Waaahh from Nola

[Ji pushii tmge]

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

Good day!  High spirits!  

 

Hey, how ya doing?  My name is Ryan:  cook, food lover, artist, gardener, happy Earth Day!  Culinary extraordinaire.  Born and raise in New Orleans, LA, USA.  Chances are, if y'all have questions about New Orleans and southern cuisine, I have an answer, but hopefully not.  (Alligators, beignets, snoballs, Jazz Fest food, Holy Trinity, Paul Prudhomme, John Besh, N all that jazz.)

 

I cook professionally, chef at a very popular neighborhood cafe.  I allways cook.  The lines blur.  I aspire to open a restaurant with my brother, soon.  Small brunch joint, vrrrry nice  My neighbor and I have chickens, rabbits, and a huge garden.  We grow tons of our foods.  This year especially looking forward to all the peppers:  Serrano, Cayenne, Paprika, Padron, and more heat!  Cooking with chilies will change your life.  O ya, huuuuge ice cream/gelato/frozen-treat lover, maker, aficionado.  Just spun a lovely spearmint gelato (from happy cows!) served with fresh sliced Louisiana strawberries - for a gal whose heart I'm trying to win over.

 

My old neighbors call me "Young Pup."  I do have a ton to learn.  I admit I am a young egg.  It takes a lifetime and then some to reach fullness as a cook.  So, I'm here to share my knowledge and learn more from y'all on our journey.

 

Allright, take it EZ.

 

Respectfully,

Ryan

[Smithy]

Welcome, Ryan - er, Ji pushii tmge!  It sounds like you bring a lot of spirit to your cooking.  It should be interesting to see you around here!  I have to ask about your screen name...is this some obscure-to-me Cajun or otherwise southern term?  How would one pronounce it?  

 

It's been rather wet there this winter...to the point that my DH and I blasted through last fall without stopping to enjoy the seafood. Has the wet winter affected the NOLA food scene? 

 

C'mon in and check the place out!  Ask questions, join in the conversations.  If you have any questions about where to find or post something, or need technical help, don't hesitate to PM a host or ask in the Moderation and Policy Discussion forum.

[Ji pushii tmge]

Smithy,

 

My forum tag is an evolution of a Japanese rough translation, it's hard to explain... Really, it's meaningless, like gibberish.  Certainly not Cajun.  It's gee pusheye-y and tmge is an acronym for. . . ZzzzzZzzz anywho:

 

The heavy rain hasn't helped the seafood this season.  What started as an amazing oyster season is ending with a bland thud.  Bluecrabs are moving deeper and further away because of the spill-ways opening.  We had a slow fish expose a few weeks ago almost rained out... I don't even remember the soft shell season.  Strawberries are huge but not very sweet.  Tons of different blackberries lying all thorny close to the wet ground.  The water has been freakishly high.  It's kind of frightening.

 

We continue to swing with the punches.  It's human nature.  The food scene is as strong as ever, but recently a lot of restaurants which have very little to do with Louisiana culture and heritage have popped up.  It's anyone's game, and just like our history as a port city:  a mash up of what's new is improving upon what once was. 

 

Take care, Smithy.

ryan

[Smithy]

Thanks for that response!  I won't record my attempts to pronounce your screen name, though the .wav file might be good for a laugh.  From what I've read, New Orleans folk are pretty resilient, so going with the punches makes sense.

 

Please tell more about the 'slow fish expose'.  Am I correct in assuming it was a slow-food take on fish cookery?

[Ji pushii tmge]

Slow Fish is a spin off of Slow Food. Last month was the first time the expose went abroad, from Genoa, and landed in New Orleans (also the first time I've heard of it).  Or actually, downriver in St. Bernard Parish.  There were tons of chefs and fishermen working with regional seafoods.  Like a runaway boucherie, familiar?  Unfortunately, I don't take many pictures, but I'm looking to change that. I did just buy a smartphone, and I made this profile for this here web forum.  So that's special.