In New Orleans, there’s a Holiday tradition (”Carnival” being a perfectly legitimate holiday) for celebrating and feasting on Oyster Patties  - oysters gently cooked in a thick Bechamel-like sauce flavored with oyster liquor and of course, a healthy dose of seasoning (salt, pepper, onions, parsley and cayenne).  That sauce is ladled generously over what is locals call “patty shells,” but are otherwise known as vol-aux-vents.  Back in the day, New Orleanians bought patty shells (both large and small) from beloved but “ain’t dere no more” Mckenzie’s Bakery, a local classic.  Nowadays, finding freshly baked patty shells is more of a challenge, but it can be done with a little effort.  The pictured Oyster Patties were recently served at a family dinner and are the 100 year-old recipe of “Nanny,”  (my husband’s great-grandmother) from a recipe handed down by her mother, who got it from her mother before her…buttered Le Sueur peas served alongside.  Chef Emeril’s recipe deliciously subs crawfish tails for oysters, and shrimp or crab meat will work too.  If freshly baked puff pastry shells aren’t available, there are ready-to-bake versions in the freezer section of the grocery.

While living in Madrid, the most exciting celebration I experienced was “Nochevieja,”  Spain’s New Year’s Eve.

Just before midnight, millions of people gather at Puerta del Sol square in the city’s center and watch the final countdown from the huge clock on top of the post office.  Tradition requires that with each stroke of the clock at midnight, you eat a grape.  The saying goes that with each of the twelve grapes you eat, you are ensuring luck for the twelve months of the New Year ahead.  Following the mass grape gobbling are several toasts of cava (Spanish bubbly), and hours of singing and dancing in the streets!

It is an absolutely great time and the party goes until the wee hours of the morning, usually ending with chocolate and churros (hot chocolate and fried dough) at San Gines, the city’s best chocolateria.

What is Mayhaw you ask? Mayhaw is a fruit that comes from the May Hawthorn tree, found in swamps and low-lying, generally, wet areas of the Southeastern United States. The May Hawthorne begins to ripen in late February and early March; the blossoms are quite pretty and remind me of cherry blossoms. The fruit, which looks something like a cross between a crab apple and a rosehip, ripens in late April and May.

Wild Mayhaw fruit is harvested using boats or what we call pirogues; the limbs of the trees are shaken and the fruit is then gathered in nets. Mayhaw has been harvested for generations by those lucky enough to have the sweet fruit nearby. But the wild trees have dwindled due to development.

Mayhaw has a slightly tannic quality to it. It’s flavor reminds me of rose hips or quince, which makes sense since the May Hawthorne tree is a cousin of the rose. The fruit is processed and made into jams, jellies, syrups, pie fillings, sorbet and even Mayhaw wine. Mayhaw is unique and distinct to this region of the South. It is something I grew up eating on toast for breakfast when I would visit my great aunts in Tensas parish. It brings back fond memories and every year I look forward to May. Mayhaw products are often sold at farmstands along the side of the road in areas where the trees grow. There are a few farmers who sell their products online.

The town of Marion, Louisiana hosts its annual Mayhaw Festival this Mother’s Day weekend on May 10. There will be games, food and of course a Mayhaw jelly making contest.

Happy Persian New Year!  A dear friend called to wish me happy Persian New Year and told me that the New Year (Norouz or Nowruz) begins on the first day of spring and is a two-week celebration of rebirth and renewal.  Quoting an Internet source, she sent me this:

Foods served during Norouz communicate spring themes. Sweet and sour flavors are meant to represent the duality of good and evil. Eggs represent fertility, and are served in dishes like the popular kuku (somewhat similar to an Italian frittata). Ash reshfte  a warm noodle soup, typically begins the new year meal. The symbolism of the noodles it is said represent wishes for the unraveling of life’s knotty problems. The main course for a typical Iranian New Year’s meal is sabzi polo hami, or green herbs and rice, served with a white fish sauteed with chopped onion, lemon juice, turmeric, salt and fresh garlic.

So, I pulled out my favorite Persian cookbook, New Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies, by Najmieh Batnanglij, where I found a rather lengthy, intense but beautiful recipe for Ash-e reshte (Noodle Soup).  I’ll be making the soup this weekend and will happily share my results.   

A local bakery has begun making matzo and I had the chance to get in on the act.   We made stacks of the stuff that was not kosher-for-Passover or even kosher, but a simple, everyday matzo to celebrate the spirit of the Passover season.   Matzo is simply flour and water that rests for a maximum of 18 minutes before being rolled out very thin and baked crisp in a hot, hot oven.  The resting time limitation has to do with preventing leavening and ensuring the bread remains flat.  Pricking the freshly rolled dough with a fork just before baking, also helps. 

In my home, there is always a box of matzo for snacking, but historically matzo is specifically eaten during Passover (a commemoration of the exodus from Egypt) as a  symbol of the Israelites hasty departure.  Matzo is also symbolic as a reminder to be humble, and to not forget what life was like in servitude. 

