kind of grocery item you could possibly want to buy. The link that I added for Dorignac's is actually a great site about Kosher availability in New Orleans, but it does have the addresses listed for all of the various spots including Casablanca. My personal favorite is the Kajun Kosher Deli on Vet's. I always get the J and N or the Reuben, but there is lots of good food available in a wide variety of styles. THere is a link posted on the website I referenced. You also might want to try Langensteins, in the uptown area. While small, it has been The Place to shop for the Blue Hair set for over eighty years and if you are interested the oldest Jewish Cemetary in New Orleans is across the street. (don't get directions from me, I lived two blocks from there and still managed to give someone some really bad directions recently, although they were polite enough not to say anything about it Thanks J & R) This site is a list of places that might be of some interest. You can, in fact, get to Metairie by public transportation. If the streetcar on Canal is up and running by then (who knows if it will be as it is being built by the city on New Orleans time. If you are familiar with the Jamaican term "soon come" or the Latin American usage of "manana" you might understand the concept of New Orleans time. We are, after all, the nothernmost city in the Carribean ) you could take the car out to the end of the line (The Cemetaries) and transfer to the Veterans Blvd. bus. This is much cheaper than a cab, but will involve much patience and a whole bunch of time. I highly reccomend a cab, or better yet, rent a car for a day (actually the whole rental would probably work out cheaper than a cab) and do your shopping and a little exploring. There are lots of great places out of the downtown area you might find of interest and it would be well worth a one day rental. All of the major agencies have spots in the CBD and several of them have pick up and delivery at no charge. For Red Beans and Rice and other food in that vein there are lots of good spots and since you seem to want to do something not so touristy you might want to try Frankie and Johnny's. An old bar/rest. that serves great beans, boiled seafood (and you will be here right in the middle of Crawfish Season and the Carnival Crankup (Mardi Gras Day this year is on Feb. 24)) and other New Orleans comfort food favorites. It is often overlooked by tourists and I reccomend it. The Praline Connection is dependable, as are Zachary's on Oak St (owned by the Baquet Family, a really old Creole/restaurant owning family in New Orleans. They also own Eddie's on Law St and the now closed Baquet's on Washington Ave). And I know that this may seem like a strange rec, but Popeyes has great beans, some of the best. The recipe was developed by the late Warren LeRuth and they are the real deal (however if yo are keeping Kosher they are not such a good idea, as they are chock full of lardy goodness ). I hope you have a great trip and keep us posted on planning progress. There are lots of people here who have a great deal of knowledge about "things Gnarlins".

And while you are enjoying your chicken skin you could listen to this great music. While I was looking for this record I learned something new-In Hawaii the term chicken skin refers to goose bumps.......you can now go forth to face the day with one more piece of virtually useless knowledge. Have a great day.

Welcome to egullet. I am sure that you will find lots of help here, but you might be interested in this instructional class concerning stovetop cookware.

This guy probably doesn't have a dishwasher, but has found a way to prepare tasty meals.

I can assure you, as a many year marcher in this fine event, that you would have difficulty finding anyone sober in the whole Krewe, much less committee members. When my oldest son was one, I had him in a backpack during the march through the quarter and some lawyer type (who apparently had dosed himself nicely with some funny papers ) started yelling at me to get out of the parade, as our insurance coverage did not cover it. He was adamant and we suddenly became the focus of his, apparently, unpleasant trip. We eventually stopped and let him get away from us, but it remains as one of my stranger Mardi Gras memories. I have some great photos of the event (taken of the angry lawyer, who also seemed to have some objections to being photographed ) Mrs. Mayhaw and I also march with the Krewe of St Ann on Mardi Gras day and if I can ever get to it a photograph from last years event will be used as my avatar(I need to reduce it to specs and seem to be having some trouble ). I masked as a colorful Hank Williams and my wife was a vision in Gold (kinda hard to explain, but very colorful

I know what you mean. A couple of places I worked had those loop machines mentioned above and there must have been about 75 songs on a loop. I used to laugh because the servers wuould start singing the next song on the loop before it actually started. I feel the same way about "Maggie Mae" as you do about "Year of the Cat".

Exactly. A good example of what one really good destination type place can do is the development of the Warehouse District/upper CBD in New Orleans. The World's Fair (unfairly and highly underrated) was hoped to be the spark, but it was another 5 or six years before someone finally caught on to the idea that if you have a real destination, people will come. Prior to the opening of Emeril's, there had been very few places of note that had been able to make a go of it for a very long time (including the much missed Esther's, which was open for about two years). After Emeril had his first real success, places started popping up all over (greatly helped by a Warehouse to Resedential building boom) and now the place(10 years later) is filled with great places to eat. Now the whole district is not only desirable, it is a destination in itself. It only takes one place and I salute the one's that are brave enough (and smart enough if they are right) to take the plunge.

I live in New Orleans. Most good times involve party hats and kazoos . There is actually a Mardi Gras Marching group that has been around for years called The Kazoozie Floozies. They always appear at this tasteful little gathering of derelicts

I think he was too busy enjoying beverages made from other squeezed fruits, although they had been processed a bit further by fermenting and/or distilling. Sometimes orange juice just doesn't do the trick (although grappa and orange juice might do nicely-GrappaDriver)

Tonight will be- Whole chicken grilled over pecan wood (just cut down a tree about a month ago, so I have winters worth, and yes, it will be Spatchcocked. Onion/Pecan Risotto (caramelized onions and toasted pecans in risotto) Brussell Sprouts and Hot Bacon Dressing Baby Greens (outta my garden) with satsumas, walnuts, and poppyseed vinagarette Antacid

If the whole point of travel/food writing is to not only make you feel like you are on the trip or enjoying the meals with the writer, but to make you start planning a trip to whetever destination is being written up, than Craig succeeded nicely. What a great travelogue. Thanks. I look forward to more.

I was getting a little bored with whipped cream, fresh fruit, kazoos and party hats-I guess now I am inspired to go get a big old slab of preserved fish and see how that goes

Exactly.

She told you? I can't believe it! How long have you two known each other? I feel like such a fool. Edited to say that Fat Guy beat me to it, dammit.