We had a handful of excellent experiences yesterday that are worth documenting. After a rich breakfast at Terrell House we made our way into the French Quarter, arriving at the New Orleans National Historical Park in time to join the 10 am history lecture. (The Park covers both Louisiana history and Jazz.) A young Ranger talked about the history of jazz focusing on the role played by the percussion instruments and demonstrating as he went, first on a hand-held traditional drum and then on a full band drum kit. The percussion sets the rhythm – for marching bands, the rhythm needs to be strict, to keep everyone on the same beat. For dance bands, the beat can be looser, and a good drummer follows the patterns of the dancers. The Ranger then talked about the walking jazz groups that are seen in New Orleans for funerals and parades. First Line bands play for funerals as the mourners go into the cemetery -the group includes only family and friends, and the music is sober and low key, reflecting death and grieving. Second Line bands join the group as they leave the cemetery and play livelier and more joyous music, signifying expectations of rebirth. Any member of the community can join the dancing and celebration as the Second Line moves along.
We wandered around the Quarter for a while, checking out the main sight-seeing points (St. Louis Basilica, Jackson Square, the Mississippi River overlook, and the French Market) and admiring the quaint architecture. We walked along Bourbon Street. After buying fruit smoothies, we returned to the National Park to rest in the courtyard. We then went in for an hour-long piano concert by a local musician named Ricki Monie, who played with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for several decades and now plays piano and organ at local churches and other private gigs. We heard assorted jazz pieces, some ‘classics’ and some he wrote himself, all demonstrating amazing musicianship. In the course of his career, he performed at the White House (for 5 different Presidents), at Buckingham Palace, at the Kennedy Center, and at the Newport Jazz Festival among others. In response to an audience question, he said his favorite audience was the King of Thailand, a skilled musician himself. Mr. Monie enjoyed his time in Thailand so much that, to this day, he has a Thai tailor and his wife has a personal seamstress.
Our final event for the day was a dinner class at the New Orleans School of Cooking, along with 7 other students. Our instructor, a 70-year-old master chef, talked us through the background and cooking principles behind the menu dishes, as we enjoyed wine and beer. We then shifted to the kitchen which was set up with 5 cooking stations. Sous chefs or assistants had already done at the prep work on all the ingredients which were lined up in the order they would be added. The assistants also took care of clean-up, making our jobs much easier. Otherwise, the students cooked our meal for the evening.
Our first dish was a chicken-andouille gumbo, a soup that starts with the tricky step of preparing a roux. A roux is basically a mixture of fat and flour that gets cooked until it reaches the right color, flavor, and consistency but can easily become a burnt mess. Elaine, who does not normally cook, took the lead on making the roux and did a fine job. The instructor, who kept an eye on everyone’s progress, coaching us through each step and offering seasoning tips, was surprisingly irreverent about the roux – he popped by to add extra oil or extra flour if he thought the mixture was too dry or too wet. Betsy handled the rest of the gumbo process as well as the pecan rice. Phil took charge of preparing the fish, black drum from the Gulf of Mexico, that was dredged in a mixture of seasoned flour and then pan-fried. This is the cooking technique that we use most at home but the instructor insisted that the fish needs to be dry before it goes into the hot pan, so it sears rather than steams, resulting in better flavor.
At this point, we sat down to enjoy our dinner, full of excellent flavors and textures. For dessert, the dish was Bananas Foster which featured a flashy spectacle of flaming liquor (our supplies included 4-ounces of dark rum that made a fine show). It’s surprisingly simple to prepare as long as you keep your eyebrows safe. An assistant is expected to throw Voodoo Magic (actually ground cinnamon) into the flames to make little sparks – Phil got that job.
