Mayhaw Man

To begin with, I am probably not the guy to be giving you advice on how to "tone down" the fine pork products from Poche's. I have never considered them to be overspiced and I suppose that you can base that on local palate development. I love those chickens (though, admittedly, I almost always eat the crawfish or shrimp stuffed ones because that is my families preference) and at my house they are kind of used in the vein of fast comfort food. They can come straight out of the freezer and 90 minutes later be a very good centerpiece for a simple meal. Of course, I pick them up locally, they don't have to be delivered, and they are so dear price wise as they are when you have them shipped by air. You should have tasted the "red goop" that you were wiping off. You would have found that it is not nearly as "blazing hot" as you might have thought. As it bakes it gives the bird a beautiful color and adds a nice flavor to the skin of the bird. And of course, while user opinion will vary, neither the andouille or the tasso is hot in really any way. The tasso, in particular, is a really, really flavorful seasoning meat and would be a nice touch in grits-it is also a great replacement for dried ham products in many Italian dishes. The andouille is not hot, at least in my opinion. What it is has more to do with the smokiness of the sausage than with the spices in it. In fact, I enjoyed some last night as a side of Gumbo Z'Herbes and it was really delicious. The boudin might be a different deal (I don't know if you bought spicy or mild). It can be pretty zippy. Usually, here, it's a snack food that is consumed with crackers of some sort and iced soft drinks and beer. It can be steamed or, better yet, grilled on the pit over low heat and charred a bit before serving. Anyway, if you don't like spicy food, I suppose that there is not much to be done about it, and I certainly can't speak for exactly what you have in your hands, but I don't think that most of us would consider it to be "blazing hot" Of course, like I said, it's probably got alot to do with conditioning, both culturally and palate wise. I do hope that you enjoy what you have left though, and I suspect that you will. Happy New Year, Brooks

This should be a good resource for you. ← i checked out the site u referred me to and i am somewhat confused..it seems to basically be a site for an upscale trade show? which would be fine were i actually going to attend..but as of yet will nto be attending any trade shows either as a buyer or as a vendor... i was trying to locate an online source for just reauglar cookie type tins( and yes aestetics do matter since this is for my business and not something being sent to just freinds or family for the hoidays..were it just to serve that purpose..it would not really matter all that much... i just think when you are trying to get you online business up and running, you need to find a supplier who does handle these types of tins...and thus far the only thing i have managed to find are tins that are already filled with cookies, which led me to ask where one might find an online supplier of the empty tins... thanks for ya'lls help...much appreciated..just not , i think, what im looking for? ← I sent you a list of the people attending the show who listed themselves as being in the packaging trade. I was under the impression that you were looking for help. Had you taken the time to look at what I sent you, you might have found that I sent exactly what you asked for. Look at the list of vendors, click on the links, and contact them. Simple. The Fancy Food Show, for better or worse, is the largest show of it's kind in the world and is a great resource for those interested in what's going on with commercial food trends. I'm sorry if I wasted your time. Good luck with the internet-it's a tough gig. I should know, it's how a make part of my living.

They all look just like they did when they were 30. It's part of the deal, I think.

Is it really, really that controversial? Why can't we all just be friends? ← Well, Brooks, you were the one to throw down the gauntlet: Okra, yes or no-There can be no bystanders. A stewed okra and toms omelette sounds yummy. ← It's good to know who your friends are. That's all.

An omelette made with leftover okra and tomatoes (this rarely happens, but it IS possible) is a fine thing. Why is it, really, that you all feel that just because the word okra is mentioned everyone, but eveyone, even a gentleman like yourself, feels it important to weigh in on his personal stance on Okra? Is it really, really that controversial? Why can't we all just be friends?

I love dried shrimp and I am really glad that you mentioned that. I need to find out if those guys down in Houma are in business at the moment. When I was a heavy consumer of fermented, malt based beverages I used to eat those things like candy. My blood pressure was about a million over a billion, but, man were they good. They are kind of salty I would think for cooking use, but if Marcelle (who is BACK IN THE PICAYUNE!) says OK, it's ok with me. She's my hero, you know.

This should be a good resource for you.

