faine
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Posts posted by faine
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I can verify that Coop's makes a mighty fine gumbo. And yes, I was also greatly distressed by the lack of Crystal on the table!
Antoines makes tasty gumbo, in my opinion.
I also like the gumbo at Ignatius, although that's down on Magazine in the garden district.
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I hit Snow's recently...during my hurricane evacuation from NOLA, as a matter of fact. I certainly enjoyed it, although the line at 8 AM was already appalling. There are few simpler (or better) pleasures in life then eating some fine beef brisket at 8 in the morning off a slab of butcher paper. I would advise focusing on the brisket, though...the other meats were only decent and not totally transcendent. Especially miss the sausage. The ribs and pork steak are pretty good but nothing you might slap your momma for.
I will add I am a total Texas BBQ novice, but Snow's brisket may turn me into a convert yet. Mm, that little kept-on layer of fat...glorious.
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I've got a few pics of Uighur cuisine from far Northwestern China if you're interested. Incredibly delicious and depressingly little known stuff.
Definitely going to read what you linked too....thanks!
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Is Upperline really that excellent? I am a poor undergrad but I happen to live VERY close and walk by it daily and think "That looks tasty." Worth a splurge?
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Please come visit us in NOLA! The weather is generally great this time of year, the oysters are in, and the city needs some loving'.
As a poor college students, I am already eating rather frugally. I'm lucky in that, unlike my peers, I know how to cook and thus can throw together cheap meals that taste good rather then adhering to the Kraft Easy Mac and Ramen diet my peers must follow. I always bring my lunch from the previous evenings leftovers (I live off campus) and I feel I'm getting a much better deal then everybody else. I'd rather eat steak chipotle chili I made myself then yet another 8 dollar substandard Quizno's sandwich, please.
Far as grocery shopping goes, I am very down with the cheap meats...buy em' on sale, toss them in the freezer, done. It helps if you happen to be the sort of person who will happily eat ham hocks and turkey wings for supper. (Guilty as charged.) I am still appalled at the high cost of produce, however. It sucks that I pay 5 bucks for a box of grapes whereas I could buy a few economy sized bags of potato chips for the same. This Northern California native is also missing very much the produce variety and ease of access I enjoyed back home.
NOLA seems to have a distinct lack of "quick/casual" restaurants, beyond of course Po-Boy shops, at least in the upper Garden District where I live. This means I definitely do not do a lot of eating out...which is torture considering the excellent (but pricy) nearby options. Sigh.
(Tulane campus dining is ridicuous...a freakin' chicken salad costs nine bucks, a package of sushi costs 6.50, a frozen yogurt is 3.50...jesus!)
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I am also loving this post. So glad to see you guys loving a part of the country that's so dear to my heart. I am also a huge Edward Abbey fan and was seriously considering growing up to be him for a few years. May still do it, though I doubt he'd approve so much of my hoity-toity fine dining obsession...
I lived in Salt Lake City for two years as a sprout and it tickles me to see people from outside the US approaching Western food as a novelty. Utah cuisine ain't exactly anything to write home about, though I would add that Hires Big H in Salt Lake makes one damn fine burger. Good luck finding good Mexican in Utah, at least outside SLC...though the Red Iguana does make one hell of a mole amarillo! I do remember the Moab Brewpub had pretty decent food...excellent chile quesadillas. One tip: the root beer float at rural Utah Tastee Freeze type joints is usually commendable!
Did y'all run into any fry sauce? Or green jello? I almost want to start a Utah "cuisine" thread.
I remember eating at Cafe Diablo on a trip to my BELOVED Capitol Reef when I was 12 years old. I was a huge duck fan even then and remember being very impressed with my dish. The chef there certainly has a penchant for "tall" food which in this case works. I also loved being able to wander around the huge garden there in the cool of the evening. Makes me happy to know the food is still excellent!
I have many happy memories of the food in Santa Fe and New Mexico. Do you take your enchiladas red, green, or Christmas? (Christmas all the way!) Mmm, and posole...
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The Vosges Bacon Bar was curiously scrumptious. I bought one for my dad for his birthday and it was immediately proclaimed delicious. It also made me consider the possibilites of chocolate covered pork rinds. (Someone makes those? Right?)
Also would like to say the desserts in this thread are unspeakably gorgeous and now I am very hungry.
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My parents and I keep on meaning to hit this place and never actually remember to make the reservation. Far as I can tell from these posts, it ain't worth the extra trouble when we could easily obtain a delicous six buck bowl o' pho from a zillion other (less fancy) contenders...
