The History of King Cake

The King Cake (also known as king's cake, kings' cake or three kings cake) dates back to around 12th century France where the coming of the three Wise Men to the birth place of Christ was celebrated. This was usually celebrated twelve days after Christmas, and was usually called the Feast of the Epiphany, or Twelfth Night.

The main part of the twelfth night celebration was the baking of the King's Cake, which was baked circular to portray the circular route that the three Wise Men used to throw off King Herod, who was trying to follow them to kill Baby Jesus. In the earlier versions of the king cake, there would be a bean, pea or coin hidden in the cakes--the person who got the hidden bean, pea or coin was named King for the day or said to have good luck in the coming year.

Here in Louisiana, the tradition was brought over by the Spanish and French colonists in the 18th century. The tradition of the king cake is associated with Carnival season, which starts after Twelfth Night celebrations, and extends all the way through Mardi Gras day. Instead of beans, peas or coins being hidden in the king cakes now, there are small plastic babies (resembling Baby Jesus) hidden, and whoever gets the plastic baby in their piece of king cake, is expected to provide the next king cake or host the next Mardi Gras function. Cajun king cakes are generally deep-fried like donuts--the most common variants of the Cajun king cakes are filled with cream cheese or praline.

King cakes are also eaten on January 6, el Día de los Reyes in Spain and other Latin

American countries. Día de los Reyes literally means "Kings' Day", and it is another variation of the celebration of the three Wise Men that visited Baby Jesus. In most Latin American Countries, Día de los Reyes marks the end of the holiday season, and children receive presents from the three Wise Men on this day. The tradition of the bean, candy or plastic baby is also followed, and whomever receives either of the hidden trinkets in their piece of king cake must take it to the nearest church on February 2nd, Día de la Candelaria (Candlemas Day), which celebrates the day that Jesus was presented in the Temple.

King cakes have made it all the way from the 12th century to today, and whether it be in France, Spain, Latin America or Louisiana, the main traditions remain the same--you find the baby, you provide the next king cake.

Slideshow of Louisiana from 1850 to 1900

Hello everybody, I found some very nice pictures of New Orleans from 185o to 1900. The slideshow was made by Fr. Nicoll S.J., a World Civlizations professor here at Loyola. There are early pictures of Mardi Gras, The French Market, St. Louis Cathedral, City Park and more! In the blogger window the powerpoint will show up smaller than normal, so click the button to the right of the slide number to expand it to a new window and see the pictures in their full resolution

Creole Debutante in New Orleans

A débutante (from the French débutante, "female beginner") is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. Originally, it meant the young woman was eligible to marry, and part of the purpose was to display her to eligible bachelors and their families with a view to marriage within a select upper class circle. Debutante balls originated in Europe, but take place all over the world. Some of the most ostentatious balls can be witnessed in the United States, specifically New Orleans.

Every fall before the carnival season, custom gowns are sewn, hair appointments are made, decorations are selected, and venues are booked for the debutante balls to take place the following spring. In New Orleans, debutante courts are traditionally presented during the carnival season, and are often affiliated with Mardi Gras Krewes (i.e. Rex, Osiris, Comus, Momus, Proteus, Profits of Persia) or organizations, but mainly affluent Caucasian families of the city .


In the 19th century, middle-class Creole/African-Americans felt excluded from the Carnival spirit, so they formed their own organizations. The Original Illinois Club, one of the first African-American organizations of the city, held parties and community service projects. The Original Illinois Club was founded by Wiley J. Knight, who moved to New Orleans in 1894. He opened his own dance school at Cadiz near Camp Street where the sons and daughters of the best families attended his classes. From there, the idea for African-American debutante balls was formed.
During that time, Caucasian organizations traditionally emphasized family names and lineage, but the African-American organizations focused on accomplishment, putting emphasis on a young woman’s education and suitability for higher learning and the work force. Also, young African-American women aspiring to make their debut had to apply for the process, whereas young Caucasian women aspiring to make their debut were automatically accepted if their parents were members of the organization.


Today, African-American debutante balls are a major event in southern societies. Many young women make their debut with a National Panhellenic Council sorority, such as Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, or Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. Often times, the queen is chosen based on the amount of money she raises, and her fellow debutantes are crowned based on the amount of money they have raised as well. There is a debutante level, maid level, princess level, and the final level of queen. The debutantes spend a good part of the year leading up to the ball participating in bonding events and community service activities. Making your debut is an unforgettable experience, and is not only a formal way to be presented to society as a woman, but also a great way to build long-term friendships.

