Mayhaw Man

Calling all hands. Help this man. He is doing important work in an important field. He also has access to homebrew. Be nice to him. You won't go thirsty. Matt, It's great to see you on the board. As far as photos go, look at the one below my name. That was taken of a guy outside of Scottsboro, AL in the 30's. I know where it came from and might be able to find some more. I'll shoot you an email.

Their web site is : <a href="http://www.smithcreamery.com">Smith Creamery</a> but no online ordering info that I could find. If anyone knows where to find some in the Philadelphia area, I'd appreciate the info. ← Use some old school technology and give them a call. They are really nice folks. It won't get you a discount, but make sure that you tell them you read about them here.

Hey Now! I grew up in that middle of nowhere. Of course, I 'm not saying that you are wrong. It is also, in fact, one of the poorest Parishes (counties) in the US. The per capita income is like, a dollar.

Back end theft, to me, is a much more serious problem. Years ago I was a kitchen manager in a very large seafood restaurant in South LA (300 plus seats) and we bought seafood by the multiple tons. The dishwashers had a scam going where they would go into the fresh or the thaw coolers and swipe a box of whatever (crabmeat, whole fish, rib racks, etc.) and just heave it into the garbage. They would then go into the dumpster (this thing was one of those huge crusher things) and dig it out. We were losing thousands of dollars a week like this and could not quite get a hndle on who the individuals were who were doing it. I installed a couple of small small video cameras connected to a video tape rig and a monitor. A couple of nights of sitting in the office gave me an exact list of who was doing what and when I did the next week's schedule, I shceduled all of the culprits on the same night, along with a new group of dish trainees. In mid shift, the East BR Parish Sherriff's Dept. showed up and quietly arrested them all. This solved the problem. THe funniest part was watching all of the guys on the line panic when the sheriff showed up. I think that they were all instantly convinced that the Sheriff's Dept was there to get them for smoking dope at work. Bug eyes everywhere. I operated a brewpub for a while that had very nice, real, imperial pints with our logos on them. It was nice glassware and at the time very hard to get and replace. Customers were constantly heisting them. We finally gave up and started making them available in the gift shop for a very minimal cost (in fact, if I remember correctly, they were actually below cost and we made up the difference by throwing the loss into advertising). This cut the theft down to a minimal amount aa it turns out the same people who were stealing them were willing to pay for them if they could get a bargain. I guess it helped them to complete their set.

Pretty fancy stuff for a guy named Varmint. That duck looked delicious. Great idea.

Butter lettuce salad w/toasted pecans, avacadoes, and pink grapefruit-poppyseed vinegarrette Smoked Venison Tenderloin Roasted Cauliflower w/toasted sesame seeds Texmati rice cooked with a healthy dose of saffron This was the first venison of the season at our house. A nice gift from a neighbor. It was absolutely delicious and cooked medium rare to a turn. Just delicious. Not one bit gamey, just moist and tender. Almost like pork, but with an earthier flavor. I love fresh venison.

Reveillon Dinners are usually great bargains. Here is a description that I wrote last year concerning the dinners and also an alternative list to the one above (although it too is a year old). Tom Fitzmorris, long time food guy, local radio host, and a guy who knows a mountain of info about N.O. dining, has more info on his website, although much of it just relates to the stuff that he is involved in. There is some helpful info there though. I love his radio show this time of year (WSMB-1350 on your radio dial-weekdays at 4). People here really llike to talk about food and this show has long been one of the more interesting food shows around anywhere.

Mexican Coke in Chicago American Coke doesn't like Mexican Coke They still don't like Mexican Coke But they are crazy about the stuff in Mexico!

The issue is not just the price of sugar vs. corn syrup. There are also physical factors involved. Beverage plants in the US have become larger and more centralized. During this process, the plants were built to handle high fructose corn syrup. The actual physical handling of granulated sugar is impossible for most of these places. I am sure that many of the maufacturers regret this oversight, but at this point it would not be financially feasible to change back to sugar. Shame really. Drinks, generally, are better down there. I used to love getting the liter RETURNABLE plastic bottles (they are super heavy duty, and make a number of reuses) full of real Coke. Delicious. Dr Pepper in Waco is still made with granulated sugar, as is Barq's in Baton Rouge (and only Baton Rouge and they don't ship it out of a very small radius due to some agreement with Coke-the owner of the rest of the world's dist. rights to Barq's).

Man. I wish that I had said that. Wow! Dave wins! This needs to be pinned up there somewhere for all to read. Nicely said. I retreat to my corner in shame to contemplate my ignorance.

That sausage at Poche's is damn good. Their andouille is what it's supposed to be-basically spicy CHUNKS of ham held together with some spices and pork fat. The stuff is delicious. Also, it's a great stop for lunch if you are traveling I-10. It's easy to find (in the daytime-at night, not so much-just ask Rachel P. ). They have a good little spot and it's always full of colorful talkative locals (most of us will talk to a stump, so we are just as happy to talk to animate objects like yourself). Great menu and the staff is really funny. Full of great stories told in wonderful accents. Just act dumb and ask some obvious question -"So, just what is this Gumbo stuff?" That gets them started. You won't need to say much else for about a 1/2 hour other than, "really?" or "you don't say!". They'll do all of the work. You should always order a couple of chickens when you order from there. Those things are the ultimate in TV dinners. Just thaw and cook. Serves 2 of us or 4 Yankees. Delicious and virtually no effort.

