Family Gras | Mardi Gras Food!
Carnival Season is in full swing with parades, festivals and good eats cropping up from Rio de Janeiro to New Orleans to London. And first on our list of festivals to visit is Mardi Gras in New Orleans, more importantly for us, Family Gras February 10 – 12, 2012. If you want to know more about Family Gras, read our Family Gras post from yesterday.
A Celebration of Carnival and Family
Mardi Gras good eats to try… Time for a Feast!
If you know anything about “Fat Tuesday”, the goal is to get all the good eats in your tummy before the 40-day fasting for Lent Season. Each culture and religious sect treats the food restrictions of Lent differently. And, of course, you should know the restrictions relative to your beliefs, if any. So let’s get onto the eats!
King Cake © by Josh Thompson
The most popular food item for Mardi Gras is the King’s Cake named after the Three Kings, in the Biblical sense. From the picture above, you can see the King cake looks absolutely scrumptious. In essence, it is a braided cake with colored icing carrying the traditional colors of Mardi Gras: purple, green and gold. Typically you will find the cake has been fried, filled with something delicious such as cream cheese or praline and a trinkiet is included inside the cake. A “trinket” you ask? Yes, usually there is a small trinket, often times a small baby representing Baby Jesus is inside the cake (at least this is customary within the US). The lucky person who receives the piece of cake with the trinket has certain obligations and privileges.
For instance, if you receive the trinket you are thereby declared King or Queen for the day… your privilege. Your obligation is to bring the next King Cake or host the next party during Mardi Gras… after all it is Carnival Season. What better excuse to keep the party going. If you want to add to your lunch hours at work during Mardi Gras time, then modify the obligation by having the person who finds the trinket bring the cake for the next party at lunch… the following day.
01 Jambalaya - Honeychiles
New Orleans is known for their cajun and creole food, so head over to the Flambeau Food Court to eat until your heart is content. While you may think of lots of drinks during Mardi Gras, do not forget to grab a bowl of Jambalaya (pictured above). Or how about some red beans and rice?
Mmm...red beans
Some other favs are Blackened Trout, Crawfish Pie, some Creole Fried Chicken that will make you want to smack yo Mama. Oh yeah! If you want to know how to make many of these recipes, head on over to Emerils.com to get a few delectable recipes. He even has a recipe for Brandy Milk Punch… one you gotta try for Mardi Gras.
Crawfish Pie © by Shoshanah
Of course, no Mardi Gras celebration would be complete without a bowl of yummy Gumbo, shrimp etouffee, and a few drinks to brighten your spirits.
Seafood Gumbo - Jacqueline
Now that my tummy is raving mad from all of this food talk, it’s time to sign off. But before we go, we would really love to know what are your favorite Mardi Gras eats? Leave us a comment below.
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@fergusonsarah Thanks for stopping by. Sorry for some reason your comment is not visible on the actual post. But thanks to Kitchen Daily and Emeril.com for the recipes.
Thanks for sharing this recipe..I want to try the soup..