A Hometown Jam

We had planned to carry an eyewitness report today on the prediction of Pierre C. Shaddeaux, but that would have meant rising around 4:30 this morning to make the trip to New Iberia, LA, to observe the sunrise behavior of the town’s groundhog. Instead, we have had to rely on other sources.

The prediction: an early spring is forecast.

But back to events that we did attend....

"Do you have any guides to jams in the area?" we asked of the Tourist Information Center in Lafayette, LA.

"No, but you might want to stop at La Maison de Begnaud, the Heritage Visitor's Center in Scott. It's near where you're staying, and they have a jam on Friday evenings," was our answer.

Well, we learned that there are Visitor's Centers and then there are Visitor's Centers.

Scott’s Heritage Interpretive Center is home to tourist information (maps and brochures) and a Cajun gift shop. But then we experienced "something more". This 100-year-old Acadian home also is home to a small library area with the collection of the city’s history and memorabilia. There is the Heritage Interpretive Room in which documentaries of the area may be viewed and in which community organiza-tions hold meetings and gatherings on history, culture, and special cultural events--and Friday evening jams.

"Cajun music jam sessions provide beginners wanting to learn and veterans who are glad to share with a casual setting to pass on the knowledge" (bayouvermilion.org). And it was this teaching/sharing quality that was clearly the main focus of the jams at this Center, which had all the trappings of community gathering in the kitchen of a home.

In one of two recent sessions we attended 86-year-old Don Montoucet and 6-year-old Andre were two of the partici-pants.

Mr. Don has the distinction and honor of being the first person invited to Russia to perform a program of Cajun music.

On both occasions Jacob LeBlanc, 14, had led the group on the accordion. In a recent article in The Scott Connection, Angela Jean-Batiste noted: "Since December 2010, Scott resident Jacob LeBlanc has found zeal in learning and playing the accordion.

"Extraordinarily, Jacob taught himself how to play the accordion and is still learning to this very day.

"That very determination has earned Jacob a nomination for the New Dawn Award with the Lafayette Chapter of the Cajun French Music Association." The annual Le Cajun Awards are the Grammy Awards of Cajun music.

And then there is Zack, who will be 15 this month. He is also self-taught on the fiddle and already is quite accomplished. He has been invited to perform in New Brunswick, Canada and then Wisconsin in the spring.

There will be quite an entourage from Scott accompanying him on this trip. Among the group will be "Mama" Redell Comeaux Miller, the guiding force behind the Heritage Visitor's Center. She is a remarkable person whose energy and personality have been responsible for spreading the word about the Center.

On the Center's brochure, the message reads: "A Visitor's Center where you can actually sit and visit!" A perfect description of the tone of the old home.

She emphasizes the teaching that occurs during the jams and educational work of the Center. Examples of this latter function that occurs beyond the borders of Cajun Country are: a film crew from Germany featured Scott artists in a visit to the area, a British crew is interested in filming Cajun musicians and dancers, and tomorrow she will be hosting travel agents from around Louisiana.

Her pride in the work of the young people who are carrying on the culture comes through in every sentence.

Lastly, this photo of a young teen, whose name I did not learn, took a turn at leading the group with her work on the accordion. What a wonderful setting in which to learn and perform.

This Is Not a Place…

that you’d find by accident.

Last spring—May 2nd and 3rd to be exact—we wrote about our bizarre encounter with the local gendarmes in Franklin, LA, that caused us to beat a hasty retreat out of Franklin and in search of an alternative for lunch.

Fortunately, I was armed with a travel brochure of that general area and that is where I found this reference to Bon Creole Seafood (aka Bon Creole Lunch Counter)--“Overstuffed with shrimp, crawfish, catfish, or soft-shell crab, they’re big enough to share.” And thus we discovered what just might be the best poor boy in southern Louisiana.

“This quirky local hang out is one of a kind. It's got a small sign on top of the little building with nothing fancy on the outside. No pretensions inside, either. What they do, they do well.... Bon Creole has an uncomplicated menu. The place is clean and service excellent. There is ample table seating.... You'll appreciate the food, atmosphere and animals on display including a buffalo head and crawfish hanging on the wall. The place has character and so do the customers. Go, eat, drink, enjoy!” (rmccall at tripadvisor.com).