Above Ground Cemeteries

For most of the country above ground cemeteries are not typical. Of course in New Orleans where everything is done differently the people are buried differently as well. The story goes that when the regular cemetery in New Orleans was full and a new one needed to be built the governor of New Orleans suggested an above ground cemetery. These above ground cemeteries were very popular in Spain which is where the governor was from. Above ground cemeteries were also a solution to the problem the city was having with epidemics of diseases. The city people believed the cause of the diseases was the horrific odor that came from the tombs. A city ordinance was passed that all bodies were from now on to be buried on the Bayou Saint John. The exception was that bodies could be buried in existing cemeteries if the vault or tomb was already present.

The cemeteries built are called Saint Louis and there are three of them. The most famous is of course the first one which is Saint Louis #1 it is the oldest of them all, located on the north side of Basin Street. It is the first above ground cemetery in the United States. Some historic people buried there were Homer Plessy from the famous Supreme Court case Plessy vs. Ferguson. Also, the first African-American mayor of New Orleans, Ernest N. "Dutch" Morial is buried there.
Below is the plaque on Homer Plessy's tomb in the Saint Louis #1 Cemetery.

Saint Louis #2 opened in 1823 just a few blocks from Saint Louis #1. There is a very famous pirate buried here by the name of Dominique You. He was a notorious pirate that helped defend New Orleans from the British in the battle of New Orleans. Ernie K. Doe and Danny Barker are also buried here, they were famous jazz musicians that were buried in the cemetery within the last fifteen years. This cemetery received a bit of flooding during Hurricane Katrina but is now restored.


Saint Louis #3 opened in 1854. This cemetery is known for its beautiful marble structures. Unfortunately this cemetery was flooded the most during Katrina but has since been luckily the tombs were not too badly disturbed.
Here is a neat video that is a little cheesy but has some great shots of the cemeteries with accurate historical insight. Enjoy!

Is The Creole Culture of Food Changing?

The ritual of getting together and having a great meal has been celebrated for decades.

Recently other influences of cooking has had an influence in our modern culture of eating. The

immigrants going to New Orleans has impacted the ways people cook including French, Irish,

Spanish, and Central West African ways of Creole cooking.

Today's food and ways of cooking are mostly influenced by the French. Rouges have had a huge roles in New Orleans cooking, to make a good gumbo you need a rouge. Spanish tastes have influenced New Orleans cooking as well. The Spanish have been known for cultivating and distributing beans throughout the world. Spanish cooking includes both spices like paprika and the influence of red beans and rice. When different cultures come together, they evolve using new spices and flavors. Many different cities have different ways of eating.

The culture I grew up on in Berkeley has been experiencing eating multicultural food. Growing up living in an Indian Nursery day care gave me the tastes of common spices used in most cooking.

Living in New Orleans is a great place for food and getting to know the culture. As a student in college I tend to not go out to restaurants as much because of expenses. I tend to make my time by cooking and making food out of what I have. Having influences in New Orleans cooking has been progressively been changing from traditional Creole food to modern New Orleans food.

Ever Since Katrina, there has been an increase in other cultures such as Vietnamese food. The West Bank has been increasingly growing in culture and diversity in restaurants. With the multiple influences and shareing of cooking have shown to take effect onto today's food. Restaurants, grocery stores, and markets have changed rapidly by the increase of immigrants.

Do you think New Orleans Creole food will change? Multiple cultures influence the ways people cook has evolved since immigration and the evolution of saving your food. Will we see a little bit of Latino flavor in our cooking or maybe an influence of Vietnamese cooking. No matter how things will go, there will be some sort of way for immigrants to translate their food into a New Orleans flavor.

Posting Pictures and Videos

A little confused about how to post pictures or videos to the blog? Below is a step by step instruction on how to spice up your blog post with digital media:

Pictures:

When it comes to posting pictures, you have two different choices. You can either upload a picture from your desktop (in much as the same manner if you were to upload a picture to an email) or add an URL address. All you need to do is click the landscape icon in the navigation bar, second from the right. From there, you can choose to implant the picture far left, center, or far right--think about the asthetic of your blog post and where you plan to place your text.

Videos:

The easiest way to upload a video is to go to YouTube; from there, there is an embed link below the video of your choice. Copy the link, paste it into your blog post, and voila! You're chosen video is now uploaded within seconds.

If y'all have any other questions about uploading or any other technological Blogger questions, comment on this post and I'll figure out a way to help.