Le Colonial is just okay. It's gorgeous inside with a great "scene" feeling, and the service is good, but the food is definitely watered down Vietnamese. It's also very overpriced. I did enjoy the lamb chops, although I would advise skipping the fried rice and the spring rolls. Do check out the bar upstairs.
Honestly, the best Vietnamese food I've had is cheap stuff served in pretty funky dives. I swear to God, it makes everything taste better.
I will have to check out the schmancy drinks though. (21 next year! Yes!)
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Tim McGraw flavored potato chips strike me as enormously unappealing.
I've recently returned to the South and was reintroduced to the magical potato chips of my early Georgia childhood - Zapps. I have many happy memories of working myself into a salty coma at eight years old over a big bag of the sour cream n' onion variety, though I would never pass up a Craw-Tator if offered. Their particular appeal lay in the many fried and greasy and oh so good bits that would settle at the bottom of the bag, which I would fight anyone for. People live on these things here in New Orleans, which makes me smile. I'm considering sending my mom a gift pack for her birthday....
Anyone else love Zapps?
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English is pretty widely used in India, so that shouldn't be an issue. I do speak some Chinese and it'd be nice to see if i can tighten up my skills in the process.
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I'm a undergraduate at Tulane and was chuffed to find the school offers research travel grants. I'm a foodie and food blogger. Not suprisingly, I intend to write about food and international travel for a living. (If this topic is in the wrong spot, please move it!)
I want to apply for a grant to travel back to Asia and complete a project or execute some research in a food related area. However, narrowing down the possibilities isn't exactly easy! Grants are offered through the women's studies department and thus an emphasis on women is something I'd like to include.
I figured it couldn't hurt to throw this out there and see if anyone had any insights.
What I have so far:
- Return to India and look at how food and eating is changing as India modernizes, with emphasis on cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore) and women's changing roles. IE, how is India's shift towards a always eating-in culture to an eating out culture affecting people's lives, especially women's? Are traditions being lost or preserved? Is this a positive change?
- Travel around Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to explore food culture there as a photo essay/travelouge. Again, how is food and eating changing as these countris begin to modernize? Possibly tie this into the immigrant experience in NOLA or California...somehow.
- Go back to China and explore women's roles in the restaurant and food industries there. One interesting thing I noticed is that women are not very visible working on the "street" as cooks, vendors, and saleswomen in India (except for rare exceptions), but are pretty much everywhere in China. Are they making advances in regards to men? Are they moving up and improving their lot in life through food-related endeavors?
That's what I have so far. Got til' spring to figure this out, which is comforting. Your thoughts?
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Just wanted to drop back in and say I'm settling in very nicely. Done lots of NOLA food blogging and am in general very happy with what I've found. I've already been to August twice and have been knocked on my ass impressed on both occasions. Also hit Antoines...food is fine but you're really there for the history. (Though the soft shell crabs Almondine is awesome.)
I actually live right up the street from Casamentos. Need to head down there sometime this week. Anyone been to Ignatius? That place is becoming one of my standbys. I had a really fine okra and tomato stew with sausage there day before last.
I do have one request for anyone reading this: who's got the best boiled crabs in town? I got me a hankering.
I'm already in love with this city! (But it could use more grocery stores.)
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Hem.
Christmas cookies are fun for me to make, but I actually don't particularly enjoy eating them - sugar cookies never held much appeal for me, even when covered in enough sprinkles to kill a horse. It's the warm-fuzzy togetherness that appeals to me. On the other hand, tiger butter is both fun to make, easy, and tastes like unicorn giggles, so there you go.
I generally am a lot more jazzed up about eating food if I've cooked it. I just learned to cook this year and I find it very liberating that I can pretty much turn out whatever I want how I want it. Maybe this will go away as cooking loses its novelty?
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Thanks for the replies!
HungryC, I'd love to take that class if I can work it into my schedule in the spring. I'm actually going in as a junior (transfer student) so that should help me get outside the campus vortex a bit. I'm living on St Charles right on the streetcar line, which should give me access to other parts of town.
I was curiously drawn by Cooter Brown's but didn't go in. That's definitely on the list. (The name of the place in and of itself is awesome.)
We're Slow Food members here in Sacramento so joining up in New Orleans seems like a good idea...
