KERALA. Spice Journey PLUS KEY WEST BALTIMORE MADISON CZECH REPUBLIC AUSTRALIA WELLINGTON. Expand your culinary horizons

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1 Expand your culinary horizons DISCOVERING CALABRIA SOUTHERN TABLES WASHINGTON DC ON THE BEAT NEW ORLEANS REDISCOVERING VIETNAM DAY OF THE DEAD MAZATLÁN PLUS KEY WEST BALTIMORE MADISON CZECH REPUBLIC AUSTRALIA WELLINGTON Spice Journey KERALA ISSUE 15 Autumn 2014 CAD/US $6.95 FOR PEOPLE WHO LOVE TO read, LOVE TO eat AND LOVE TO travel

2 THIS PHOTO Street musicians. NEW ORLEANS The Beat Goes On byjacqueline SWARTZ 20 TASTE& TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER DECEMBER 2014

3 INFROGMATION OF NEW ORLEANS New Orleans DESTINATIONS WHERE ON EARTH NEW ORLEANS wouldn t be New Orleans without its music, but food is just as intrinsic to the culture of this place that is such a rich mélange of uninhibited pleasures and periodic tragedy. It makes perfect sense that in the TV show, Treme, one of the main characters is a chef and that Anthony Bourdain wrote many of the scenes that take place in the kitchen. OCTOBER DECEMBER 2014 TASTE& TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL 21

THIS PHOTO Café du Monde. You can t appreciate New Orleans without tasting its specialties gumbo and jambalaya, étouffé and beignets, rice and beans, shrimp and grits.

4 THIS PHOTO Café du Monde. You can t appreciate New Orleans without tasting its specialties gumbo and jambalaya, étouffé and beignets, rice and beans, shrimp and grits. These aren t tourist clichés, but popular staples that rely on local seafood, sausage and vegetables like tomato and okra. Add to that the flourishing cocktail culture that was born here. Sazarac, made with brandy or rye whiskey and locally made bitters, with a rinse of absinthe or Herbsaint, is still a signature drink in New Orleans. In fact, in 2008 it was made the official cocktail of Louisiana by the House of Representatives. I started my culinary journey by going to the famous Café du Monde on the edge of the Jackson Square, the French Quarter s large grassy square and site of many spectacles. It s named after Andrew Jackson but the most prominent statue is that of Jeanne d Arc on her horse. New Orleans French history is evident at every turn in the Fleur de Lys, which has become the symbol of post-katrina renewal, the street names and many last names. Café du Monde might be a must-see place, but tourists outnumbered locals. And I preferred beignets (squares of fried dough dusted with powdered sugar) in the intimate and inviting Café Beignet, where the treats were pillow light. The coffee (made with chicory) was distinctively fine, and in the outdoor patio, where musicians sometimes play, you can see the sun filtering through the wrought iron latticework. Another casual specialty is muffaletta, a hearty sandwich of round Italian bread filled with mortadella, Genoa salami, sliced provolone and mozzarella. The mouthwatering standout here is the olive salad, made with olives, onions, capers, lemon juice and anchovies. The mecca of muffaletta is Central Grocery, on Decateur Street off Jackson Square. The original owner Salvatore Lupo founded the place in 1906, and today it remains in the family and still looks like a traditional Italian American grocery store. The low-rise French Quarter, where most tourists stay, gets its visual character from its stucco buildings, wrought iron balconies and courtyards. It s called Le Vieux Carré and is the oldest part of the city. Fortunately it s built on relatively high ground, so for the most part it escaped the Katrina flooding, although some buildings had water damage. The most chic street in the French Quarter is Rue Royale, with its galleries, cafés and boutiques, all one of a kind. Some sell only masks (Mardi Gras is ever-present). On one corner a sign announces Roux Royale, a delightful cookware and cookbook store. In the window is a huge book of Louisiana Cooking called Whose Your Mama: Are You Catholic and Can You Make a Roux? by Marcelle Bienvenue. The title refers to the fact the original settlers of Louisiana, the Creoles (the word meant original colonists in the new world), were from Catholic countries, mostly France and Spain. Later the word Creole came to suggest mixed race. As for the roux, a mixture of equal parts fat (ranging from butter to bacon drippings) and flour, it s the basis for much of Creole cooking, along with the so-called trinity onions, celery and green pepper. Start with a roux, is the common first step in many Louisiana recipes. Combined with seafood and okra, or chicken and sausage, and thinned with stock, it s a gumbo. The word means okra in a Bantu language spoken by many of the West African slaves brought to New Orleans. Jambalaya, a kind of paella, is often thought to come from 22 TASTE& TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER DECEMBER 2014