New Orleans' French Market

The Market has existed on the same site since 1791 and is the oldest farmer's market in the country. It began as a Native American trading post on the banks of the Mississippi River. Although founded by the Spanish, it was the market in the French part of New Orleans. Many of the butchers were French, either Creoles or Foreign. It was the only place in the French Quarter where fresh meat could legally be sold. Local residents referred to it as "the Meat Market" and not the French Market. The people of New Orleans Especially enjoyed grocery shopping at the Market.

The French Market was a very diverse place. People of color, Creoles, Native Americans and eve Sicilians, shopped at the Market. Shoppers would have to be prepared to interact with many languages, such as French, Creole patois, African languages, English, Spanish, German, Italian and more. Coastal fisherman would bring oysters, shrimp, crawfish and a wide selection of fish. Sicilian truck farmers from St. Bernard Parish carted crops like creole artichokes, tomatoes, garlic and fava beans. Hunters would bring in everything from raccoons to bears.

Many immigrants had stalls at the French Market. Stall rent was low and a number of groceries began as stalls at the Market. The French Market eventually grew and had five main components. There was the Meat Market, the Vegetable Market, the Fruit Market, the Red Stores and the Bazaar Market. Interesting fact to know is that the Bazzar building was designed by one of America's first African-American architects, Joseph Abeilard.




The French Market went through a lot of disaters and changes. It is now newly renovated, including both the farmers market and a fleas market. It hosts annual festivals and events like the Creole Tomato Festival, French Market Christmas Lighting, Harvest Festival and Boo Carre' Halloween. It is home to still a diversity of vendors serving prepared foods as well as fresh produce stands. You can find anything, even T-shirts, at New Orleans' French Market.

Deliciousness

Creole life is centered around food. The meals themselves are true tradition. Each Creole family has a variation to each dish but in the end, it is all Creole. It has several origins including African, French, Spanish, Italian and Native American. One could say that it is a "gumbo" of cultures. African slaves brought things like rice and okra to Louisiana where they were able to grow small gardens for their own food. Most meals were made all in one pot. The use of butter, braising and the idea of sauces and gravies is very French. The introduction of beans and the use of peppers and spices comes from the Spanish. Native Americans introduced seafood. Slaves learned how to grow the foods that they brought from home from the Native Americans. The Choctaw introduced them to the sassafras tree. The leaves are dried and ground into something called file (fee-lay). This is used as a spice to add heat to gumbos. Creole food developed through the collaboration of culinary ideas. Slaves cooked for their masters. They altered different things to satisfy their masters' tastes. There are hundreds of different dishes that come out of this tradition. A few of them are: Gumbo, Maque Choux (mock shoe), Grillades, Crawfish Bisque, Jambalaya, and Mirlitons.

Gumbo is a soup cooked in a huge pot. It starts off with a good Andouille Sausage, a roux (I'll talk about this later), and either seafood, chicken, or okra. It is always served over rice.

Maque Choux is a dish made of corn, onion, garlic, tomato, bell pepper and butter.

Grillades are a type of steak that is browned and then cooked down until extremely tender in a tomato/meat gravy.

Crawfish Bisque is a labor intensive dish. The shell of the crawfish is used to stuff a dressing of crawfish, oinon, garlic, bell pepper, minced crawfish, and other ingredients. They are then lightly floured, browned and are served in a light sauce.

Jambalaya is similar to the Spanish Paella. It is a rice cooked with a very light amount of tomato sauce. It is mixed with shrimp, sausage and chicken.

Mirlitons are a fruit in the squash family that are cooked down with onions and garlic and shrimp.
In order to really get to know Creole food, I think you should get to know someone who makes it.
I would like to introduce you to my grandmother, Mathilde Savoie Smith.

She was born in Edgard, Louisiana. She is the second of nine children. Creole was spoken in her home along with English. Everyday, her mother fixed meals that my grandmother now fixes for us. She moved to New Orleans at 18 years old and now lives in the upper 9th Ward.

This is her new kitchen.

She lost the old one to six feet of water from Hurricane Katrina. She searched everywhere for an old O’Keefe & Merritt stove.

This weekend, I decided to go home to talk to her about the way that she cooks, and of course to eat. She prepared a simple yet rich meal: Fricassée.