Or, as intlxpatr.wordpress. com says: “…we miss it the first time, and have to go around the block, AdventureMan says ‘I think I saw it, but it looked closed.’ I think I saw it, too, but it looked . . . like some dive. As we come around the second time, we see a button-down-shirt-and-chinos kind of guy coming out, so we know it must be open, and he looks like a working local, not some tourist like us.”

Most on-line reviews stress the quality of Bon Creole’s poor boys, but raves are also given for the lunch counter’s seafood gumbo. So on this visit I decided to start my meal with a small bowl. This was served Cajun style with both a small cup of rice and small cup of potato salad. The potato salad can either be mixed into the gumbo or, as I observed one woman diner do, you can take a small portion of the salad on your spoon before dipping the spoon into the gumbo. Knowing the size of our meal to follow, I elected to take the salad home where it became my dinner that night. Literally, the only thing I ate that evening.

So how good was the gumbo? It was made with a darkish roux, con-tained a plethora of small shrimp and pieces of crab, and was lightly seasoned with bay, thyme, and pepper. Again, let me quote from intixpatr: “’Oh, WoW!’ I say, and my eyes open wide. ‘Wow!’ AdventureMan is having the same experience. ‘This is REALLY good!’ he says. We are quiet now, eating this totally delicious seafood gumbo. We are both busy trying to figure out how they made it taste so seafood-y, lots of shrimp, maybe some crab, but the gumbo itself, essence of shellfish, is SO good. What if we had judged by the exterior and had ended up in some plastic and mediocre place? What if we had missed this totally awesome seafood gumbo? This gumbo was seriously GOOD.”

We then moved on to our perpetual (if you consider two previous visits to equal perpetual) choice—to share the large crawfish poor boy. Call them over-stuffed. Call then bursting at the seams. Call them what you want. They more than feed two. When you unwrap the sandwich from the paper, a cascade of fried crawfish tails comes pouring forth. Since it is early in the season, the tails are on the small side, but that makes them no less juicy and sweet. And, instead of plain mayo, these sandwiches are dressed with a mayo and hot sauce mix which accentuates the spice in the cornmeal-based coating. And the French roll is equal to any we have eaten in New Orleans.

Not too many days later, we again found ourselves in the New Iberia neighborhood. That is if you—like us when it comes to food—consider anything less than thirty miles distant to be “the neighborhood”. This warranted a return visit for one of Bon Creole’s marvelous poor boys. Having really enjoyed my potato salad leftovers, this time I suggested that instead of the gumbo and fries, we share a large order of potato salad.

While Chuck face reflected a grimace of pain--“No French fries,” he exclaimed. I did bring him around to my way of thinking. And he thanked me later. Bon Creole’s potato salad is made with chunks of potato plus some “mashed”-like potatoes and is flavored with a small amount of mustard, scallions, and both sweet and dill pickles. Really a fine potato salad.

This 4.5 Addie (only because I think the fries are shaken from a bag) lunch counter is one of our favorite Acadiana stops. As Adrian V at yelp.com explained: “There are few places that I have been to that actually epitomize what a cuisine is all about.... The menu is simple: gumbo, poor boys, and other lunch counter standards with daily specials, too. The key is that the quality is tres bien. The gumbos feel like that came from a Cajun grandmother's kitchen and the poor boys are freshly fried with delightful French bread. This is typically the first place I go on my trips to New Iberia and the last place when I leave!”

As we were finishing our lunch, we had a chance to speak with the woman who takes orders at the counter.
“Did you see the mural on the side of the building?’” she asked. “It doesn’t get as much sun so it hasn’t faded.”

So we went to take a look. “Well, this would give kids nightmares.” Chuck said.

To review the role of Adler, Kitty Humbug, and the Addie rating system, read the November 14, 2011 blog.

A Walk Around New Iberia

It was a dark and stormy night.

We had listened to heavy rains all night. Sometimes a steady light rain on the RV can act as aid to sleep.

