New Orleans

New Orleans. A city that shows all of the wonderful things, terrible things, and things we hope to have. It is a city that has as much cultural pride as an American city can have. And it is a city that has many problems that it wishes to fix. And it is a city that has the pride and will to do so.

New Orleans is a city of people. It is not a city full of people but one that is created and shaped by its inhabitants. And to prove this one can merely look at the food. New Orleans is world-famous for its Cajun cuisine. But where did this exciting style of cooking come from? It came from every kitchen in Louisiana. This is not the food of the pricy restaurants that only a minority of the population can afford. This is the food that was eaten for generations by every man, woman, and child regardless of class. And who was it who made the world aware that the everyday food that people ate in Louisiana could be palatable let alone delicious? Paul Prudhomme who grew up out in the country eating his grandma’s favorite dishes. And when he came to New Orleans to work in the kitchen of Commander’s Palace, he did not just make the same French dishes everyone else was making. He knew that he liked what he had grown up with, so why not serve his favorite food to his customers? And so Paul brought the common man’s food into the spotlight. Suddenly everyone was aware of Cajun cooking and how wonderful it was. The food scene of New Orleans suddenly expanded at a phenomenal rate. The food and culture of New Orleans is shaped by the people of the city, all of the people. Other cities may have food and culture that they are well known for, but New Orleans is unique in that it created its culture out of all of the people not just a certain group or class. Everyone in New Orleans, from the CEO of a major company to the minimum wage worker has grown up with the same food, with the same culture, and is able to hold his head high.

But for all of its accomplishments and pride, New Orleans is not perfect. While all cities have their problems, New Orleans has much to do for its people. Even though people of all classes can relate and appreciate the same food, not all of the people have access to it. One way that cities determine health of the cities people and economy is by looking at the children. More specifically they look at the percentage of children who are on free or reduced meals. This is a program where, depending on the situation, the city, the state, or the federal government pays for part of or all of a child’s cost of lunch at school. This is done when the child is determined to be in a situation were getting food any other way would be difficult or impossible i.e. when they are living under the poverty line. Now when a city has 50% of its children on free or reduced lunch that is a sign that changes have to take place. New Orleans gave free or reduced lunch to 84% of its children. The city whose food culture is based off of the everyday person cannot even provide for the majority of its children. For all of its pride for the fact that people all over the world enjoy the food it has created, New Orleans cannot feed its own people. The people who gave it the food it thrives on.

But New Orleans as a city is rebuilding and improving itself. When I first came to New Orleans 5 years ago, my father insisted that we visit the French Market. And when we got there I was enthralled by the sheer variety of things you could buy there. It had to be the largest flea market I had ever seen. It seemed like Christmas, but I could not actually keep any of it. The next time I visited the market, I was surprised by some food vendors. Just a few vendors selling fresh food to the shoppers who were boiling in the Louisiana heat. My first reaction was “what a good idea! Why hadn’t somebody done this before?”  People really seemed to enjoy the food at the market. But it was not until I came down here for this last time that I realized what had happened. Over 5 years I watched as more and more vendors came into the French Market to sell fresh food at a reasonable price. And what started as a few entrepreneurs with plastic tables covered in some produce became successful businesses with permanent structures to sell a variety of products. I did not realize it at the time, but I was witnessing a wonderful regression. There was a time when the French Market was a farmers market. It was a  massive gathering place for the people of the city to obtain fresh food. But as refrigeration and grocery stores with large produce sections became popular, the French Market became less about food and more about selling wallets, purses, and jewelry. But now the people of the city are appreciating farmers markets with produce from local farmers. And this slow progression of bringing food back into the French Market is a small example of how the city is trying to rebuild and remake the city into one that can feed its own people and be proud to say that it is New Orleans.

And Just as that market is a small example of how the city functions, so the city is a small example our food culture at a national scale. Yes, New Orleans has the most noticeable and is the most proud about its food culture. But every city has something to be proud of. Every city has a contribution to make towards the eclectic and delicious meal that is American cuisine. Yes, New Orleans has a severe poverty problem, but it is not the only one. Every major city in America, and I would be willing to bet most minor cities in America, have children who need help just getting one meal a day. This is not an isolated problem, but one that is widespread and one that cannot be ignored. And the movement toward eating fresh local produce is not unique to New Orleans. It is a movement that is gaining popularity across the nation. There are many examples that represent the city of New Orleans. And the city of New Orleans is an example of the people living in this modern culture that we live in.                 