Some of them might even "evolve" from alcohol drinkers into espresso drinkers _ I did (but evolve is hardly the right word to use in my case). ← I would argue that evolution is the perfect word for that process. But, of course, I argue about all kinds of stuff that, in the end, really doesn't matter. It's all about the end result.

This is EXACTLY the reason that the french loaf was invented. Too big to eat raw? They'll be that much better on a poboy, dressed. It is truly a wonderful thing.

I'll treasure it always. That meal with Austin was literally the Last Supper. ← Well, if that's the case, then why don't the ministers hand out fried chicken and ice tea instead of stale wafers and wine? I'll bet attendance at communion would skyrocket. I, of course, will need to discuss this with the Big Guy before any changes are announced-but it makes perfect sense to me. I'll report back later on any breaking news.

Offended me? Hell, I was hoping for a recipe. I bet it would look just great made in a little mold and served on a leaf of iceberg lettuce and be even better if you put a big dollop of Kraft Brand Salad Dressing on top. That would be some good eating, in my book.

Look. This thread is about green bean casserole. Don't EVEN try to bring jello into it. I live in the South. Jello crosses all cultural boundries. What's not to like. It's cool, colorful, and jiggly. Get back to the Green Beans or the posts will start disappearing faster than green jello cubes on the line at Piccadilly.

Of course, but I can tell you that however fragile he may be, this week? He's doing a land office trade. This is officially sausage week in South La. You have to buy it now so that you will be ready to turn that damned turkey into something useful like Jambo or Gumbo and there will be major shortages of quality pork products right after the holidays. I remember when you went out there. It was the same day that we went and ate lunch with Austin Leslie. All in all, that was a pretty good day for the Perleauxs.

Anyone who enjoys light beers will have a good understanding of his contribution to the industry upon reading this. ← I had the good fortune to meet Joe not long after I went into the beer business in the late 80's. He was a very nice guy and like many people in the beer business, very outgoing and free with information to young hippie brewers like myself and many of my newly in the business colleagues. He was truly a gentleman and a very interesting speaker every time that I heard him speak (which was many times over the years) It's kind of ironic that Joe has dies just as a byproduct of his research has died as well. Without Lite Beer, it is very unlikely that Monday Night Football would have been the early success that it was.

I am going to Jacob's in the morning as part of my "heading to the Delta for the Holidays" food roundup. I am making stops for shrimp, crabmeat, sausage, stuffed chickens, and tasso. It will take most of the day as I will be going to New Orleans, LaPlace, Breaux Bridge, and Lafayette. I love making that trip. Tomorrow, I will take a few photos of the meat counters that I encounter (that would be a great title for a book, I think). On the way up on Saturday afternoon I will make a detour into Clarksdale, MS for a big pile of Tamales made by my personal tamale hero Wayne Hicks. I will be, though late, very popular when I finally show up at my Mama's house. Think about it. What would you rather get for Christmas-a new tie or fresh pork and seafood products?

Well then, you're all set! All you need is a bonafide white guy and you too can soon be eating one of the most traditional staples for "White Folks who can't cook"! Now all you need is some canned green beans, some bacon, little onions, cream of mushroom soup, (and for the daring, pimento-but that's really pushing it) and some canned fried onions (though I reccomend Zapp's Crawtators as a sub). Sandy, you know, I am from one of those families who would, literally, laugh if this stuff hit the table. Most people have never eaten meals at the holidays as elaborate as the ones that I have eaten for the last 44 years. Big deal food served well. It's nice and I appreciate it every time it happens. Green Bean Casserole is not, at least in my experience, for everybody-then again, as you say, the only people that I know who eat it are kind of, well, lilly white. OTOH, my wife's family, well, let's just say that Green Bean Casserole is kind of a staple. And really, what's not to like? But there just isn't much to it (though I will say that I have had it on my plate plenty of times at my mother in law's house and I like it ok). Pretty much it's just cooking beans in mushroom soup with onions. So what I'm saying is this-what's the point? Surely you are comfortable enough with what you eat already as a tradition to not really want to step into the world of bad white bread vittles? Don't do it, says I. Resist. I don't blame you for trying to gain knowledge about this seemingly bizarre cultural phenomenon but this is probably one of those things that you are better off just reading about (hey, we're the same people that were buying Barry Manilow records when Earth, Wind, and Fire were hot. It's a difficult thing to explain) than you are actually participating in. You seem like a man of taste, though I don't think that you are missing much not tasting this particular iconic dish.

