First, I want to talk about Festival Food. New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival food, that is. This is different from festival food anywhere else in the world. New Orleans just simply does not screw around with their food, whether it's in a white linen restaurant or a portable food kiosk on the fair grounds.
Day one of Jazz Fest and I knew right away what I wanted to eat. Morning - an affogato. For those of you who do not speak Italian, that means drowned. In this case, it's a scoop of handmade caramel gelato with a shot of espresso drowning it. LOVE!! With that little pick-me up under our belts, we were able to think seriously about music and lunch.
There are so many options at Jazz Fest in both that one just can't make up their mind sometimes. Should I get the alligator picante? How about the shrimp ettoufe? Red beans and rice? Blackberry cobbler? Sweet potato pie? Well, we've been told to keep our stress levels down, so we just ordered it all. YUMMY. Dave even tasted a bite or two of gator (he's a 20 year vegetarian).
Then on to the "reason" for going to Jazz Fest, the music. Again, the choices are overwhelming.
We made our way to "base camp" a plot of fair grounds staunchly staked out by my friend Cynthia and her family every year and enjoyed an afternoon of new, nostalgic and surprising music. Dave and I spent the entire Zebra set saying "Wow! I loved that song way back when!" The lead singer still has an amazing voice and it was great to be reminded of some of the fun music of our youth. We also heard a mess of other super talented and imaginative performers.
One of the most amazing things about Jazz Fest, if you've never been, is the sense of community there. People, even in shoulder to shoulder crowds brought in by performers like Bruce Springsteen, are generally really nice, friendly and conscientious. Take the following photo for example:
People at Jazz Fest are just cool. They share. I'm sure there were even a few instances of us giving or receiving tastes of food from the plates of complete strangers. It happens. Open your mind!
Day two was another day of amazing food - including an oyster poor boy that nearly brought tears to my eyes it was so tender and delicious and the second love of Dave's life, a sweet potato fold-over pie. He still waxes sentimental about its light nutmeg infusion. Should I be jealous?
If anything, it's the broccoli cheese pie I should be worried about. As they say in the south, it's so good it makes you want to slap your mama. Spicy, savory, cheesy gooey and delicious. I think Dave's mouth is watering just recalling the light pastry filled with green cheesy goodness.
By day three, we thought we had experienced it all. That was when I discovered the guy making crab cakes. Crab could very well be my Kryptonite. I love it! It makes me weak in the knees. These crab cakes were light, delicious, loaded with lump crab meat and topped with a light remoulade. Spiced with a creole spice blend, they had a touch of heat to catch your attention, but not so much as to overwhelm the sweetness of the crab. Those babies and an ice cold can of champagne and I was in heaven.
Uh, yeah. I forgot to mention, when Festing, you drink canned champagne. They're these cute little babies from Sofia Coppola's vineyard.
Icy cold drinks are a must when you're hanging with 200,000 of your buddies in a treeless fairgrounds. If it's not canned champagne, there's always a frozen hurricane, margarita or pina colada. As you can see, I sometimes have a hard time making up my mind.
That's it for Fest 2012. We're already planning our 2013 adventure in New Orleans for Jazz Fest. I love this city, its people and its traditions. They really do know how to show southern hospitality and laissez les bonnes temps roullez!
NCB
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