This was not one of those rains.

This was one of those pounding rains with frequent changes in rhythm and force, interfering with the hypnotic effect of a steady downfall that lulled one to sleep.

One of those rains that led me to think: "Did I leave a window open on the truck?"

The next morning revealed the results of the night's rain. From one to three inches of rain covered the RV park.j

As of this writing, we've been camped in Duson, LA, (about 10 miles west of Lafayette) for about three weeks. One of our first stops was New Iberia.

Glenn R. Conrad, writing about the history of New Iberia, asked,
"What's in a town's name? Some names say little about the town or its inhabitants; others tie together diverse heritages to form a community. New Iberia is one of the latter.

"New Iberia was founded on the banks of Bayou Teche in 1779 by a group of Spaniards from Malaga. It is the only extant town in Louisiana to be founded by Spaniards during the Colonial Era. The Spanish pioneers called their town 'Nueva Iberia' in consideration of their homeland. Their French neighbors along the Teche referred to the town as 'Nouvelle Ibérie'.

"Then, after the Louisiana Purchase, incoming English-speakers dubbed the site 'New Town'. In 1814, the Federal Government opened a post office here, and it was officially known as 'New Iberia'. Postmarks shortly thereafter reveal that the town was being called 'Nova (Latin for new) Iberia' and 'Nueva Iberia'.

"Then, in 1839, the town was incorporated by the state legislature as 'Iberia,' to the consternation of French speakers who supported 'Nouvelle Ibérie' and English speakers who favored 'New Town'. A compromise was worked out in 1847, and the legislature designated the town's name to be 'New (not Nueva, Nova, or Nouvelle) Iberia'. This exercise in nomenclature is, nevertheless, reflective of the town's varied cultural history. It does not, however, take into account the African-American contribution which was present from the beginning" (cityofnewiberia.com).

As we walked around the downtown area, we were attracted to the decorative brickwork on the facades of a number of buildings.

In 1899, a fire destroyed one square block of the primarily wooden commercial district. "As the century closed, New Iberians began rebuilding the stores of nearly one-half of the commercial district. A lesson had been learned concerning wooden structures crowded together. The rebuilt stores were constructed of brick with metal roofs and decorative metal facades. Today many of the buildings built in 1900 still stand, albeit with updated facades."

The outline of a "Bull Durham" sign is still visible on the wall of one of the buildings.

Some of the newer buildings rounded out our walk around the downtown area. Victor's Cafe is shown here.



The Evangeline Life Insurance building.

From What I’ve Been Told,...

New Orleanians, or at least those who don’t live in the Quarter, have ceded the French Quarter to the tourists—especially on weekends. The streets are too crowded. The sidewalks are too crowded. And the restaurants are too crowded. And, for the most part, we have emulated that behavior. But knowing that our time in New Orleans was coming to an end, we ventured forth one Friday to wander the streets and have lunch.

Our tentative lunch destination was Johnny’s Po-Boys, a spot we had visited and liked about twenty-five years ago. While we were resting on a bench at Jackson Square, we toyed with the idea of returning to Stanley Restaurant just a half block away. Then we saw the mob milling by the doors. So we headed down Chartres Street where we passed a perennial favorite—the Napoleon House. Line out the door. When we turned onto St. Louis in the direction of Johnny’s we saw that the line was down the block and to the corner. Come on, folks. It’s a good poor boy, but not that good!

Then I looked across the street and realized that we were a few feet from NOLA, one of the three Emeril Lagasse restaurants in New Orleans. We had eaten and enjoyed dinner there during a Christmas visit fifteen years (or so) ago, so we decided to make this our lunch destination. And, there was no line out the door.

“Located in a renovated warehouse with a bright yellow stucco facade, large French door windows, and second floor balcony (right), NOLA is Emeril's casual and funky restaurant in the French Quarter.... Featuring an eclectic menu of New Orleans Creole and Acadian cuisine with an occasional ethnic twist, the rustic style of cooking showcases Southern Cajun, Vietnamese and Southwestern influences using Louisiana products (emerils.com/restaurants/neworleans_nola).

