I'm assuming that you didn't take the day off from work to run half-naked through the streets of your neighborhood in celebration of Mardi Gras, which probably means you didn't start your day with Hurricanes and Brandy Milk Punches at 7 AM.

Starting the day with cafe au lait -- French for "coffee with milk" -- is a better option. It's not a latte. Cafe au lait is drip coffee with hot milk. After years and years of drinking coffee black -- no sugar, no cream, no love, baby -- I conceded to trying coffee with milk because I "had to" when I was at Cafe du Monde last month. I have to say, I have been drinking it this way at home for the last month since I've been back.

Oh, okay, so I'm using soy instead of regular milk.

The Super Bowl is Sunday, but not two days later, we jump right into Mardi Gras festivities. Since Mardi Gras is on a Tuesday and we know you're utterly responsible on "school nights," why not celebrate it a little early by serving classic New Orleans fare at your Super Bowl Party? Gumbo, jamablaya, and of course, the muffuletta.

The muffuletta is something new to me. I've heard about, read about, and seen this giant Sicilian stuffed sandwich, but only tried it for the very first time a few weeks ago when I was in New Orleans for the BCS Bowl. Though I am not normally a huge fan of sandwiches in general, I fell in love with the powerfully garlicky olive salad, one of the specific ingredients that makes the muffuletta a muffuletta.

The muffuletta's size makes it the perfect party sandwich, since you can make a few, then cut them into single-size servings for your guests. The basic ingredients are a round, somewhat flat seeded loaf of firm bread (for which the sandwich is named), salumi, cheese, and olive salad.

If you can't get your hands on muffuletta bread specifically, something like a focaccia is a good substitute. Slice the bread horizontally, rub the cut sides of the bread with oil from the olive salad, then pile on any of assorted salumi, provolone cheese, and of course, the olive salad, which you can either buy or make yourself. Press the sandwich together and you're good to go.

Of course, if you live in New Orleans, you can just pick some up from the place that invented the sandwich, Central Grocery (where I got and ate mine)!

Gumbo is a very thick soup, almost a stew, that can be attributed to the Creole kitchen (it has also been called "Cajun" but I'll let them experts fight that one out).

Gumbo likely began when French settlers in Louisiana made their native bouillabaisse, substituting ingredients that were available to them locally. As settlers from different countries arrived in Louisiana and added their influences, bouillabaisse gradually evolved into gumbo. The name "gumbo" is derived from the African word "quingombo," which refers to okra, one of the primary ingredients in a proper gumbo.

The base for gumbo is a dark roux made from a 1:1 ratio of flour and oil. The roux acts as a thickener. Okra is also added, and is what thickens the gumbo. However, when okra is not in season, cooks use only the dark roux. File powder or gumbo file, made from sassafras, was used at one time as a thickener as well, but is not as common today. If there is okra in the gumbo, however, it is absolute sacrilege to add file powder.

Once the roux has darkened, cooks add the Holy Trinity (chopped bell pepper, celery, and onion) and stock made from whatever ingredients will be in the final gumbo - chicken, sausage, or shellfish. The meats are added and the gumbo is simmered on the stove top until the meats are cooked through.

Though gumbo is sometimes considered a thick soup, some gumbo purists argue that it must be ladled over plain white rice.

I had my fill of gumbo at restaurants over the weekend, so I'll leave the home-cooking up to you:

• Gumbo z'Herbes (Gumbo made from all green vegetables)
• Gumbo File with Crab from Gourmet
• New Orleans Chef Leah Chase's Creole Gumbo
• Gumbo Ya Ya from Emeril Lagasse

If you’re not familiar with New Orleans food terms, Mardi Gras can be a confusing time because their cuisine is in the spotlight. We’ve covered King Cake and Jambalaya, but there are so many others. NewOrleansRestaurants.com has put together a list of the local lingo, complete with definitions of anything you might encounter when dining down in the Big Easy. The pronunciation guide is especially helpful to anyone who will be traveling through the area. Examples include:

• Beignet (ben yay') - Lighter than a doughnut, and square (no holes), sprinkled with powdered sugar
• Crawfish (craw' fish) - Fresh water shellfish, also known as "mudbugs" from the bayous!
• Muffuletta (Muf' a lotta) - And a lotta it is! Super-large, round, fat sandwich filled with salami-type meats, mozzarella cheese, pickles, and olive salad.
• Praline (Praw leen') Brown sugar, pecan-filled, candy patty.

And if you’re looking for non-food terms that might help you out on your travels, ExperienceNewOrleans.com has plenty, and you’ll soon know your bayous from your Boogalees.

Since Mardi Gras is coming up on Tuesday, we've been making all kinds of Creole, Cajun, and purely-for-Fat Tuesday dishes in the Slashfood kitchens this past weekend.

Jambalaya is a rice-based dish that is popular in the American South, and is most often associated with New Orleans. If you've been paying attention to out study of Cajun vs. Creole cuisines, you know that jambalaya is common to both.

It's not clear where the name "jambalaya" comes from. Some say it is derived from French word "jambon" for ham, "a la," and an African word, "yaya," for rice. Personally, I think it just means a "jumble" of rice, vegetables, and whatever chicken, pork, and crustaceans you have lying around, because that's what it looks like in the pot and on the plate.

At the heart of jambalaya is rice, spice, and the "Holy Trinity," chopped onions, bell peppers, and celery. From there, every recipe for jambalaya takes on the personality of its cook. It can be made on the stove top or in the oven, it can be soupy or stew-y, it can have chicken or ham or sausage or crustaceans or all of the above. It's all up to you.  

 

We've already looked at Cajun cuisine, so now we want to find out how Creole cooking is different.

The word "Creole" is derived from the Spanish word "Criollo," a term used in the 1700s by the Spanish governing the New Orleans. Criollos were people of European descent living in the area. "Creole" came to imply refinement and elegance. 

While Cajun cooking is a fusion of primarily rustic, provincial French and American Southern cooking, Creole cuisine additionally draws influences from the Caribbean, Africa, and Spain, using more classical European methods and techniques with locally available ingredients. Like the original implication of the word, Creole is a slightly more sophisticated style of food than Cajun.

Like Cajun cooking, Creole chefs use filé powder as well as the "Holy trinity" of bell peppers, celery, and onions. Creole recipes also use butter, cream and tomatoes. Famous Creole recipes that are shared with Cajun cooking are jambalaya and gumbo. However, unique to Creoles are oysters Rockefeller, bananas Foster, shrimp rémoulade, and bread pudding.

Related Links:

• LA Times does Creole Cooking
• On Oysters
• Bread Pudding base

[photo: LA Times]

Though the parades and festivities have been scaled back a bit this year in New Orleans, Slashfood will be fully indulging in all kinds of food, drink, and traditions in honor of Mardi Gras next Tuesday.

We know Mardi Gras as a time of excessive celebration, and like many "holidays," through the commercialization, we might have forgotten why it's there. As a refresher "Mardi Gras" translates from French to "Fat Tuesday." The celebration has its roots in Catholicism - the Church established the period from January 6th (12th Night) until Mardi Gras as "Carnival," a time of celebration and enjoyment. Mardi Gras is the last day of Carnival, and is the last chance for us to enjoy ourselves, before we go into the 40 days of Lent, a period of prayer and penance.

Mardi Gras is also known as both Shrove Tuesday and as Pancake Day because pancakes are eaten to use up milk and eggs, which are not eaten during Lent.

Related links:

• LA Times Goes Creole
• King Arthur Flour's King Cake Kit
• Make Some Pancakes