Going Shopping

This past week I visited a few grocery stores in order to look at the difference between chain stores and local corner groceries. The very first thing that hits you as you walk into any store is the atmosphere, the "feel" of the place. And what a difference there was! Whole Foods  is a massive store with tall ceilings and fresh produce almost bursting out the front door. As you walk in, you go through the floral and fresh fruit to get to the rest of the store, showing of products they are proud of and creating a aromatic welcome to all customers. Throughout the store the verity is incredible. Any product on the shelves is surrounded by at least five other options for nearly the same price, the differences between them subtle. Looking at the patrons smelling produce, asking about the quality of the deli, or searching for that one perfect mix of dried fruit I noticed that there were maybe five people in the entire store who were over fifty-five. Most people buying and selling goods were in their late twenties to mid-forties. Very few children were there, but it did look like there were parents gathering supplies for a large family-sized dinner. What struck me the most was a sense of being in a group. All people in the store, myself included, acted and felt like the shopping experience was somehow better, that all of the products that were sold here were exclusively for us. A very large community, connected by the thousands of other stores across the nation, were all buying these products that no else had access too. We were special.
Langenstein's is the iconic corner grocery. Small, packed with food, narrow but full isles, little corners hidden away from a cursory glance over the store. To get into the store a person walks by what seems like dozens of jars of olives, bottles of cider and apple juice, and soda that I had last tasted while in Europe. Wandering through the maze of food I flashed back to Aldi's as a child, finding food that is did not know existed in a grand adventure of discovery. Watching a three year old toddler running through and exploring Langenstein's, I felt a smile tug at my lips and a wave of nostalgia and memories flashed through my mind. Families and children walked through the store, some stopping to talk to good friends while passing each other at the meat counter. The staff were either in their late fifties, looking like they had worked there all of their lives, or late teens early twenties, trying to pay off student loans or finally getting that car. But Langenstein's small size hides a huge variety of products. The olives and sodas already mentioned were just the tip of the iceberg. While their strength seemed to be in canned and non-perishable goods, I found in the refrigerated section a pre-made squid salad that looked like it had been made that day. This salad was not something you would find in any chain store, it was the product that seafood-rich New Orleans could provide for the people who grew up on it. This was a store that you wandered through and explored as a child, bought soda from as a teenager, scrounged for a bargain as a starving young adult trying to make it in the world, and brought your kids to when you needed to swing by to get dinner after school. This store was the kind of stores that are as much a part of the community as the local playground. Whole Foods also has a sense of community, but it is an artificial one that was created when the store was built. Langenstein's community grew organically through generations of families all swinging by the store to get whatever need needed to be satisfied. Both grocery stores were wonderful with many products that I need or will need. But  the moment that I walked into Langenstein's I felt at home, and knew that this was the place that I would be coming back to.

Mardi Gras Weekend

Eating at Felipe's, sat and talked for a long time.

Getting coffee for the long night at Cafe Du Monde



Fresh Oyster Bar in the French Market



Two old men, having a cold one and enjoying the nice day

Interview

My dad’s name is Doug. Whenever we are camping, he usually does the planning and figuring out what we are going to have. He has a lot of fun with it and I think that’s why he likes to do it.. So anything that has to do with the grill, that’s his territory, what he enjoys doing. That’s why he likes to do the camping stuff, because, not like wild-man, but he enjoys the outdoors aspect of it I think. He is excited; it is like an experiment for him every time. Because he is a science teacher he likes to mess around with spices, with different ingredients. Trying to see if he can make anything interesting, and I am sure it’s all related to the fact that he is a teacher. Every year he tries to get his class to eat things like fried crickets or mealworms or something cool like that. I think one year he actually caught a snapping turtle and they made something out of it in his class. They also picked mushrooms. He has an outdoor classroom at Jamestown [Mo], so they will go out there and pick mushrooms. He likes to put weird stuff in there [the classroom]. Like the army bean stuff. So somehow he got his hands on some army packaged food, shrink-wrapped beans or something like that. And everyone in his class was terrified to eat it, so he took a little spoonful ate some and said “wow guys, this actually isn’t too bad”. And one brave kid came up and decided to try it, and he said “oh, actually Mr. Selby is right! This isn’t too awful.” And little by little all the kids came up one by one, I think by the end there were only about two kids who decided not to try it. It ended up being tasty, considering it was shrink-wrapped beans.
  