Well, the first thing is that I have spent, over the years, a fair amount of time in that fine, state of the art, 1945 facility. They make all kinds of stuff including, still, lots of stuff for the military and for overseas government contractors. Jelly, hot sauces, picante sauce, mustards, worchestershire (really good, actually), and lord knows what else. Their label room was amazing. So many products, so many languages on them, pretty incredible really. All of this can be made anywhere I guess, but the process is substancially different than Tabasco, in that it is aged in bulk and I don't think for nearly as long. I know where some of the tanks are on the property, and I am assuming that no matter how deep the flood, that some of it would have survived, but you need to consider that for the MONTH after the storm it was as hot as hell here and as dry as the Sahara. I don't know that those big aging tanks (temp controlled) would have done very well. On the other hand, it might be the biggest, baddest batch of hot sauce in recorded history-who knows? I am trying, have been trying as a matter of fact, to get ahold of some guys that I know that ran the bottling lines there to see what the deal is-but they all lived in St Bernard and well, they ain't there no mo'-as is often the case here these days. I'll let ya'll know what I find out.

Well, I know that I have a piece on food (coffee production) running on the East Coast next week in a daily-and I know a couple of others who do as well, but generally it seems that NYT is doing a better, broader, and generally more balanced kind of coverage than anyone else. The Nation has a pretty well done series this month (there are some flaws, but it's the nature of the beast right now-it's impossible to get it all straght. Too much, too big, too gut wrenching) that I would reccomend to anyone.

You should buy hot sauce, anyway. Here's the deal as I understand it: As you know, pepper sauce is an aged product-which means that you take the raw material (in this case peppers from New Mexico, Texas, and North Louisiana) and turn it into the goo that eventually becomes the delicious piquant flavor that is Crystal. Well, they lost the stock from the fall that they already had mashed up and aging, and there are no more peppers to be had, so, I am led to believe (and it makes sense to me) that no matter where they are making it, it will be next fall before they can really start cranking out the real magilla. I hope that someone here can correct me, but this seems to be the general consensus for all of us that know a little bit-which is generally all I know about anything anyway.

She was here all week. I'm pretty sure that there will be more of that kind of thing in the next week or so. She got the whole "Misery Tour" in a big way.

Mona Ligi has an interesting collection of tea for sale online Disclosure: Yes, dammit, I work for the company that runs their website. Still, that doesn't mean that it's not good (quite the opposite, thanks).

Damn shame, that. I've known about this for a bit, but it was really hard to get any real info so I haven't posted about it. Today's business section in the Picayune has the scoop on the demise (at least at their current location) of Baumer Foods, makers of Crystal Brand Hot Sauce. http://www.nola.com/business/t-p/index.ssf...48228129420.xml If you see it-buy it. Might be a while before you see anymore. This is all very sad and it just seems to keep on coming. "Bad news on the doorstep" is what we get every morning, these days.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/21/dining/21orle.html This is a really well done piece. The New York Times is THE ONE paper in this country that is spending the time and the money to cover this story the way that it should be covered. Kudos to Kim Severson on a nice piece today.

Is "Tongue in cheek" in Henderson's cookbook? I bet it would be good.

Yes, that's very true, but you can make many of the things that these guys make at home, if that's what you choose to do. Preparing a grilled pork belly over sliced cucumbers and grape tomatoes (acid to cut the fat-you should do this-it's an awsome dish) is really a cheap thing to do and will serve lots of people for not much. The problem with this type of food is that usually it is very, very rich and just not the sort of thing that most people (I am NOT one of them-I do this stuff regularly) will prepare at home for themselves and for their families. These kinds of cookbooks, and those types places, pretty much exist for people to have a food adventure-to try something that they would not normally eat or even know where to source the raw materials for preparing them. Hence, the premium charges are for the inventiveness that goes into using these simple and inexpensive materials in interesting ways-though many of the things in the Henderson book (in particular) are things that can be done by any experienced home cook with a decent kitchen.