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ROUSES.COM
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MARDI GRAS
I
’ve always loved Mardi
Gras. Costumes, parties,
parades and pageantry are
in my blood. Unfortunately, I’ve
had to miss far too many Fat
Tuesday celebrations because
producers in New York and
Hollywood view the day before Ash Wednesday as just another
Tuesday. But now that I’m back in the Big Easy, I’m making up for
lost time.
Mardi Gras loosely means “a farewell to flesh.” (Now, I interpret
that as the reason for refraining from meat consumption during
Lent, but you can draw your own conclusions.) We like to celebrate
Mardi Gras with a “Boeuf Gras Brunch.” It’s the perfect plan for
a day parade and a great hair-of-the-dog meal after some raucous
nighttime revelry.
You can do all of the prep work in advance, even ordering the food
from Rouses. Set a festive table or buffet. Old family Mardi Gras
photos are an artistic and more personal touch. A big glass punch
bowl filled with beads makes a great centerpiece and dumping
ground for your catch after the parades. We also recycle beads by
mailing care packages to the children of friends and families who
live out out-of-town ... and try to perpetuate the myth that the
reason why beads cover the trees on St. Charles Avenue is that we
grow them here.
Now bring on the grub.
Mardi Gras parade going is a serious sport and one that requires
proper nutrition and hydration fortification. Nothing beats a
Bloody Mary bar.This libation station can easily transform a simple
beverage into a full-blown appetizer, salad, or an actual meal in a
glass. And, like Mardi Gras itself, it can be enjoyed by all ages (just
keep the vodka separated, label the bottle or pour the hooch into a
pretty decanter).
What goes on the bar?That’s up to you.Make a run through Rouses
to gather pickled and fresh veggies, wild-caught Gulf shrimp,
lump crabmeat, bacon, smoked
sausages, and hot sauces, plus
anything else you want to jazz
up your tomato juice. Take
a good look around Rouses
produce department — the
Bloody Mary bar may be your
only chance to have fresh vegetables during the season, so harvest
the fields!
A great craft project and conversation piece is to bedazzle skewers
for all the accouterments to your Bloody Mary bar. Gather all your
doubloons, king cake babies, and purple, green and gold anything,
fire up that glue gun, and go.
For me no Mardi Gras celebration would be complete without
deviled eggs, especially when whipped up by my dear pal, writing
partner, Hazelnut manager extraordinaire, and sister by choice,
Katy Danos. I met this beautiful can do gal (she can do anything
and everything — even run a small country) when we attended
Tulane together. Katy hails from Rouses hometown of Thibodaux,
Louisiana, by the way, so you know she’s good stock.
I cherish my friendship with Katy almost as much as her delicious
deviled eggs. Like Katy herself, the eggs can be sweet or salty.
Sticking with our Boeuf Gras theme, I recommend a roast beef po-
boy bar. Order a really nice roast from your friendly Rouses butcher,
add loaves of hot French bread, gravy and all the condiments you
wish, and you’ve got an easy, sure fire hit on your hands.
Dessert is a no brainer during Mardi Gras: king cakes and queen
cakes (I love that Rouses has added a queen cake to their royal
lineup). Arrange the cakes on a separate table and employ cake
stands or other service pieces of various heights to create levels. If
you happen to have a tiara or crown just hanging around (and who
doesn’t?), it makes a really regal centerpiece. Or better yet, place
it upon your own noggin, and be the monarch for the day — you
prepared the wonderful Boeuf Gras Brunch, and you deserve a
fabulous and festive reign!
Boeuf Gras
One of the oldest symbols of pre-Lenten
celebrations was the fattened ox or Boeuf
Gras, representing the last meat consumed
before the fast begins. Societé de Boeuf Gras,
in the French settlement of Fort Louis de la
Mobile, aka Mobile, Alabama, paraded with a
large papier mâché bull’s head as its symbol
(Boeuf Gras was the second secret society
formed in Alabama; Masque de la Mobile, the
first). The Rex Organization in New Orleans,
which gave us the traditional Mardi Gras colors
of purple, green and gold, used the whole bull
as its model for its iconic float. Rex’s Boeuf
Gras rolls through the street accompanied by
masked riders dressed as cooks.
“We try to perpetuate the myth that
the reason why beads cover the trees on
St. Charles Avenue is that we
grow them here!”