Reviews of K-Paul's

Paul Prudhomme is the man who created the modern Cajun meal. He popularized what was once considered low-class or poor people's food on a national level as well as creating iconic New Orleans dishes, blackened red fish being the most recognizable. For this and other reasons I chose to peruse through yelp.com to see what people had to say about his now famous restaurant, K-Paul's. And what I found surprised me. The vast majority of the 313 reviews were in praise of this dish or that appetizer. Thing thing that stood out were the negative reviews. Several were from the area, and they did not seem to be impressed. One called it "another tourist trap!", describing the food as nothing special or exciting. Another review said that they "could see why it isn't on the locals radar". So what was going on? Could the other 86% of people talking about K-Paul's be wrong? Could all of the people singing its praises just be tourists who do not know what they are talking about?  Or is there more to it? I decided to look back through the positive reviews to see what they were saying, and a few things jumped out at me. I noticed that some people praised the place as well as the food, such as this review with one of the last things mentioned and one of the more memorable aspects of K-Paul's was "the fun art work on the walls". Another reviewer said that the place was so welcoming and cozy that "its as fine place to go alone" to.
With so many people loving and hating K-Paul's, there could be only explanation. I cannot remember how many people said that K-Paul's was either the first or last place they went to on their visit/trip to New Orleans. After reading that for the fortieth time, I realized that K-Paul's is indeed a tourist trap. But that is not a bad thing. Brett Anderson described tourist restaurants as the ambassadors for the city. If people come to the city and can only go to one or two places, K-Paul's is on that list. Which means that it needs to be the face of New Orleans. That restaurant caters to the tourists by being as local and Cajun as possible so that the customers get the New Orleans experience. Welcoming, busy, crowded, full of life, and just a little more rough around the edges that you would expect. Paul Prudhomme started cooking country food that was part of his past. That was part of his culture, and just expected the city to accept it. And he created a restaurant that part of his city, that represented the place that he lived in. That city has always been a tourist town,so why should the face of it be any different? So sit back, eat a jalapeno roll, and revel in the unique New Orleans way of life. 

A Reuben At Camellia Grill

Walking into Camellia Grill is an experience in itself. As you walk past the columns guarding then entrance you feel as if you are entering an establishment that has been there for the past century. But once you actually open the door and go inside, you are suddenly transported to New Orleans circa 1950. The only seating available is counter top with round stools all crowded together facing the grill. The sounds of grilling meat and the bustling of servers greets you as you sit down community style, right next to a perfect stranger, and wait to be helped. You you are always entertained though. Having worked in an open kitchen, where all of the food is prepared where the customer can watch, I have to say that they are some of my favorites. You can always watch as meat is thrown onto the grill with a satisfying sizzle, or you can listen to the witty and playful banter that goes on in every kitchen. It looked like the people running Camellia Grill were doing things the exact same way they had been doing for the past 20 years. And that had to be as close as possible to way things were done there for the 40 years before that. In 2012 I was sitting down in a 1950 diner in a building that looked like an 1800's townhouse. And the service was just as friendly, efficient, and affable as people describe in "the good old days". After watching my Reuben's creation take place literally 4 feet from me, I dug in. I have always loved corned beef, having it for St. Patrick's day for years, and the idea of Reubens always made since to me. The tartness of the sauerkraut perfectly balanced with the creamy consistency of the thousand island dressing never would have crossed my mind for a sandwich, but the Reuben is a winner and I tip my hat to whoever it was who first created it. It is messy, rich, and cannot be beat. After a few bites of intense Reuben flavor, I needed a break, so I turned to the mountain of fries filling the basket casually handed to me. And here I received a wonderful surprise. Dipping the fries in ketchup, poured from a glass bottle of course, I bit into a fry that was crispy yet fluffy. Everyone can make fries that have crunch, but the real miracle is the fry that has the crunch but still retains the fluffy potato inside. Get a MacDonald's fries and you will have a wonderfully crunchy and salty experience, but you cannot taste the potato. It could be made of anything. But the fries as Camellia Grill told you that they were made of potato and don't you forget it! Alternating between rich, powerful flavors of corned beef, kraut, cheese, and rye with the acidic ketchup that was brought on a perfectly fried platter of potato I scarfed down every bite. The food was amazing. But what really made Camellia Grill such an experience was the people there. You do not make a reservation at Camellia Grill. you walk in expecting to eat some good old-fashioned diner fair. Business men on a lunch break, poor college student eating the tastiest meal he will have that week, and everyone in between sit down elbow to elbow on those round stools, just as they have for the past 60 years, and all enjoy the time that they have there. The most moving and greatest example of how much Camellia Grill is a place to experience as well as a place to eat is framed above the bench for people to sit on waiting for a spot. Hanging on the wall is a flower made of notes that had covered the front door while Camellia Grill had been closed down after Hurricane Katrina . It represented the passion that all of the local and loyal customers that flock to Camellia Grill, begging for them to come back. It represented how much Camellia Grill means to the community. May it keep grilling and serving for another wonderful 60 years! 