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I'm moving to New Orleans next week to attend Tulane University. My mom's side of the family is French Creole, but I've never lived in the Ancestral Homeland and am looking forward to it. I know I loveeee Crole food, I pronounce New Orleans "New Awwhlins" and I have been taught how to correctly eat a crawdad, so the culture shock won't be too bad.
My primary motivator for attending Tulane was food: I want to be a journalist with a speciality in food/travel/leisure, and I figured heading to one of the country's big dog food cities was by no means a bad idea.
Anyway, I've got a few questions if you natives would be kind enough to help me out:
1. Are there any good food-related organizations/clubs/whatever that I could get involved with in NOLA? I'm really interested in food heritage and history and it'd be great to meet like minded people. (The obvious answer would be "duh, get a job in a restaurant" but that is already the plan.)
Does anyone know about this? : http://www.tulane.edu/~wclib/culinary.html
I sent an email to Susan Tucker but got no reply. The website does look pretty elderly.
2. Are there any good publications/magazines/and so on that take interns or contributions from outside sources? I've done some writing for local magazines here in Sacramento regarding food and would like to continue.
3. What's some good eats around the Tulane campus/St Charles avenue? The grottier the better as long as things is tasty. I am especially inclined to getting weak in the knees regarding all things oyster. Especially fried.
Thanks for your time....looking forward to getting to know New Orleans better and blogging about my experiences.
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If you're still in any way interested, I've just come off three months living in Bangalore (and working as a restaurant reviewer there) and could probably help ya out. Or anyone who wants to get into some delicious eats in Bangalore.
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Totally loving this. I returned two days ago from three months living in mostly Southern India and I am already getting really nostalgic. Especially for fish molee and tandoori gobi!
I consider rickshaws and rickshaw drivers to be the Spawn of Satan, but I was relying on them for primary transportation as I am 19 and very poor. Basically, they like overcharging you. A lot. And ogling you if you are female.
Did you try meen pollichathu? (fried fish wrapped in banana leaf.) That was one of my absolute favorite Kerala dishes....I wonder how many good Kerala restaurants there are in the USA...?
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Here in Sacramento, I've heard some complaints about the restaurant week offerings off of the Yelp boards...in essence, restaurants have been putting together some rather lackluster menus using cheap ingredients in an effort to get butts in the door. Not cool. Still, I think the entire restaurant week concept is an excellent one if executed correctly, and some restaurants certainly do, offering a good value and a nice way to try out a restaurant without committing to a blow out dinner. For me, if I liked a place's restaurant week offering, I'd definitely come back again when the special offer wasn't made...but who knows if that's true for all or even most people.
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The food all looks beautiful! I'm glad your dinner went well.
One question: do you have a recipe for that delicious looking fish with dill? I've been wanting to try that for a while now.
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Cold rare steak sandwiches are absolutely sublime, especially with a hit of sharp mustard.
And yes, cornbread from the fridge is just plain divine, accompanied with..well, pretty much anything. I also like eating chilled oyster dressing and picking out the oysters when nobody's looking, much to the horror and consternation of everyone else.
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That is some gorgeous, gorgeous looking food. I gotta get that Bayless book, it seems.
Out of curiosity...have you ever made/know how to make mole amarillo?
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Yeah, turgid prose on a menu description generally makes me want to run the other direction, fast. Most of my favorite places don't even bother with a description beyond the title of the dish - and that's the way I like it. You want more exposition, ask the server.
I've noticed an opposite tendency at trendy restaurants though...just listing the ingredients and maybe (maybe) the preparation style. It's a bare bones approach, but I kind of like the element of surprise.
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Food and Wine definitely has a touch of trendoid disease, but I tend to prefer it to the other soft food magazines (that aren't just about technique, like the wonderful Fine Cooking.) It's got beautiful photography and I think the quality of writing is really high as well. And all the recipes I've tried from the magazine and from the website have come out just plain excellent....you must give the red curry carrots from the December issue a try.
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Using "feed" as a verb always struck me as vaguely perverse. It evokes images of pig-like people eating rafts of poorly cooked food to me. Maybe I'm over-sensitive.
The Friday Night Fish Fry is a beautiful thing. I'm thinking of the B.B King song (I think he covered it from someone else whose name I cannot recall.)
Crawdad boils are a definite favorite where I'm concerned. They even do one here in Sacramento, although they can't get enough crawdads from our own levees now and have to import them from Louisiana...ah well.
Cochon Butcher
in Louisiana: Dining
Posted
Can't wait to get on out there and try it.
Anyone tried the bar food menu yet? The baked lamb eggplant gremolata sounds delish.