As many of you may know, today marks the start of the 2009 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. While Jazz Fest may be first and foremost a music festival, the food there has become arguably an equal (if not stronger, in my opinion) draw for visitors. Food at outdoor festivals can sometimes suffer the consequence of circumstance – heat, outdoor preparation and high demand can turn what would be a perfectly delicious meal into a sub par dining experience. The vendors at Jazz Fest, however, have mastered their surroundings and the result is an exceptional display of New Orleans’ finest culinary achievements.

The offerings can be overwhelming; it’s important to do your homework and plan accordingly. A full list of vendors can be found here, and while it’s hard to go wrong with any of the foods available, its also essential to separate the ordinary from the extraordinary and the extraneous from the crucial.

First of all, Jazz Fest can be hot. Very hot. And while it may be tempting to grab a cold beer, you need to remember that beer will only take up space in your stomach and derail your culinary adventure. My drink of choice is the always-refreshing Rosemint Iced Tea, available at several stands throughout the festival. From there I suggest starting off with a few appetizers. If you’re in a group, the following dishes can all be shared: Crawfish Bread (perfectly spiced, plump crawfish in melted cheese sandwiched between French bread) is always a must, as are crawfish sacks (pastry “sacks” filled with creamy crawfish).

Po Boys are available in many different forms across the festival, but there are a few definite standouts. The long lines for the fried Soft-Shell Crab Po Boy may seem intimidating, but its definitely worth it. My all-time favorite, however, has to be the Cochon De Lait Po Boy; slow-smoked pork butt shredded and topped with cabbage and homemade horseradish sauce served on French bread. Its pure Heaven – last year I had two in a row and I’m not even remotely ashamed about that.

When it comes to fulfilling a sweet tooth, strawberry shortcake made with fresh Louisiana strawberries is always delicious but if its refreshing sweetness you’re after, Mango Freeze, a delicious sorbet-like treat, is the perfect end to a day.

Finally, one of the crown jewels of the Jazz Fest dining experience is Crawfish Monica – a delectable creamy pasta dish swimming in crawfish tails that has remained a fest favorite for over 25 years. If you can’t make it down to New Orleans, but you want to bring a little “fest flavor” to your kitchen, Crawfish Monica is simple to recreate at home and will definitely impress your friends. Below is a copy of the recipe, courtesy of Kajun Kettle Foods, the dish’s creator.

1 lb crawfish tails (shrimp or crab will work equally well if you
can't find crawfish)
1 stick of butter (NOT margarine)
1 pint half and half
1 good-sized bunch of green onions
3-10 cloves of garlic (depending on your taste)
Creole Seasoning to taste
1 lb cooked fresh pasta (rotini is preferred)

Cook pasta according to the directions on the package. Drain, then
rinse under cool water. Drain again, thoroughly.

Melt the butter in a large pot and saute onions and garlic for 3
minutes. Add the seafood and saute for 2 minutes. Add the
half-and-half, then add several big pinches of Creole seasoning,
tasting before the next pinch until you think it's right. If you've
boiled your own crawfish, save the fat and add it in as well.

Cook for 5 - 10 minutes over medium heat until the sauce thickens. Add
the pasta and toss well. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so over very low
heat, stirring often. Serve immediately, with lots of French bread and
a nice dry white wine.

In Saturday’s New York Times there was a very startling article that will affect everyone’s health, not just people who consider healthy eating a way to a slimmer waistline. The European Food Safety Agency has deemed meat and milk from cloned animals as safe to eat, and if approved by the European Group on Ethics in Science and Technologies advisory panel, such products will soon be arriving on supermarket shelves around Europe. Public opinion throughout Europe is against genetically modified foods, as people prefer natural products. But the people do not really have a fair say in what happens. Furthermore, countries that ban the sale of such products (and there are many who want to) put the entire European Commission at risk of penalized by the World Trade Organization for unfair trade barriers. This is not just a European issue. The United States FDA will also rule on the same issue next month, and we are likely to also see these products approved. With the state that our meat and dairy industries are in now, the last thing we need is to legalize cloned meat and dairy.

The problems with meat and dairy coming from cloned animals are many. One issue is that the report says it is “unlikely” that there is any difference between conventional products and genetically modified products. This is an answer based on short-term observation, who knows what health issues will arise twenty years from now? Another issue is that the Agency’s report admitted to the fact that cloned animals are more prone to diseases than conventionally bred animals. They claim that unhealthy animals will not be used, but who is to know for sure? And what about all of the animals that are cloned, and then die because they have weakened immune systems or are highly deformed? This does not seem humane or ethical to me at all. If these animals have a high chance of being deformed and weak, then why do we want to perfect science to get around it? In my opinion, the answer is not in cloning meat, but making people eat less of it. If everyone ate meat only once or twice a week, not only would their health greatly improve, but so would the environment. Meeting demand for people’s desire for meat is the opposite of what we should be doing; we should be meeting nature’s demand for sustainable living.

This week we are raffling off a big box of Peruvian foods donated by Rojas International, a Connecticut-based company that imports ingredients from Peru. The box includes pepper pastes, whole grains, corns, spices, and a Panetone bread and hot chocolate to keep you warm for the holidays. We used their Mama Tina Aji Amarillo (Yellow Pepper Paste) for our Papas a la Huancayina, which gave it a sublime yellow color and slightly spicy taste. It is also one of the staples of traditional ceviche. I am jealous of whoever gets the quinoa. One of my nutrition teachers once said about the nutritious whole grain "If it was good enough for the Incas it is good enough for me". Very well put!
Send your raffle entries to peruvianraffle@kitchencaravan.com for a chance to win the box!!!