Not too long ago, I was in New Orleans on a three-day work conference. Having never been to the Crescent City before, I decided to seek out many of the city’s culinary delights. But after I had tucked into a bucket of boiled shellfish, enjoyed a platter of jambalaya, étouffée, and maque choux, at Mother’s Restaurant (World’s Best Baked Ham), slurped down a fried oyster po’boy and munched on a muffuletta – I was acutely aware that the only kosher thing I had enjoyed during my brief stay was a bucket-sized plastic cup of beer.
So, what could be kosher in New Orleans a city famed for its Creole cooking – a cuisine dependent on many non-kosher foods? According to one kosher-keeping Tulane alumni, and a couple of rabbinical students, it is tough to keep kosher outside of one’s home in NOLA. Before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city there had been several vegetarian restaurants and the Creole Kosher Kitchen in the French Quarter – although to date none have reopened. Possibly the only kosher restaurant left in town is Casablanca and the Kosher Cajun Deli located in the suburb of Metarie. Café du Monde, the French market cafe famed for its beignets (fired dough doused in powdered sugar) and chicory coffee received its kashrut certification in time for Chanukah this past year. But are there any traditional New Orleans dishes that are kosher? One traditional dish NOLA revelers are treated to during the Mardi Gras season (Fat Tuesday can fall on any Tuesday between February 3 and March 9) is the King Cake. Twelfth Night Cake also known as King Cake is a braided yeast cake smothered in brightly colored royal gaze and sprinkles. A bean, coin or even a glass figurine is baked into the cake (this token represents Baby Jesus) and whoever finds the token in their slice of cake is crowned the “King” and is obligated to make the cake next year.
Mardi Gras is the celebration whereas Christians clean their kitchens of things that would be forbidden during the following 40 days of Lent – like a more debacherous Biur Chametz. This celebration manifests in various ways around the world – from the classy masked balls in Venice to the near-naked debauchery in Rio – New Orleans’s traditional Creole-influenced Mardi Gras celebrations involve weeks of parades kicked off with the Krewe du Jieux and the Krewe de Mishigas.
So, looking at recipes of King Cake, it sounds a lot like challah (except obviously for the Baby Jesus part) as challot are sometimes covered in sprinkles or baked with chocolate chips. I’m told there is a similar practice (at least in part) once a year when some Jews place or imprint their house key into the Schlissel challah.
But what else do people enjoy in the Big Easy? Anyone else know any other good kosher Creole dishes?
Cross-posted from the Jew and the Carrot
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