SOCIAL MEDIA

[what yankees are doing wrong] -the Mardi Gras edition

February 18, 2012

It is Mardi Gras season, and there is no denying it down here in Houma. Houma has the 2nd largest Mardi Gras parades in the country, so says a cajun I talked to yesterday. But who else in the country is there to compare it to, we all know the yankees are lost as can be at this holiday. 

Recently Pinterest and the blog world has been flooded with Mardi Gras recipes, all of which make me cringe and want to leave a comment on them saying "Excuse me dear, but poboys are not Mardi Gras food. We eat them year 'round in Louisiana." 

Now I will admit to this, I was raised in central Louisiana, and lived in north Louisiana through college. The farther north you go, the less Mardi Gras you get. And if the Mardi Gras I got in Monroe and Vidalia was watered down, I assure you the Mardi Gras you are trying to portray anywhere north of the Mason Dixon line is practically purified bottled water. It is such a shame isn't it. All these yankees running around pretending to like Louisiana for a week, pity. 

If you caught the Real Housewives of the OC this week you would have seen an interesting sight, Vicki threw a cajun themed party. It was a California chef's version of "cajun", but he did okay. However, the look on the women's faces when crawfish was brought out in plastic sacks was priceless, you would have thought someone asked them to trifle for their dinner in a dumpster. I was offended in a way at their behavior towards "wanna be cajun food", heck lets admit it, no one here serves Fritos on their gumbo. You get rice or potato salad. Goodness yankees are dumb when it comes to our state. But then again the History Channel phenomenon Swamp People isn't helping the stereotype here. 





[crawfish picnic we had last Spring]
I'm quite sorry, but the above picture is how you get crawfish, in a plastic bag with potatoes, corn, and sausage. Unless you go to a restaurant, which I believe is taking away the fun of getting a bag at a stand. Plus it is so so so much cheaper to not go to a restaurant. 


Another yankee misconception, gumbo is not a Mardi Gras food. Neither is Jambalya. Both are served year round. Our kids had Jambalya for lunch this week at school actually. Know don't get me wrong, this Cen-LA girl does not profess to know all things Cajun, I thought I knew a few things, but moving into the heart of Cajun Country this year has taught me a thing or two. Heck I am sure my coworkers could give me a full days lesson on everything cajun. But I didn't have a mama grow up in NOLA so I know more than some, I was just sheltered in the Mardi Gras sense, we never came to NOLA for it. My birthday falls over Mardi Gras so we tended to visit our cousins who are "noveau cajun" and live in New Iberia, get a strawberry cream cheese king cake for my BDay cake, and hit up the parades. But these parades my friends do not compare. 


Nothing compares to the fiesta going on in south east Louisiana. I'm not even going to begin talking about the NOLA parade schedule, it would take a year. But to give you a glimpse, Houma had parades Friday, Saturday, and Sunday last weekend and this weekend. Thibodaux is having its fair share, church had to be rescheduled so we could actually get to church, we fall on the parade route. It just blows my mind. 


There are Port-a-Johns lining the main boulevard here.  People sit outside for hours grilling and selling things. They just make a day of one parade. Oh and lest we not forget the sheer quantity of beads left on the street last week, it would have been a biker's nightmare. 


Last but not least, let us discuss how yankees are butchering the king cake. Below are a few photos I pulled from Pinterest that are just ghastly. 


Burnt as hell, maybe I'm just use to the glaze icing and colored sugar, but that icing is horrid.


Is it Mardi Gras or a baby shower?


It looks like a round loaf of white bread with ugly icing.


I could go on but we will stop here. It is enough horror for one day, I may not be able to sleep tonight. Let us all say a prayer that God will forgive the yankees of their yankee sins against Louisiana. 


Now allow me to show you what a king cake should look like.


{source}

Their's is a little different than what you get at most bakeries. They have sprinkles, usually you see colored sugar. 

 

This is actually a lot closer looking to what you get at bakeries, it is a little lacking on the icing though. But it is less scary than the burnt one at the top. 

I actually plan on getting a Randazzo's King Cake while we are in NOLA today. 

I'll end my "why yankees should stay in the north" post here today. If the weather permits I will have my camera out today while we are in New Orleans. We are going to the  Endymion parade today, Will Ferral and a few other celebrities are riding in it. Should be fun, if the rain holds off. 
at