I'm a Crystal man myself-but Tabasco has it's place, as well. And I have become very fond of the stuff from the nice folks at Panola, up in the Delta. That spice mix looks fine. And dont get me wrong, I use stuff like that all of the time-I was only trying to define what the true historical base for the cuisine is and where it came from.

My own particular translating to English problems appear mostly in the New Orleans forum ... until I get them translated? I harrass Mayhaw Man until he gives in and offers assistance ... ← You mean like "panee" (pan-NAY)? Or something more compicated than that? I think that the problem with New Orleans is that we, really, don't speak much English here.

Man, this can get very complex. Cajun, Creole, Creole Italian, ad infinitum. In the purest sense, I believe, that Cajun food involves a couple of things almost always. Generally, outside of boiled seafood, the dishes are stews or soups of some sort. This is for two reasons, the first of which is that the vegetable ingredients are and were available virtually year round thanks to the warm weather here (we very rarely have a hard freeze) and some things, like bell peppers, onions, celery, tomatoes, peppers, etc. can be grown most of the year. These ingredients make a great base for damn near anything, but especially for seafood (added generally at the end of the dish) or tougher cuts of meat that benefit from long cooking times. Dishes like ettoufee, gumbo, fricasee, creole, etc. are really what it is all about. Dishes that feed lots of people cheaply and well. You have to remember, that until the 1927 Flood, most of these people had never left their home to go much farther than Breaux Bridge, Morgan City, or Rayne (excepting WW1 when a disproportionate number of young men from South La. went "over there" precisely because of their abilities in the French Language). Lafayette was the big city to them, and until well into the mid twentieth century the majority of people there spoke French as a first, if not only, language (Jackie Kennedy gave a now famous speech, wholly in French, off the back of a rice wagon in Downtown Crowley in 1960. Who do you think carried Catholic, French Speaking South LA?). These were very poor people. They eked out livings out of the swamps, off the land, or by fishing or farming (very often, until the late fifties, this farming was on shares-they did not even own the land they worked). They had to eat cheaply, but on the other hand, there was no reason not to eat well. The land and the sea took care of the raw ingredients and the French (and no doubt African) heritage took care of the rest. Of course, the lack of refrigeration over much of South La, until the REA showed up during the thirties and forties, caused a lot of other things. Sausage keeps well. So many kinds of Sausage were and have remained popular, although originally it probably had as much to do with preserving pork than with cultural influences. Many of the sausages that are popular here today are German in origin, but were adapted by the Cajuns (the area up the west side of the river between New Orleans and Baton Rouge is known today as the German Coast and the andouille Capital of the World, La PLace, is smack dab in the middle of it. No coincidence). I hope that this helps. There are obviously lots of exceptions with this little theory, but generally it is not far off of the mark. Also, I almost forgot, this kind of food is often served, and always has been, with beer and music. Two of the best spices around. Edited to say that I, once again, failed to answer the question as I was busy giving a lecture about my green and pleasant land (Apologies to the other G and P Land). Spices- Well, much of the spice and depth of the food that is commonly served here comes from the ingredients as much as it does some demented bamming with Tony's or something. To be sure, pepper sauce of various kinds has long been used both as an ingredient and as a condiment (think preservation of peppers with no refrigeration again-EVERYTHING here rots and mildews at a speed that many of you in drier climes cannot possibly imagine-foods must be preserved in some way to keep them from doing these things), and our natural supply of salt is huge (Avery Island is, in fact, on top of one of the largest salt deposits in North America and the US Oil Reserves are, in large part, stored in old salt depositories all over South LA). You also will note that many kinds of peppers do well here, so they would be part of the spiciness as well. For the last hundred years or so, citified cajuns have also considered "Lea and Perrins" to be cajun guys (Lea and Peh-RAN ) , the stuff is in hundreds of recipes. Anyway, I digress again. But I do think that the spiciness is derived from what is cooked IN the dish (traditionally, anyway) as much as what is added to it. I took a week long drive along the Oregon/ Washington Coast in the early nineties (Tillamook Bay is one of my favorite places on earth-Crabs and Cheese-hard to ask for more out of life). We sort of specialized in eating in small, lunchroom type places and it got to be huge joke that in almost every place we ate there was a line on the menu that said "We can 'Cajunize' any dish for a dollar". Can you say Tony Cachere's? Yikes.

Get dark roast with chicory straight from the source. I know lots of people that do, in fact, I did when I was working in San Diego. And Poche's is tiny and well run. I beleive that Bleachboy recently got an order from there, so you might pm him, or perhaps he will check in tonight.

Turkey and Andouille or smmoked sausage Gumbo-with stock made from the carcass. I am probably not making an overstatement when I say that in half the homes in Louisiana, South of I-10, that dish is served over the Thanksgiving weekend. It's pretty hard to beat. I like a turkey melt with dark meat, some decent bread, and some good cheese, as well.