Sliced Pork and Spring Roll Noodle Bowl

So there I was, facing a serious decision. What meal should I talk about for my first real posting? Should I go to a New Orleans staple like Mother's, or should I be lazy and just have a kick-ass PB&J? Then I thought "You know what? It has been too long since I have eaten Vietnamese noodles". So I decided to ignore all of the poor boys around town and go for what has to be my favorite East Asian cuisine. It was not until after I had looked up how many Vietnamese restaurants are in NOLA that I realized that I was eating a staple of the city. It turns out that during the Vietnam War there were 5 waves of Vietnamese immigration into the United States starting in 1975. One of which was one of the largest relief efforts in United Nations history. But why come to New Orleans? As it so happened the city, and the entire state of Louisiana, was very active in welcoming refugees from the war. The large Catholic community and climate similar to their native land were also incentives the refugees. And as word spread that a large Vietnamese community was growing in New Orleans, more and more people arrived. Over the next few decades Vietnamese groceries and restaurants appeared and their popularity spread. Now there are many restaurants throughout the city that feature the cuisine.
And all of this history and preservation of culture was the reason that I had the Sliced Pork and Spring Roll Noodle Bowl sitting in font of me. I was lucky, I had arrived during the lunch hour which meant that my order also included a small soup. Now this soup was just the beginning of an absolutely wonderful meal. The thing that first appealed to me about this soup was the simplicity of it. It was just chicken broth with rice noodles and cabbage with cilantro and chives as garnish. That was it. A little something before the meal with just enough flavor and substance to to stave off hunger without filling you up. It satisfied you, but left you wanting more, which is where the noodle bowl came in. First of all, just look at that. It is a work of art, a sense of symmetry among all of that chaos. And then there was the FLAVOR! The main reason that I love Vietnamese food so much is that it plays with both light and intense flavors that somehow blend together perfectly. My first instinct was to taste the cut up spring roll, which was filled with a rich, earthy combination of vegetables, bean curd noodles (what my little brother calls cellophane noodles), and soy sauce all bundled up together in a crispy, crunchy wrap. Then, having poured the sweet, sour, and spicy side sauce all over the noodles so that they do not stick, I jumped right in. After trying a bite of noodle, wonderfully light and filling in case you were wondering, I could not resist taking a bite of that perfectly cooked pork. Oh, what a sensation! The pork had been grilled with spices right in the pan, creating a flavor filled crispy edge to the meat that had the perfect amount of give and chew. Having taken a few bites, I then discovered a surprise hidden underneath all of those noodles. There was a bed of shredded cabbage, carrots and cabbage that had been in a light vinegar brine. This provided just a hint of sour and salty elements to the dish. Having found all of the aspects of such an eclectic dish, I then spent the rest of the meal combining different combinations to find which flavors I liked best. This playful experimentation made me realize that the light aspects of the noodles and vegetables were absolutely delicious when combined with the heavy, intense flavors of the meat and spring roll. But the true miracle in that bowl is that no matter how strong the meat was, those light elements were able to shine through. It was a perfect balance of the flavors that was savory, sour, sweet, spicy, and yet was so light that I could clear my plate without even thinking about it. The heavy sauces of other cuisines, Italian marinara comes to mind, are all wonderful. But for the life of me, I always have to struggle to get through a full meal and clear my plate. (a rule I made for myself after working 4 years as a dishwasher). If I were to recommend this dish to anyone in particular, I would have to say that it is perfect for the Distracted Eater. For the person who can never finish a meal because they simply get bored with the flavor, this is the cuisine for you. Every time I took a bite of this meal full of its delightful little contradictions, I discovered a new experience in flavor that I had not noticed before. I left the table satisfied, full, and ready for more.