The Irish Channel located in Uptown New Orleans was a mostly working class neighborhood originally settled by Irish immigrants in the early 19th century. Irish peasants fleeing the Potato Famine disembarked at the port in New Orleans. Most of the immigrants had little or no money and could not afford to explore the city, so they just settled at their point of disembarkation. They could easily find jobs working in the industries along the river, such as the port, slaughterhouses, cotton presses and sugar refineries. The Irish built simple cottages, now referred to as “shotguns”, along the river and its surrounding area. As they settled in, they opened markets, saloons and bars, some of which still exist today, including Parasol’s the starting point for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Mardi Gras has come to an end but that doesn’t mean things are winding down here in New Orleans, no way. The month of March has many festivals and celebrations to get geared up for. The O’Brian’s, McDaniels and O’Neils along with the rest of us are preparing for the next big holiday, St. Patrick’s Day. We will use any excuse here to have a parade or throw an enormous block party and St. Patrick’s Day is one of our favorite days, so much so we usually celebrate it for several days. Parasol’s Irish Bar located in the Irish Channel is host to the Annual St. Patrick’s Day Block Party, green beer and Guiness flows liberally. Tuxedoed men in marching parades hand out green flowers to women in hopes of getting a kiss.

Mardi Gras-like floats themed for St. Patrick’s Day with leprechauns and pots of gold, lumber down Magazine Street. From a distance it is an odd site to see. You squint just to be sure and then as the float comes closer you realize that they are in fact tossing cabbages, carrots, onions and potatoes along with the traditional beads, doubloons and green paper flowers. That’s right ladies and gentlemen you might just catch a flying cabbage.

If you are having your own St. Patrick’s Day party try a few of these Irish recipes:

IRISH SODA BREAD
POTATO SOUP WITH SMOKED SALMON RELISH
BRAISED CABBAGE WITH CORN BEEF HASH
SHEPHERD’S PIE WITH GARLIC MASHED POTATOES
EMERIL’S ALE
BALLYMALOE IRISH STEW
APPLE OATMEAL CRISP WITH IRISH WHISKEY CREAM

Since lent is obviously not the time for eating lavish meals, simple dishes and foods are predominant.

The Pretzel - You may think of the pretzel as just another snack food; it also happens to be the classical Lenten bread. Traditionally, pretzels were made from just flour, water and salt at the time fat, eggs and milk were forbidden during lent. The bread was shaped in the form of two arms crossed in prayer to remind us that lent is a time of penitence. The breads were called “little arms” or bracellae in Latin and brezel in German and today we have pretzel. Pretzels were sold on the street by vendors and were often used as a garnish for beer soup and were sometimes given to the poor.

Soup - Soup was a main staple during the Lenten season due to it’s ease of preparation and often simple ingredients. In Poland, a simple vegetable soup or split pea soup was the mainstay. In Germany and Austria beer soup garnished with pretzels was a common Lenten dish.

Hot Cross Buns - Hot Cross Buns are sweet, spiced buns often made with dried fruits, usually currants; they are traditionally eaten on Good Friday. The name originates from the cross piped in icing on the top of the bun. The cross symbolizes the crucifixion of Jesus. Hot Cross Buns are closely associated with England. One legend suggests that an Anglican monk, in the 12th century, piped a cross on the buns to honor Good Friday. He then distributed the buns to the poor as well as the pagans as a means to spread the ministry. Buns have pagan roots and were used to celebrate spring festivals and the cross represented the four quarters of the moon. The buns were easily adapted for Christian use.

If you are participating in the Lenten season, here are a few recipes you might want to try. We have included the traditional Lenten foods as well as a few simple fish dishes.

Old Fashioned Pretzels
Hot Cross Buns
Potato Leek Soup
Turnip Soup with Crispy Crunchy Ham and Cornbread Croutons
Cornmeal Crusted Redfish
Panfried Catfish with Lemon and Garlic

THE SEASON OF LENT
Since we are right in the middle of the Lenten season I thought it would be nice to share a brief history.  For most Christian denominations around the world, lent is a season of repentance and soul searching. It begins on Ash Wednesday which directly follows Mardi Gras or Shrove Tuesday. Lent is the forty day period preceding Easter. It is also thought to represent the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing for his ministry. When counting the forty days we skip Sundays to commemorate the Resurection. Historically, lent was a period when converts were to prepare for baptism and for the faithful to rededicate themselves. It also originally signified Spring, a time of rejuvenation and rebirth. Read more »

My best friend’s mom, Coco, is an amazing cook. She’s Puerto Rican-American and her specialty is a traditional rice dish called arroz con gandules—this translates to rice with pigeon peas. Although you may think a rice dish that features peas named after a pesky bird may not sound very appetizing, think again!

The dish has a nice balance of rice to peas (maybe three parts rice to one part peas); it is flavorfully seasoned with sofrito (a cooked paste made from garlic, onions, tomatoes, and bell peppers), culantro (an herb that is related to cilantro, but has a 4-6” leaves and has a more pronounced flavor), cumin, bay leaf, coriander and a variety of other spices; and every few forkfuls or so you’ll find a manzanilla green olive, which comes as a bit of a salty palate relief against all the other large, earthy flavors in the rice.

The dish is similar to paella, a better-known Spanish rice dish that is baked in a large cast iron pan, in that it is heavily seasoned and has lots of non-rice surprises mixed in. However, unlike most traditional paella preparations, arroz con gandules is vegetarian. It makes for a great side dish, but is definitely hearty enough to serve as a main course (or at least that is how I eat it, because once I find out that Coco has made a pot, I can’t fathom eating anything else!).

I’d share the recipe, but Coco insists that it is a family secret…

Did you know that the old saying, “mind your P’s and Q’s,” just might have something of a culinary origin? I always thought the saying meant to be aware of your manners, or that it had something to do with watching your spelling, but the last version I came across implied the saying’s roots had more to do with the drinking of beer!

According to the Urban Dictionary, “P’s and Q’s” is the verbal shortening for pints and quarts—the common measurement for beer in an English pub. When the crowd in a pub became a little unruly, it was common to hear “mind your P’s and Q’s,” shouted out from behind the bar. A bit of a friendly reminder, I suppose.