“Chef Emeril Lagasse received his first culinary experience from his mother, Hilda, when he was a boy growing up in the small town of Fall River, Massachusetts. As a teenager, he worked at a Portuguese bakery where he mastered the art of bread and pastry baking. Upon high school graduation, Lagasse was offered a full scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music, but decided to pursue a career as a professional chef. He earned a degree from the respected culinary fortress, Johnson and Wales University.... Lagasse then traveled to Paris and Lyon…. Returning to the United States, Lagasse practiced his art in fine restaurants in New York, Boston and Philadelphia before heading south to the Big Easy. Lured to New Orleans by Dick and Ella Brennan, Lagasse established his star at their legendary restaurant, Commander's Palace, where he was executive chef for seven and a half years” (emerils.com/restaurants/neworleans_nola).

And, as was the case for most New Orleans restaurateurs, Emeril’s restaurants were affected by the post-Katrina flooding. “Lagasse's troubles started when Hurricane Katrina hit…flooding 80 percent of the city and forcing a complete evacuation of residents. The storm damaged his three restaurants—Emeril's, NOLA and Delmonico's.... And even though Emeril's was reopened in early October 2005, and NOLA a few weeks later, Delmonico's was closed for over a year because of damage to the building” (blog.al.com).

Chuck decided to begin his meal with a bowl of that day’s gumbo—turkey and andouille, which was made with a not quite dark chocolate roux, large chunks of white turkey, and discs of andouille sausage. It tasted of hints of bay leaf and thyme and had just a slight heat from red pepper. It was from watching Emeril that I first heard about “layers of flavor.” Emeril maintains, for example, that a small amount of salt be added at each stage of the cooking process to achieve the maximum flavor of a dish. This gumbo was the perfect example. I kept sneaking my spoon across the table and Chuck finally pushed the bowl in my direction. Only one problem. I had to give it back.

He then decided to order the beef brisket.

“That’s a surprise,” I told him. “I was sure you would order the chicken.”

“Where’s that?” he asked.

“Second item from the top,” was my response. Somehow he missed this, but the buttermilk fried breast of chicken with bourbon mashed sweet potatoes, country ham cream gravy and sautéed sugar snap peas became his choice.

His plate contained two large pieces of boneless white chicken with a superbly light and crisp seasoned coating under which was the moistest chicken imaginable. I can only describe it as succulent. The mashed sweet potatoes had a hint of the smoky, oaky flavor of bourbon. And both the chicken and potatoes sat in a pool of cream gravy that was flecked with bits of ham. And all of this came with crisp cooked sugar snap peas.

My selection was the least “Southern” item on the menu—the seared rare yellow fin tuna (similar to and closely related to ahi tuna) with avocado, wonton crisps, cucumber, wasabi aioli and ponzu (a Japanese sauce with a sweet, sour, slightly salty flavor) vinaigrette. I have had quite a few meals of rare ahi, but nothing to date compares to this. Atop each fried wonton sat a slice of avocado and then a slice of beautifully rare yellow fin. The texture of the buttery fish and avocado were balanced by the crisp wonton. Add a dollop of wasabi aioli and a drizzle of the ponzu vinaigrette, and you have dining perfection. And the crisp cucumber “spaghetti” added to this textural balance.

And, of course, we had to have dessert—apple crostata with brown butter filling, cardamom ice cream, and candied orange zest. Now, as I have said before, I can’t eat oranges so asked our server John if the orange zest was just a garnish or an integral part of the dish. He very helpfully asked the kitchen and determined that, if we held the garnish, no orange was used in the construction of the crostata.

This matched the excellence of meal that preceded it. The pastry was flaky and buttery. The apples still had a bit of crispness. And the cardamom ice cream provided a slightly spicy taste to offset the sweet apples. The taste of cardamom is described at cardamomspice.com as a “complex flavor that can be described as slightly sweet, floral, and spicy with citric elements. It leaves the tongue with a warm antiseptic sensation similar to eucalyptus with an additional peppery after taste. Some have described its flavor as spicy and cola-like.”

