Today I ate gator, in a Po Boy - then had a haircut. That's a lot of action in one day...well it is New Orleans (Nawlins to the locals) after all.
It's 12.30am (I'm warning you, readers, my worst writing happens at night - I tend to rave), and the music is pumping loudly as I reminisce about my Alligator Sausage Po Boy I had for lunch. CRIKEYYYYYYYYYYYYY.
It was my first ever alligator, and I'm here to say...it was bloody unreal. I think it had something to do with it being in a wonderfully spicy, meaty, garlicky sausage, or it may have been the fact it was in a Po Boy at Johnny's Po Boys on St Louis street in the French Quarter (it's been around since 1950).
Sooooooooo...for all those confused aussies wondering what a Po Boy is...here's the low down. Po Boys are big sandwiches on baguettes - these yanks seem to have a very special relationship with sandwiches - you can see it above. Po Boy is short for Poor Boy, and was invented here in New Orleans. In fact, we went past the invention location today on our city tour - and was given the story - Po Boys were invented in the 1930s during the Streetcar Strike - a sandwich was needed to feed the poor boys, hence the name. So, a baguette was split and filled with whatever scraps the cafe had left, making it filling and cheap at the same time. Voila...the Po Boy.
Johnny's had like a million different types, and they all sounded spectacular. I spoke with one of the guys there, they sell 300-400 Po Boys a day, and their most popular are the Roast Beef and the Shrimp ones. I wandered in there by accident the day before, after my New Orleans cooking class, just opposite at the New Orleans School of Cooking - the place was packed with locals and tourists. I knew I had to come back.
And so I did. I knew to order my Po Boy "dressed", which means with tomato, lettuce and mayo, and at Johnny's, with pickles...MMMMMMMMMMMMM. TRULY DIVINE. You can see it above, and ladies and gents, I couldn't even get through one half of it!!!
And as for alligator, well it is eaten here as a real meat option. I see it on the menu all over in New Orleans. They have a program here that was started in the 1960s called Marsh to Market, which brought this reptile to people's dinner plates (and other parts of the animal to market eg. the skin for fashion).
So, reptiles, big sambos, and helping mop up the oil spill...a really big day indeed - yes, I was told by my hairdresser today that my cut hair clippings were being gathered up and will be used in the awful Gulf oil spill. I am doing my bit here for New Orleans.
So how does New Orleans look these days? Lots of construction? How does it look?
ReplyDeleteWell Lilymagnolia, the old French Quarter didn't actually flood during Katrina, so it is as it always was. However, we went out to look at the areas that were hit, and there are still plenty of half standing houses to remind us of what happened. We also saw some of the new villages that have been constructed. It was a sobering part of my stay, I can tell you.
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