5 it Cook DESTINATIONS the French or Spanish word for ham (jambon in French). But no one is sure. By now the influences French, African, Spanish, Cajun have been mixed together successfully to form a cuisine of their own. Étouffé, French for smothered, is another roux-based traditional dish. Make a rich gravy thickened with a dark roux, drop in some crawfish and it looks like you smothered them, notes Michael de Vidts, a chef who has taught for 22 years at the New Orleans School of Cooking. I sampled a crawfish étouffé at the famed Acme Grill. It was lunchtime and there was a line down the block, but this bustling, pub-like French Quarter eatery, with its expert veteran staff, didn t waste a second. The place is famous for its oysters local, of course and in addition to the raw ones, I had their famous charcoal-grilled oysters with butter and parmesan. They re an update of Oysters Rockefeller, which were created at the legendary Antoine s restaurant in l899. Another aristocratic French Quarter restaurant is Arnaud s, founded in It s known for its shrimp remoulade, with a mustardy sauce that remains a secret. Once again I noticed that shrimp in New Orleans has a sweet freshness to it, enhanced, in this case, by the soft sounds of a jazz combo. Until a few decades ago, upscale New Orleans restaurants served mainly French classic cuisine with plentiful butter and cream, notes Michael devidts. Then came the Cajun invasion. Foodwise, this took a few hundred years to accomplish. The Acadians came to Louisiana in 1776, fleeing persecution in Canada. But they settled in the western part of the state, not New Orleans. For the most part, the Cajuns kept to themselves and had little contact with what was known as the Creole world, says de Vidts. The Cajuns were poor, and so was their land, although it was ideal for growing rice. They tended to make one-pot dishes like crawfish stew. And they had culinary contact with German immigrants, who brought their sausagemaking skills to the New World. Remarks de Vidts, You take the sausage concept and fill it with what you have a lot of rice to stretch what you have little of meat and pork, and you have boudin blanc. In the l970 s, notes de Vidts, Ella Brennan of the legendary Commander s Palace restaurant (even then almost a century old), brought a Cajun chef named Paul Prudhomme to New Orleans to add his rustic influence to her menu. Later he opened his own restaurant, K-Paul s Louisiana Kitchen, and culinary history was made. NEW ORLEANS SCHOOL OF COOKING SERVES CHICKEN AND ANDOUILLE GUMBO Chicken 1, cut up or de-boned Andouille Sausage 1 ½ lbs Oil, Lard or Bacon Drippings for frying Vegetable Oil 1 cup Flour 1 cup Onions chopped, 4 cups Celery chopped, 2 cups Green Pepper chopped, 2 cups Garlic chopped, 1 Tbs Stock or Flavoured Water 8 cups Green Onions chopped, 2 cups Cooked Rice or French Bread for serving Joe s Stuff Seasoning 1 to taste Filé Powder 2 to taste 1 *Or other Cajun seasoning blend. 1 SEASON the chicken and brown it in oil, lard, or bacon drippings over medium heat. Add the sausage to the pot and sauté with the chicken. Remove both from the pot. 2 CLEAN the pot (it must be free of food particles to avoid burning) and make a roux with the vegetable oil and flour, cooking until it is brown. Add the onions, celery, and green pepper. Add the garlic to the mixture and stir continuously until the vegetables are tender. 3 RETURN the chicken and sausage to pot and, continuing to stir frequently, gradually add the liquid and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for an hour or more. Season the gumbo to your taste with Joe s Stuff Seasoning. 4 APPROXIMATELY 10 minutes before serving, add the green onions. Serve gumbo over rice or accompanied by French bread. 2 Filé Powder is a fine green powder of young dried ground sassafras leaves, used in gumbo for flavour and thickening. It may be placed on the table for individuals to add to their gumbo if they wish. ¼ to ½ tsp per serving is recommended. Recipe courtesy of the New Orleans School of Cooking. OCTOBER DECEMBER 2014 TASTE& TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL 23

KIMBERLY VARDEMAN RON CALAMIA DOUG ANDERSON Prudhomme used andouille, a sausage that is smoked (unlike the one in France by the same name). He blackened redfish, then known as a garbage fish.

I had a peak dining experience at Commander s Palace, a multi-room, blue-trimmed Victorian building in the romantic Garden District, a dreamy area of white-columned mansions and oak trees dripping

And the Food Network featured the restaurant in a challenge: cook the signature dishes of famous alumnae, including Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse.

