Travel Bites Culinary delights of New Orleans

BY: ANDREW MARSHALL

A proud heritage of jazz and blues music, an undercurrent of voodoo magic, and the thrilling Mardi Gras carnival - these are just some of the reasons why New Orleans is one of the world’s most fascinating and colorful cities. But what really makes this place tick is its vibrant food and drink culture - and its non-stop celebration of eating. In fact, it has often been said that any stay here is best measured in meals instead of days.

"Last one through the door is the pot washer" jokes chef Michael DeVidts as I join an eager group at the New Orleans School of Cooking (524 St. Louis Street) for my initiation into the city's cuisine. Michael has been teaching cooking at the school since the 1990s and is a powerhouse of culinary information. He reminds me of comedian Steve Martin, as he speaks at a million miles an hour blending humorous anecdotes of New Orleans life with the origins of Creole and Cajun cooking.

The three-hour demonstration features everyday Creole cooking, and the experience is rather like being part of a television audience at a cooking show. Best of all, you get to eat what has been made with the cost working out at not much more than an equivalent lunch in the city.

The menu consists of corn and crab bisque, shrimp Creole, bread pudding with a whisky sauce and pralines (the most popular of Creole confectionery-native pecans coated in sugar) served with the local brew: a Dixie beer. On other days it's gumbo, the region's signature dish (traditionally an African soup thickened with okra and containing seafood or chicken) and jambalaya (a one-dish meal of rice cooked with onions, peppers, celery, ham, and sausage)

Creole cooking reflects the diversity of Creole culture, combining elements from around the world. In the 1700s French settlers founded this important port city near the mouth of the mighty Mississippi River. When they first arrived, they encountered Native American peoples successfully living off the land, and it was they who introduced the Europeans to the abundant larder on their doorstep, featuring such tempting items as crawfish, crabs, oysters, turtle, wild game, squash, berries, and maize.

This infusion of new ingredients combined with the settlers’ own cuisine gave birth to Creole food. Influences followed from Spain, Italy, Africa, the Far East, and the English countryside, to create one of the USA's most distinctive regional cuisines. There is often some confusion about Creole and Cajun food, but their origins are quite similar. Put very simply, Creole food is urban cooking and Cajun food is rural cooking. If it comes from the swamp with things like crawfish, frog legs, alligator meat etc., then it is probably Cajun food. Cajun food is also generally hotter and spicier with the use of cayenne and other peppers.

"We do the Cardiologists Convention every year," jokes Michael, dropping a huge slab of calorie-laden butter into a bowl to start the bread pudding. “Dessert is one of the most important parts of any meal and I encourage everyone to look at the dessert menu first when in a new restaurant so you can allow room for it," he says, putting on a pair of rubber gloves and enthusiastically turning the mixture.

After enjoying a sumptuous meal with a lively and sociable group, I leave the New Orleans School of Cooking to explore the famous French Quarter - an extensive district of historic architecture unrivaled in America. The weather is typically hot and sultry as I stroll the narrow streets and passageways, stopping now and again to watch street musicians and performers and to admire the distinctive overhanging balconies decorated with lacy iron railings.

Later in the afternoon, friend Miles Wright takes me to his favorite eating spot, Johnny's Po-Boys (511 St Louis Street) established in 1950. Everybody in New Orleans it seems has a favorite spot to eat. The po' boy, so named since the Depression when you could have a large oyster po' boy for a quarter, is basically a sandwich containing catfish, oysters, fried shrimp or even alligator. Behind the counter, four women are busy crafting the dish, piling hot crispy fried shrimp, shredded lettuce, and mayonnaise onto crusty French bread. Po' boys are the perfect gap-filler to keep you well fueled for further exploration of the city.

Another popular big easy eatery worth a visit is the Central Grocery & Deli (923 Decatur Street) where the muffuletta (a gigantic sandwich that's easily a meal for two) was invented in 1906. As I enter the store with its wooden shelves bulging with pasta sauces, jars of olives, imported pasta and olive oil, the aroma of cured pork and aged cheeses fill the air. The place is like a time capsule, unchanged over the years. “We’ve always made our muffuletta’s with meats sliced in house, locally baked handmade bread, and our family’s Italian Olive Salad”, says Tommy Tusa who along with Frank Tusa currently owns and operates the store which has remained in the same family for three generations.

No trip to New Orleans is complete without a visit to a local oyster bar for a 'dozen raw and a beer'. It's early evening and I head down the legendary Bourbon Street, with its bright lights, jazz bars and perpetual party atmosphere towards the Acme Oyster House (724 Iberville Street) - one of the city’s great eating institutions.

When I arrive the place is crammed with tourist and locals, so I order a dozen oysters and a Dixie Blackened Voodoo lager, and settle down to watch the scene unfold. Behind the main bar the 'shuckers' (oyster openers) are hard at work. The guy immediately in front of me splits open a rough oyster with a clean and well-practiced stroke of his blunt-bladed knife and cuts the tough muscle from the shell. Within moments a full dozen of the plump rocky mollusks are placed in front of me ready for a squeeze of lemon.

You can discover much about a place by experiencing its market, and New Orleans is no exception. The Crescent City Farmers Market operates weekly yearround in different New Orleans neighborhoods where you can rub shoulders with locals, get a chance to see the regional produce before it hits the kitchen, and shop for Cajun spices, sauces, and accompaniments.

3 of the best Creole restaurants

Antoine's (713 St Louis Street)

Antoine's is New Orleans’s oldest restaurant run continuously by the same family. Dishes like Oysters Rockefeller and Pompano en Papilotte (fish in parchment) are some of the more legendary inventions to have come out of its traditional French Creole kitchen. www.antoines.com

Bourbon House (144 Bourbon Street)

Bourbon House features the fruits of the sea in a variety of dishes, including shrimp, raw oysters, lobster, as well as traditional Creole dishes. Some recipes belong to the chef and others are adopted from the fishermen he has sought out for particular seafood. www.bourbonhouse.com

Court of Two Sisters (613 Royal Street)

Creole sisters Emma and Bertha Camors opened a couple of shops on the site, including a coffee house, before the Court became a restaurant. Through the last century (the Camors both died in 1944), it became a legendary restaurant featuring traditional Creole cooking. www.courtoftwosisters.com

Things to do between meals.

1. Cruise the Mississippi River on a paddle steamer.

2. Convince yourself that voodoo is alive and well in New Orleans by visiting the Voodoo Spiritual Temple (1428 N Rampart Street).

3. Enjoy a streetcar ride (the 6.5-mile St. Charles Avenue ride), a great sightseeing adventure that rumbles through the heart of the Garden District, one of the most picturesque neighborhoods in America.

4. Stroll the historic French Quarter and don't forget to visit Bourbon Street at night.

5. Visit one of the 'Cities of the Dead' (cemeteries). One of the best is St Louis Cemetery No 1, within easy walking distance of the French Quarter. Alternatively take one of several cemetery tours.

6. Watch the buskers and jazz musicians near Jackson Square in the French Quarter.

7. Shop for Cajun spices and other foodstuffs at the historic French Market.

8. Check out the intricately arranged collection of voodoo artifacts at the Historic Voodoo Museum (724 Dumaine Street).

9. Spend a night at a jazz or blues club. The House of Blues, Preservation Hall, Arnaud's New Orleans, and The Spotted Cat Music Club are just a few of the many choices.

10. Catch one of New Orleans' key events of the year such as Mardi Gras or the Jazz and Heritage Festival.