Nawleens
by Bob Thomas
I lived inNew Orleansfor about 9 or 10 years before I moved back to Gods country. (O.K., I’ll concede that this might not be Gods country, but you can bet that he vacations here!)
Anyway, one of the things that I miss about ‘Nawleens’ is the food. It’s not just good food, its food so good that you’ll consider breaking the law just to get your hands on it! Not a big crime, just something small, like whipping the stuffin’ out of a waiter who grinds pepper on your salad at the table. . . and into your iced tea at the same time! Or maybe you would start a small fire in a restaurant that advertises “Cajun Night” and steams the shrimp, crayfish (pronounced “crawfish”) and crabs instead of boiling them in a highly seasoned pot of water . . . so highly seasoned that you’re blinded by the steam! . . . And pass out if you breathe it!
One of the things I miss most is the “Muffalettas”. That’s what some of you would call a “Sub Sandwich”. Just don’t do it in the Big Easy because they’ll break some part of your body! A Muffaletta is a loaf of French bread. . . either a long loaf or a round loaf. . . that has Olive salad, assorted meats, cheeses, olive oil, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes and several other things that I’m not allowed to divulge. . . layered onto it in a precise order. The order is important because the juices have to permeate the whole in just the right sequence to give it an ‘eye-watering’ aroma and taste. Once you’ve eaten one, you’ll never be satisfied with anything less. The place in N.O. to get a perfect Muffaletta is “Mothers Restaurant”. They start every morning at about4 a.m.by cooking hams and roast beef. They come out of the ovens about10 a.m.and the front door opens at11 a.m. . . . and closes at 2 p.m.
So, you have three hours to get the best meal on a loaf of bread that you’ll ever have in your whole life!
Come early.
Another thing I miss about N.O. is the music. I would spend most Sunday mornings at the Cafe Dummond in the French Quarter. Having Beignets and coffeemilk! “Coffeemilk” is one word, used to describe the wonderful mixture of hot coffee and hot milk poured from two separate containers, simultaneously, into your cup by a waiter who looked to be about 105 years old. He also looked across the restaurant and talked to someone while he poured your scalding coffemilk from three feet in the air! But, he never missed the cup!
I guess that I do “know what it means to miss NewOrleans”!
The other thing I liked about ‘The Big Easy’ was the waitresses. They all called me “Cher”…or “My Cher”…that’s French for “You tall, good lookin’, handsome devil”! My favorite waitresses would walk up to my table and say, “s’foyounowmycher”? As in, “What’s for you now MyCher”? I would always take my time studying the menu, (even after eating there for 8 years!) She would stand there patiently patting her foot and bouncing to the music that only she could hear, until finally she would say, ” I got what’s fo’ you!”…and she would leave the table while writing furiously on her pad. A few minutes later she would bring me what ever she thought I should have! It was usually good so I never complained!
That’s all folks!