Help! Everything is Fried – New Orleans Dining

"New Orleans Cookery"

While Marnina and I were in New Orleans this past week, we came to the conclusion that the people in New Orleans know how to produce incredibly unique and tasty food.  And no, we did not come to this conclusion while in a drunken stupor on Bourbon Street. Their food is world-renowned for its distinctive qualities, which include Creole, Cajun, French, and other cuisines’ influences.  We had some memorable meals at even more memorable locations – beignets at Café du Monde, redfish croquettes at one of the top-rated seafood restaurants in the French Quarter…..and eggs, grits, and homemade biscuits that tasted like it came straight out of my grandmother’s kitchen (the owner even called me ‘sweetheart’). 

Down Home Southern Cooking

Love the Southern flair!

Marnina and I will be visiting the wild and wacky city of New Orleans later this month to tour Tulane University as part of our graduate school search.  We are always excited to visit new regions and cities that offer entirely different styles of cooking, different ingredients, and new combinations of food.  New Orleans is well-known for its food – it mostly combines elements of Creole and French cuisine, as well as some elements of African, Spanish, and Cuban traditions. While different cultures may share the same ingredients and cooking styles, multiculturalism can clearly give us something new.

Spicing Up Life: Tandoori Cauliflower

Before we enter into the world of spices, we want to give you a “SKEWER IBD” update. We have run about 45 miles so far and are less then $75 away from raising $4,000. We will be mailing a copy of The Foul Bowel to the winner of our blog giveaway, Allison Finn. Congratulations Allison!!  Our fundraising isn’t over yet though. We still need your help and donations to really “stick a fork” in IBD. Please consider donating today (click here).  We are currently the 3rd top fundraiser on our team! Thank you to those who have donated so far!!  Also, as you may or may not know, the Jewish holiday Purim (ready more about it here) begins tomorrow night. We will be rocking some pretty awesome I Be a fooDie costumes that you won’t want to miss. Stay tuned for pictures (and to see us make a fool of ourselves…)

Now, back to SPICES! We love spice. When we cook we often do not use measuring instruments to measure out spices.  Instead, we add spices almost by the handful to the point where the spice aroma lingers for hours afterward.  We used to just double the prescribed amount of spice in a recipe, but now we just go by instinct and smell.  I have been able to convince Marnina that spices can replace unhealthy ingredients, such as salt and sugar.  For example, I literally dump cinnamon into my cream of brown rice every morning because cinnamon has a sweet and warm taste that can replace sugar or any sugar derivative.  We mostly omit broth and seasoning mixes from our soups because of the high sodium content and replace them with extra spices.  Some of our favorite ground spices are curry, coriander, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, and cumin, all of which happen to be spices featured in Indian cuisine.  We have recently started using fresh ginger and garlic, and have noticed that the flavors provided by these fresh spices are more intense than the ground versions.