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Mardi Gras Memories
Rate it! Votes (2) | Comments (0) By Cheri Sicard Posted August 6th, 2007 FabulousFoods.com Recommends: New Orleans Party Classics, by , (, Rhino / Wea)	New Orleans Party Classics

As the first strains of marching band music drifted down the street, the crowd's energy tangibly surged, as it surely it does at all parades. But this procession was already different from the parades of my youth in Western Massachusetts, where attendance, let alone participation, felt more like obligation than folly.

But New England was far behind. I was 17 and getting my first taste of freedom. I had just moved the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the sun was shining, it was Mardi Gras (a school holiday --  they didn't do that in Massachusetts) and the street before me was a literal party!

At that moment a handsome man in a dapper tuxedo walked up, handed me a flower and demanded a kiss on the cheek in exchange. As I looked around, the street was littered with similarly clad rogues, negotiating the identical bargain with women of all shapes, ages, and sizes. I later learned what the natives already knew: the Hibernia Marching Society are a staple at all Gulf Coast celebrations of note.

Within seconds the parade descended on us, but it bore no resemblance to the passive spectacles that pass for parades in other areas of the country. Sure there were floats, brightly clad horseback battalions, and marching bands. But Mardi Gras parades are interactive events.  The crowd enthusiastically cheered and cajoled the participants, who, looking down from perches atop floats, showered their screeching fans with a pirate's ransom in colorful plastic beads and worthless aluminum doubloons. Everyone got into the frenzy, from the youngest child to the oldest grandfather, chasing after the treasures as if they actually had monetary value, and shouting "Throw me something Mister!" until their throats became raw and hoarse.

The next day, school kids from western Louisiana throughout the Mississippi Gulf Coast to the eastern coast of Alabama would be occupied comparing and trading their "loot," in the same manner other kids might trade Halloween candy on November 1.

Although most people don't realize it, Mardi-Gras celebrations are hardly confined to New Orleans. In fact, a better time can often be had outside of "The Big Easy<" especially if you have children in tow.

People also don't realize that parades are only half of the Mardi-Gras picture. What tourists never see are the countless formal Mardi-Gras ball that take place throughout each Mardi-Gras season. Private, invitation only, functions Mardi-Gras balls represent the pinacle of high society in the South.

Over the next few years, I unique opportunities to cut my social teeth at countless balls. The geeky kid left behind in high school went through a swan-like transformation as each Mardi-Gras season brought progressively more invitations.

I felt like Cinderella each time I left my tiny studio apartment, bound for a ball, attired in all the style and finery that a girl in her early twenties, who only "thinks" she's worldly, can muster. And like Cinderella, my fairy godmothers always came to the rescue. Perhaps these older Southern Belles saw a small bit of themselves in the odd kid from "up north" or perhaps they just saw a young girl with too much potential to waste. Whatever the reason they took me under their wing, teaching me the finer points of style, social graces, and entertaining, Southern style.

Which brings us to perhaps the most important part of Mardi-Gras: the food. The recipes in the Related Recipes section below are some of my favorites from this period of my life. A tiny taste of any of them can instantly transport me back to the Mississippi of my youth. Most are casual recipes, the kind of fare we would serve at an after parade party. The fare is hearty. It has to be, Mardi-Gras parties are notorious for lasting all night long.

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I still do.

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