This is a chicken stew that we typically have for dinner on Sundays. Meat is always cooked down in a gravy until tender and served over rice. We eat rice every single day unless there is spaghetti (which has a thinner tomato sauce and sometimes has shrimp instead of ground beef). The fundamental ingredients to Creole cooking are: onions, garlic, bell pepper, and a good roux. Almost every dish is made with roux- especially gravies. A roux (roo) is made of flour and oil or butter. The flour is mixed with the oil and heated in a cast iron skillet. It is a long, painstaking process that runs the risk of burning if you were to walk away or turn away for a split second. I have made a roux before and I must say, it takes true dedication. Once it burns, it smells horrible and you have to start over. The flour must brown to the color of Swiss Miss hot chocolate and can then be stored away and used in just about everything you make.

I really could go on to tell you about how to make several more dishes, but I will stop here. While In New Orleans, I would suggest eating as often as possible. Food is especially delicious here. If you know a Creole, I think you should ask them to cook for you. Restaurants just can't exactly replicate a real Creole meal. If you really can't get a Creole, try out some hole-in-the-walls. You'd be surprised how good the food is.

yeeks. i don't know how to work a blog.

Dr. Michael White Quartet Live at the 2011 Jazz Education Network in New...

Jazz and Its Early Influences

As part of the French Louisiana colony, New Orleans was founded in 1718. After being sold to Spain in 1763 and France in 1803, New orleans was sold to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. However, although New Orleans was part of the United States, it was different from the rest of the country. Being filled with the Creole culture, they had “an appreciation of good food, wine, music, and dancing.” This Creole culture was developed by both Europeans and Africans, while Africans made up most of the population. As these people kept coming into the city, they brought “the elements of blues, spirituals, and rural dances to New Orleans’ music.” (nps.gov) Because of all the different cultures that were continuously flooding into the city, the development of jazz began.

Although many African Americans were enslaved, they still found a way to continue developing their culture which lead to the development of jazz music. By the mid-18th Century, slaves gathered at what became known as Congo Square to socialize, play music, and dance. This ended before the Civil War, but the traditions did not die. These traditions of the African Americans were honored by Mardi Gras Indians when they played music and sang similar to the previous traditions. “Several early jazz figures such as Louis Armstrong and Lee Collins described being affected by Mardi Gras Indian processions.” By the 1880’s and 1890’s, brass marching bands which later lead to ragtime pieces became popular throughout America. (nps.gov)

By the mid-1920s, jazz had become extremely popular and was being played in places like dance halls throughout the United States. “Early jazz influences found their first mainstream expression in the music used by marching bands and dance bands of the day,” which was popular concert music at that time. (1920-30.com) Jazz got its influences early on, and did not become popular right away. There were many influences that guided what jazz is today, but if it was not for the Creole culture of New Orleans, jazz would not be the same.

There are opportunities throughout the city to hear what jazz music is today. Just walking down Frenchman should you should be able to find somewhere to hear this music. Other places to learn about jazz are Preservation Hall and the Spotted Cat. One famous jazz icon is Dr. Michael White. He was born and raised in New Orleans. He plays the clarinet , and was inspired by musicians such as George Lewis for their Creole and blues music.

Dr. Michael White and his Quartet can be found in the video above.

St. Augustine Church

In 2005, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the archdiocese of New Orleans made a move to close the wind-ravaged St. Augustine Church citing financial troubles and declining parishioner support. St. Augustine's was certainly not alone. Other churches found themselves on the chopping block. The decision to close St. Augustine's sparked national attention and parishioners, under the leadership of the beloved Father LeDoux, launched a wide-scale protest movement to keep the doors of the church open. Church members and community activists locked themselves in the rectory for what was to become a long standoff with the archdiocese of New Orleans and Archbishop Hughes. While similar scenes played out across the metro area, the closure of St. Augustine's church seemed particularly shocking given the church's historical significance. Founded in 1841, St. Augustine's is the oldest black Catholic Church in the nation. The land, located in the Treme and once part of a plantation owned by Claude Treme, was donated by the Ursuline nuns (a costly gift given that the women had paid approx. $10, 000 for the land) to a group of "free people of color" who had permission from Bishop Antoine Blanc to build their own church.

In preparation of the opening of the church, "free people of color" began purchasing pews for their families. However, many whites opposed the establishment of a black church and started buying the pews for themselves launching what is now known as the "War of the Pews." In the end, free people of color won the war, out purchasing their white counterparts 3 to 1. The extra pews were given to slaves. The commitment to provide a place of worship for black and enslaved New Orleanians was bolstered by the simultaneous pledge of Sister Henriette Delille, founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family (the second black order of religious women). Her mission to provide education for poor and orphaned children as well as assist the infirmed and elderly in the community ensured that the church became a crucial foundation of the Treme.