Beignets and Muffuletta! Nawlins culinary duo reaching gastromic crescendos!
November 14th, 2006 . by Mike KellyWhile attending the National Association of Realtors national convention I of course visited many a fine eating establishment! One of the great traditions of Nawlins is The Café du Monde, world famous for their beignets. This is a deep-fried (where in the South! Everything is deep fried) type of donut. It comes to your table covered in mounds of powdered sugar and still hot. A glazing forms and the taste is heaven if you like your patries not on the light and airy side! And don’t sneeze while eating one pr you’ll set in place a powdered sugar blizzard of epic proportions. And speaking of epic proportions–just down the street you can indulge in a surely unique “only in Nawlins” culinary classic: The vaunted and daunting sandwich called the “Muffuletta”, so leave room as you leave the Café du Monde as it is a short waddle of just a half block to 923 Decatur Street.
Central Grocery is where you’ll find this great New Orleans’sandwiche. Sure, you can find Muffulettas around town but Central Market seems to have it down cold. They are made and “stacked” in white butcher paper where the unique blend of relish and cold cuts create a rather heady aroma only available in old style Italian delis. The sandwich consists of a large, circular loaf of soft Italian bread. They then slice it horizontally and proceed to pile high with salami, Mortedello, ham, and provolone, which are in turn topped with a great, spicy mélange of chopped green and black olives fragrant with anchovies and garlic. This lunch leviathan is then quartered and wrapped allowing the flavors to meld with the bread. I think the aging process, about a half an hour, is needed to produce a vintage Muffuletta. You can buy them to go or sit down on a stool and eat along the counters that have been installed at the back of the store. This ain’t dainty eating. No little finger raised on high! You grab a Barq’s Root Beer and sit in the funky atmosphere and partake.
To me it’s a toss-up over Mother’s custom made ham sandwich with “debris” or the Muffelatta. Then again an oyster po-boy is nice too! Top the whole experience by going back for desert at Cafe du Monde!!
Mike, as usual, it was a pleasure to see you and your lovely wife Louann again in New Orleans (for those who don’t know, we all met in Paris, France earlier this year). Great Article and yes the food was absolutely fabulous! Here are a few of my thoughts about the New Orleans experience.
A few thoughts on my recent trip to New Orleans & the Mississippi Gulf Coast:
During my recent trip to Gulfport Mississippi, while attending the annual Conference of the National Association of Realtors, I truly realized the devastation hurricane Katrina caused. Seeing pictures and listening to reports presented by the media is far different from actually talking with residents who in detail shared their experiences. When viewing images on television or reading stories in the paper one is still removed and even though very real, media reports don’t begin to portray the hardships and long lasting effects still endured by the local residents and businesses long after the storm has passed. During my last day, a French Realtor (and good friend) and I rented a car and drove to the Mississippi gulf coast where we saw entire neighborhoods gone, wiped out. The only thing left were foundations with plumping pipes sticking out of the ground and on many properties small FEMA trailers had replaced homes. For sale signs everywhere. I think one of the images that will always stay with me was a (what appeared to be a fishing) boat thrown in the middle of the woods and homeowners still picking up and removing debris from and around the properties.
Words, cannot possibly describe the feeling you get when driving through the area, a truly humbling experience. After seeing quite a bit of the area, we finally stopped in a small Chinese restaurant along side railroad tracks in Long Beach, MS where we learned from natives that most residents in this area lost everything and that many of them elderly, were now forced to start all over which wasn’t easy because finding work locally was nearly impossible since most business were also completely destroyed and business owners just couldn’t and or didn’t want to rebuild. Those who still had jobs were told that they would be unemployed within a few months for businesses still operational were also re-locating to other areas. And still they were hopeful and positive.
In New Orleans, cab drivers, hospitality workers, service personnel and business owners all seemed to be hopeful and in surprisingly good spirits as well. While staying in a small, privately owned hotel in the French Quarter, I spoke to one of the desk clerks who shared her experience of trying to survive for three days while trapped on the 2nd story of her home with nothing to eat but two sticks of chewing gum she happened to have in her pocket. She said that the water rose so quickly once the 17th canal levee broke that she didn’t even have time to retrieve food from the refrigerator, located on the 1st floor. “The water was ankle high” then “knee deep within no time” and she went on to say that while attempting to make her way to the kitchen she realized that she was now hip-deep in water and knowing that she couldn’t swim decided to turn around in the dark and make her way up the stairs, furniture and personal belongings floating around her. Scared and hungry she stuck it out on the 2nd story by putting water from the bathtub on her skin, which she described as “being on fire”. Three days later she was finally rescued by her brother, a New Orleans Police Officer, who eventually made his way to her completely flooded home. Another story shared was that of a cab driver from Eritrea who had moved to the area to be with her elderly sick father who unfortunately didn’t survive the storm. Many of the residents have returned and are rebuilding their lives slowly day-by-day. Another cab driver shared his experience, explaining that he was thankful for the FEMA trailer, parked on his property even though it leaked right above his bed for he at least had a place to live while slowly but surely rebuilding his home and life. “I work on my home daily, little by little, and drive a cab for 8-16 hours daily to make ends meet”. The 60 year old wasn’t complaining, he just wanted to share and as many others I encountered was very accommodating and thanked me and all the other Realtors for having the convention in their city.
New Orleans is rebuilding and still has or has once again, many fine restaurants and many attractions that are worthwhile seeing. People are friendly, laid back and eager to please.
I also cherished the time spent with friends, foreign and domestic, business associates and the opportunity to make new contacts and further my knowledge by learning about others, their cultures and countries. I have always realized that a positive attitude & spirit and the nurturing and deepening of existing friendships, personal as well as business relationships are of the up-most importance and this trip has most certainly confirmed this again. In life and business we succeed with the help of others through understanding and respecting each other’s ideas, sharing and supporting each other’s business models and differences not by being afraid of competition. I am thankful for my family, friends and business associates who have a positive effect on my life daily and I am thankful that I have never had to go through what the residents of the devastated areas have experienced. I wish everyone a safe and bountiful Thanksgiving, a happy Holiday Season & prosperous New Year.
Gundula H. Coleman Bradenton, Florida
CIPS, TRC