6 KIMBERLY VARDEMAN RON CALAMIA DOUG ANDERSON Prudhomme used andouille, a sausage that is smoked (unlike the one in France by the same name). He blackened redfish, then known as a garbage fish. And today, all over town you can find stores selling his hot (and other) sauces. I had a peak dining experience at Commander s Palace, a multi-room, blue-trimmed Victorian building in the romantic Garden District, a dreamy area of white-columned mansions and oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. The chef, Tory McPhail, won the 2013 James Beard Award for best chef in the South. And the Food Network featured the restaurant in a challenge: cook the signature dishes of famous alumnae, including Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse. Prudhomme brought Cajun food to New Orleans and Lagasse popularized it, notes Michael de Vidts. Amidst the witty opulence chandeliers of wood and crystal, grey and white wallpaper, service that seemed choreographed my companions and I had some of the dishes made in the contest. We feasted on Jamie Shannon s Wild Louisiana White Shrimp, with tasso, pickled okra, sweet onions, five-pepper jelly and Crystal hot sauce beurre blanc. Chef Tory McPhail s Crispy Soft Shell Crab is a warm salad of lump blue crab with tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, roasted corn and grilled shallots. Chef Prudhomme s Black Skillet Seared Fish came with asparagus, melted leeks, Louisiana soy beans, roasted corn, shaved fennel and coconut-corn soubise with habanero-chile butter. This is traditional New Orleans food kicked up many notches, not just with hot sauce but with skill and imagination. It came as no surprise last December when New Orleans magazine named Dominique s on Magazine Street Best Restaurant of Chef Dominique Macquet, who has worked on the RMS Queen Elizabeth and in the White House, has a stellar reputation for traditional French and also Vietnamese-influenced restaurants. This time, he is dancing with tradition. The airy, high-ceilinged minimalist restaurant punctuated by light projections on the wall, offers jazzy riffs on foods the locals know and love. Lobster salad is served with blanched celery root and shaved fennel, and is finished with kaffir lime oil and plated atop basil aioli. The herbs come from the outdoor patio, where vertical hydroponic pillars function as décor while yielding basil, rosemary, oregano and other herbs; potted kaffir lime trees 24 TASTE& TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER DECEMBER 2014

CHRIS WAITS PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: The distinctive fretwork and plants of the French Quarter; Cajun man cooking crawfish; French Market;

His own cuisine he describes as contemporary French with Louisiana influences.

On the plate is green mango relish and a saffron rice laced with herbs from the garden.

After a successful stint in Houston he returned to New Orleans, opened a restaurant and, he says, within three months we outgrew it.

the music, no matter what. it Visit Café du Monde www.cafedumonde.com Café Beignet www.cafebeignet.

7 CHRIS WAITS PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: The distinctive fretwork and plants of the French Quarter; Cajun man cooking crawfish; French Market; Commander s Palace; Jamie Shannon s shrimp and tasso; Commander s Palace surf & turf; Eating a beignet at Café du Monde; Crawfish. and hot peppers also grow on site. A native of Mauritius, Chef Macquet is inspired by the island s tropical bounty and its multicultural influences French, Indian, Chinese. His own cuisine he describes as contemporary French with Louisiana influences. Sauteéd yellowtail snapper comes with a lime and scotch bonnet pepper mojo sauce, made by deglazing the pan with lime juice. On the plate is green mango relish and a saffron rice laced with herbs from the garden. Macquet left the city when his restaurant was flooded during Katrina. After a successful stint in Houston he returned to New Orleans, opened a restaurant and, he says, within three months we outgrew it. This Dominique s, opened in March 2013, is attracting locals and is a symbol of the city s joie de vivre and culinary skill, which will continue, like the music, no matter what. it Visit Café du Monde Café Beignet Roux Royale 600 Royal St, New Orleans Acme Oyster House Arnaud s Commander s Palace K-Paul s Louisiana Kitchen Dominique s on Magazine New Orleans School of Cooking JACQUELINE SWARTZ currently based in Toronto, has observed elephants in Africa, written political stories from Greece and a series on philosophy in France. Her travel stories appear in major Canadian publications and she has written for Condé Nast Traveler, Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire. OCTOBER DECEMBER 2014 TASTE& TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL 25

Starters BBQ SHRIMP Large all natural Gulf shrimp sautéed in butter, beer & spices. Served with French bread for

Starters BBQ SHRIMP Large all natural Gulf shrimp sautéed in butter, beer & spices. Served with French bread for dipping. 14.95 CRAWFISH or OYSTER REMOULADE Served over lettuce, tomatoes, pickles & topped