Big Blue Huddle

Quote from: Jolly Blue Giant on November 07, 2024, 02:25:56 PMMy first time in New Orleans, I was determined to try crayfish (crawdads). I went out on the patio to watch ships go by and the waitress brought me a huge bowl of them...I mean, like the size of a salad bowl for the whole family. So I quickly learned that you snap off the tail, peel and eat, and discard the rest of the crayfish body. As a pile of them became a heap on the table, a kind gentleman came over and said, "you know, they gave you two bowls, one for the crayfish and one for the discards"...lol. I hadn't realized there were two bowls stacked within each other

I also got to meet Paul Prudhomme (may he RIP) at his famed, K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen. My blackened steak and red fish was phenomenal, and I told him so. Melt in your mouth with a little kick and that hint of creole

Great food in the good ole U.S.A. that is unique from any other place in the country

Yup, once you've had it there isn't anywhere else that has anything quite like it.

My favorite is chicken gumbo and I make it in the winter the way my dad used to make chili on those cold days in NJ where I grew up. There is an interesting take on spicy chicken and dumplings and I haven't figured out if it is Cajun or Mexican influence. I just know I can't get enough of it.

Mobile, AL has some dishes of their own too. I had an amazing fried Catfish and fried Green Tomato po-boy with remoulade sauce in a family run absolute dive of a restaurant north of the city. Delicious and a perfect fit for the area. I don't know if that was truly Mobile cuisine or not, but I never forgot it. Never had anything like it since either. I've tried to replicate it at home but it isn't the same.   

Mobile is an interesting place. I was driving along the coast of Mississippi about three years ago when the shore was lit up like the Ginza Strip in Tokyo. It was Mobile. The massive structures all lit up like NYC skyscrapers were for ships I guess. I don't know who in Alabama negotiated their southern border a few hundred years ago, but Florida really got the best of them by taking a few hundred miles of shoreline, leaving a few mile stretch to Alabama...which became Mobile. Anyway, thinking (typing) out loud.....

For those who don't know the Ginza Strip, it's breathtaking

Quote from: bamagiantfan on November 06, 2024, 07:59:03 PMWhile I like Italian and Indian foods, I have come to love the southern wetlands coastal American food. I am partial to the French Cajun foods and Native American/African Creole dishes in Mississippi and Louisiana like boudin, gumbos, jambalaya, smoked ham, red beans and rice, shrimp creole, andouille sausage, etouffees, beignets, cornbread, and the like. However I also love the low country dishes from South Carolina and north Georgia like shrimp and grits, chicken bog, fried green tomatoes, hush puppies, duck, she-crab soup, of the old stand by - fried chicken.  A little peach cobbler, pralines, bread pudding, or pecan pie to finish it off is a must. The unusual wetlands "sea foods" as well like oysters, crawfish, catfish, and alligator are also hard to find fresh outside the Southeast.

I didn't include southern Cajun and Creole dishes as they didn't fall into the "international" category.

But... it's easily in my top 3.

Quote from: T200 on November 10, 2024, 07:14:09 PMI didn't include southern Cajun and Creole dishes as they didn't fall into the "international" category.

Yes, I cheated, but I am not as well traveled as others.

Quote from: bamagiantfan on November 12, 2024, 09:21:34 PMYes, I cheated, but I am not as well traveled as others.

I'm glad you did! Gonna make some gumbo this weekend!