A quick note about the service. It was attentive without being intrusive. Suddenly you would notice that your water glass had been refilled. And you never noticed the server.

And where is Kitty Humbug, you may be asking. Even I know better than to drag out a stuffed cat toy at an upscale restaurant like NOLA.

What a way to exit New Orleans than with a fine 5.0 Addie meal.

Exit New Orleans!!! The bon temps have just started to rouler!!! So many neighborhoods yet unvisited. So many meals yet uneaten. So much music yet unheard. What to do. Tear up the spring schedule, that’s what. We are still headed to Layafette until early March for Mardi Gras. Then, instead of working our way east to Florida (And who wants to go to Florida and hang out with a bunch of old people? And yes, I know I’m one of them.), we are coming back to New Orleans for another two months. We will be here for the French Quarter Festival and the two weekends of Jazz Fest. And we have just learned that Bruce Springsteen has been added to close the first weekend of Jazz Fest. His last appearance at this festival was the spring following Katrina where he brought the audience to tears by ending his performance by singing My City of Ruins which he wrote in 2000 as a tribute to his hometown of Asbury, NJ.

So the next time we write (that will be tomorrow) we’ll be in Lafayette, LA—another city where the bon temps rouler.

To review the role of Adler, Kitty Humbug, and the Addie rating system, read the November 14, 2011 blog.

I-310, The Vieux Carré Riverfront Expressway

The year was 1946.

Newspapers may have carried an article about the city planners of New Orleans consulting with Robert Moses, the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York.

Although he was the shaper of a modern city, he was also one of the most polarizing figures in the history of urban planning in the United States. And in the 1940s and early 1950s, city planners in many smaller American cities hired Moses to design freeway networks for them.

His idea for New Orleans? An elevated freeway along the riverfront as part of an arterial plan for New Orleans.

"The preservationists had been fighting for years to protect the character of the Vieux Carré. They believed that the proposed Moses expressway was an alien twentieth-century intrusion that would irreparably harm the fragile beauty of the old city.

"Supporters of the expressway believed that, on the contrary, the expressway would help preserve the Vieux Carré by taking traffic off the narrow streets of the French Quarter. Baumbach and Borah* commented: 'Thus, the Second Battle of New Orleans became more than just a conflict between environmentalists and downtown developers over a freeway; it was a clash of values, a clash in attitudes, a difference in priorities and perspectives about the character and personality of the city'" (fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/neworleans.cfm).

Over the next couple of decades, the debate continued. Early applications for designation as a National Historic Landmark were voted down by the City Council.

A tunnel, an elevated expressway, and a six-lane surface expressway were also proposed.

"On July 9, 1969, Transportation Secretary John Volpe made it official. A press release explained why he canceled the Vieux Carré Expressway:

'Secretary Volpe said a depressed route alternative is not acceptable either because of its disruptive effects, excessive costs and construction hazards which might cause damage to the levee protecting the entire city.... "A careful review of the highway proposal and the positions of various interests," Volpe said, "convinced me that the public benefits from the proposed highway would not be enough to warrant damaging the treasured French Quarter. The Riverfront Expressway would have separated the French Quarter from its Mississippi River levee and water-front"'" (fhwa. dot.gov/ infrastruc ture/ neworleans. cfm).

Could you imagine New Orleans without an intact French Quarter? We much prefer the barricaded streets for use by street performers and pedestrians, the parked delivery trucks the make even one-lane traffic difficult, and the vehicles that park so near an intersection that turns are not possible to the congestion "relief" that I-310 was reportedly going to provide, and the views of weathered doors and balcony ironwork that would either be missing or obstructed due to the presence of an elevated highway.

Can you imagine a tunnel in the Quarter? Well, actually the tunnel was started in the early 60s and is only used for valet parking for Harrah's Casino. But, nonetheless, can you imagine a tunnel?

We are very grateful that "progress" has passed the Quarter by.




*Richard O. Baumbach, Jr., and William E. Borah, The Second Battle of New Orleans: A History of the Vieux Carré Riverfront-Expressway Controversy (The University of Alabama Press, 1981).