Gumbo Tales
New Orleans Food Writer Roahen Does a City Proud
Mar 24, 2008 Jacqueline Church
Gumbo Tales - Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table
In New Orleans, history is told through food, people mark time and measure connections with meals eaten, traditions shared. Pain remains from the failed levees, the failed political infrastructure and the failed promises. But New Orleanians have a long and close relationship with pain. They are survivors and they know how to appreciate the sweet, as well as the bitter. Maybe that's why beignets and chicory coffee are so identified with the city.
Gumbo Pot vs. Melting Pot
Sara Roahen's book traces her introduction to the culture of New Orleans, specifically the “food culcha” which is difficult to separate that from the rest of the history. Gumbo as a metaphor for the people of the area is perhaps not a new concept. But Gumbo's ingredients remain distinct while combining to beautiful effect. New Orleans is more than a metaphor; it's a true representation of the mythical idea of America. Cultures, races, new tribes and old, have landed on Louisiana's shores through the port of New Orleans since before the fledgling united states purchased the territory.
Spanish, French, Acadians, Caribbean, Sicilians, Vietnamese; explorers, traders, exploiters, slaves, immigrants, and refugees; all have become a part of the fabric here.
Roahen does a terrific job of sorting out the most plausible stories or finding the best historical evidence for many of the food traditions. Often she teases this out through local experts of one type or another. She balances all elements together, like, well, you know where this is going...
Part Food History, Part Travel Guide, Total Good Read
This is not a cookbook, but a series of stories about iconic dishes of New Orleans. Chapters cover Gumbo, Sazeracs (soon to be the official cocktail of the state), Po-Boys, as well as less well known local treats like Ya-Ka-Mein and Sno-Balls. She addresses the nature of the word “Creole” in the chapter “Poisson Meunière Amandine” and tells the even less-well known story of Italian immigration to New Orleans in the chapter on “Red Gravy” including a bit about the importance of the fava bean, St. Joseph and the brasciolone.
More than Mudbugs
At a book signing at the Garden District Book Store recently, Roahen read from her chapter on Crawfish. Perhaps one of the most famous of New Orleans foods, this small crustacean looks even more like a bug than a lobster. Crawfish are one of those foods (like oysters or artichokes) that make you wonder how hungry the person was who first looked at the thing and thought “dinner.”
Her humor is often turned on herself first. Her grace and her obvious love for the city and her people, probably keep her safe from any hard feelings even when the stories expose less flattering images. This is no expose of the “never eat lunch in this town again” genre. This is an ode to a loved one. Time-wise, the book covers pre- and post-Katrina and this heightens the sense of urgency about the significance of this city to the rest of the US.
While on a mission to find out if one of her old favorite crawfish spots is still around, she notices a man pass by debris from the storm.
“Earlier this week, from my car, I saw a man walk past a water-stained sofa that someone had hauled to the curb weeks ago. He got a few feet beyond it and then doubled back to arrange two of the sofa's cushions that had gone askew. My throat tensed at this small gesture toward fixing our overwhelming mess.”
She had the crowd chuckling with other stories from the same chapter and that's the magic of the book. It enlightens readers about not only the dishes she explores, but also connects them to their places in the city's history. More subtly, she also reveals what each dish and its history tell us about ourselves.
Readers will enjoy this book and Roahen's generosity, too. Anyone purchasing the book can check out her blog for free recipes developed for it, but ultimately excluded. The only drawback with the book is the inevitable rumbling of the stomach it causes.
- See also: Cochon, a New Orleans Gem.
- For tips on traveling to New Orleans and other things to do besides eating, see here.
Gumbo Tales
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Perino's Crawfish Boil
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