We drove to New Orleans to spend a few days soaking up the Mardi Gras atmosphere. We stayed in the St. Bernard Park, about 15 miles southeast of the French Quarter, because it was more affordable than the $199 a night that the French Quarter RV Park was charging. When we drove into New Orleans we paid $20 to park downtown because it started to rain a little. Then we eagerly walked around the corner to Johnny’s Po’Boy for a muffaletta, but alas, they were closed for the day! Oh, well, if you can’t find good food in New Orleans, not only are you not trying, you are specifically trying to avoid it. We would never to that, so we continued walking and found ourselves at the Cafe Maspero. It was good the last time we were here, so we went in and got the Seafood Combo. The Combo includes fish, calamari, shrimp and oysters and fries. This isn’t fine dining, it’s just fresh seafood, battered and deep-fried, and entirely enjoyable. (Side note: it’s funny how fish is the only food that you don’t want to taste like itself. Beef should taste like beef and pork should taste like pork, but nobody wants fish to taste fishy.) Anyway, as usual I ate some of everything except the oysters. As usual, Randy suggested I try the oysters. Unusually, I did. And it was amazing! I wouldn’t say it was my new favorite food, it was more like I could suddenly really taste it. It tasted like the sea, somehow - complex and very interesting.
Well, that was different, but I didn’t dwell on it because there were Beignets to be enjoyed. So we walked (in the rain) to Cafe du Monde. As usual, Cafe du Monde was very busy. I'm not sure if they just got the right location or if they had special publicity or what their secret is, but they have have been in business long enough to become part of the city's culture, and now, as long as they don’t change their recipes, they cannot lose. I love beignets, in spite of the fact that I always inhale powered sugar with the first bite. Later we walked down Bourbon street, where most of the street signs are missing, probably gone for souvenirs. Besides the usual bar noise, there wasn’t much going on. The city seemed to be taking a breath between Superbowl Sunday and Fat Tuesday.
The next day we went to Metairie for lunch, following a tip from Cousin Teresa. It was a great tip; Randy got a combination shrimp plate and I got a combination crab plate.
And here’s how lunch went:
I asked Randy if he thought the cole slaw was good. Randy suggested I try it. Since I had been pleasantly surprised by the oyster at Cafe Maspero, I tried this - and it tasted pretty good.
I asked Randy if he thought lemon would be good on my crab cakes. Randy suggested I try it. Since I had been pleasantly surprised by the oyster at Cafe Maspero, I tried this - and it tasted pretty good.
I asked Randy if his grilled yellow squash was good. Randy suggested I try it. Since I had been pleasantly surprised by the oyster at Cafe Maspero, I tried this - and it was tasted pretty good.
How good? At the end of the meal the only thing left on my plate was the french fries. That had never happened before!
So that oyster at Cafe Maspero - and it was just a pretty good oyster, not the best in the world - somehow alerted my taste buds to what food can be. I can't wait to see what else is out there!
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