Wednesday Lunch- Nice- Galitoire's (everyone, bar none, should go here once-it IS New Orleans) Really good, really New Orleans_ Mother's Casamento's Mandina's Mandich's Liuzza's Acme (oysters) Felix's (oysters) Central Grocery (if the weather is nice-go get a lunch and eat it on the Moonwalk) Have a great trip. We are having the first cool weather of the year. It is gorgeous here right now. 70d and 60n and blue skies (yes, 70 is cool after 6 months of 90 plus).

Tamari with a sprinkle of brewers yeast

That's more like it! Kind of like a twelve step meeting. Much easier to admit a problem when you are in a room full of people with the same affliction. Not that tater tots are a problem or anything. I'm just saying.......

Sheesh, what a bunch of snots. Cmon! Admit it! You just about HAVE to like tater tots. What's not to like? Delicious crunchy potato goodness on the outside and soft, lovely potato goo on the inside. It would be hard to ask for a more noble way to go if you were a potato and could ask (which of course you aren't and even if you were you couldn't ask because you wouldn't be able to talk, but that doesn't matter anyway because this is my story-and I'm sticking to it.) I love the things. I don't eat them that often, but when the opportunity arises, I am ready for the challenge. Our local store (only store in town, makes exceptionally good hamburgers from scratch along with the usual array of boiled seafood) serves them with their burgers and po boys instead of fries and I get them every time I go in there. Extra crunchy please. Next ya'll will tell me that you don't like jello. How many bubbles can I survive bursting in one day? Please, I beg of you, take it easy.

Do you have a set route that you have to travel, or is this trip being dictated by food? I have forwarded this to Davebr as he can probably help you out alot more than I can on the East Texas/West Louisiana/Shreveport thing. Brooks

Drum Roll ..................................................................... Laaaaadies and Gentlemen, This years James Beard Award for Culinary Bravery is awarded to (more drums and some of those cool horns like they have in old knight movies featuring Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone) Rachel and Jason Perlow for their soon to be famous Beef Bourguignon and Tater Tots! That's right ladies and gentleman! Gastronomes world wide are constantly amazed by the originality showed by these two culinary giants, but this one tops them all. Who woulda thunk it, folks? From the vineyards of Burgundy to the endless potato fields of Idaho, farmers and mere bystanders are marveling at the originality of this amazing dish! What'll it be next year? How will they ever hope to keep up this kind of work? We can only hope that they do not collapse under the weight of the standard they have chosen to bear. Our hats are off to Rachel and Jason and we wish them the best of luck next year. And now a word from our sponsor.

Well Dave, I believe that a good quality "fric" is what makes a good fricasee and it's just hard to find good ones anymore. Actually, I have always been under the impression that what sets it apart from other traditional Louisiana stew type dishes is that "first, you don't start with a roux". The flour, or whatever kind of thickener you are using is added after the dish is started and is not browned. The chicken, rabbit, squirrel, (or even possum or whatever) is browned in a little oil and the vegetables and some stock are added, usually at this point some flour is added as well to make a smooth gravy. Now, this method, of course, could potentially be a catalyst for a firestorm of opinions from others whose opinions may vary from mine-but this is the way that I was taught to do it and the way (generally) that I see others here make fricasee. So let the snarking begin.

When I saw William's title in this thread, my mind went instantly to squash casserole. Melissa's recipe is close enough to the one that I make that I have no need to post the recipe. Woo hoo! That casserole shows up at our house about once a week. Usually because I have pulled it out of the freezer as I usually double the recipe and divide it into 4 portions. The stuff is great the first time around and really good cold (really, no joke ). OTOH, I don't know that there are that many others that I regularly see. I eat, and often cook for myself, as many as three vegetables per meal-but they are usually kind of stand alone. Peas, butterbeans, string beans, okra and tomatoes, all kinds of seasonal garden stuff, buttered squash, zucchinni, etc. appear on our table and on the table of those that I know, but not usually as a casserole. Southern or not? I don't really know. I kind of agree with those that say many foods that have ended up on the rolls as "southern food" are more in the category of "American Cooking", but on the other hand I also think that the frequency many of these dishes appear on tables around the South kind of makes them de facto Southern. Part of this likely has to do with the fact that many of these foods are able to be grown most of the year round here and that, until the advent of modern refrigeration and the interstate highway system, they were not available to many of our Northern friends excepting small periods of time during the year. Nowadays it's no big deal to see fresh stuff in Minneapolis or Fargo in the middle of the winter-but for much of the last 200 years those folks were stuck with potatoes and other roots and tubers as they would keep for long periods of time and could be grown locally in the short growing season.

Nola serves pretty late. The Verti mart is always open ( I highly reccomend this for a sobering meal before stumbling home. The brussel sprouts in cheese sauce rock and it has one of the best baked macaronis in town (New Orleans version of Mac and Cheese). If you really want to go for it, get a Ruben. THey are piled high with good corned beef and have great dressing on them. Have a great trip.