Drinking

Every year I try to remember when Mardi Gras is starting. You see, I like to try and celebrate as many holidays as possible, increasing the opportunity to get together with friends to eat, drink and be merry. This year got rather hectic around the end of February/early March, thus closing that window of entertainment themes involving Mardi Gras North. Perhaps late is o.k., timezone change and all.

Having been raised Anglican/Episcopalian not Catholic, I was surprised to learn that Mardi Gras is a religious holiday. A religious holiday? A spiritual gathering? Or a gathering of spirits? Carnival has a sort of “Day of the Dead” feeling, but I mean aged, 80 proof and up, out of the bottle type spirits. We’re talking Bourbon, J.D. or Gin ofcourse.

The literal translation of Mardi Gras is Fat Tuesday, making the official start date Shrove Tuesday. This is the final day of Shrovetide, and a day long observed as a season of merrymaking before Lent. Sure we had Lent, that was the time you started to look for new white patent leather shoes (never to be worn before Easter or after Labour Day, naturally) and a swell dress. HELLO?

Shrovetide is the three days before Ash Wednesday, and I don’t mean the 1973 Liz Taylor film. Traditionally, those three days were a time of confession and absolution before Lent, which is a season ( 40 weekdays ) of fasting and penitence in preparation foe Easter. Clearly, a huge party sounds preferable. What's all this fuss about sinning and repenting? Can't we just have fun and feel great about it?

So let's get back to the matter at hand, a spiritual gathering of my choice. Better late than never, the party must go on. First off, whatcha cookin'? No southern style affair should be without the finger lickin' good stuff. Not KFC or PFK for our French Canadian readers, but like gumbo, BBQ, hoppin' john, corn bread, pan fried oysters, jambalaya, and ettouffe'e. This is probably not the best event for our vegan friends. Perhaps they can fill up on dirty rice and corn bread, but with out the cream and butter, how's that any good?

You must start off with a pitcher or two of Mint Juleps. For that you'll need:

• some tall, slim glasses
• plenty of Bourbon, Jim Beam or Wild Turkey will do. Save the Knob Creek for sippin' on its own
• lots of ice
• 2 or 3 bunches of fresh mint
• a 1 quart jar
• 1 cup of white sugar
• a splash of fresh lemon juice (optional, Martha thinks it a good thing)

The morning of your gathering, wash two of the bunches of mint, tear the leaves off and stuff them in a jar, layering it with the white sugar. Top it off with water, seal the jar, give it a good shake and let it steep all day. Fridge it if you want, only really necessary if you do it a day or so in advance. This makes perfect mint syrup. So, take a glass, fill it with ice, chunky crushed is nice, drizzle in an ounce of the mint syrup, top it off with bourbon (at least 2 ounces), garnish with a sprig of the fresh mint and there you have it. This is not a recipe from New Orleans, its not from one of my many cocktail encyclopedias, it is a tried and true recipe from Edmonton, Alberta. Perhaps their ancestors were Acadian?

For snacks I'd put out some pan-fried oysters. I like my oysters small, firm and very fresh. I enjoy fellas that way too…Typically, I dip them in an eggwash and coat them with seasoned bread crumbs, then pan fry them at med-high in a butter/olive oil blend with chopped fresh garlic until they are golden and crunchy. Be careful not to burn the butter/ oil mixture or the garlic, that will make it all a little bitter. You can add corn meal to the crumbs, I even had to use Shake'n' Bake in a tight situation and it was actually really tasty. These are fine with just a little squeeze of fresh lemon, but an aoli ( mayo type sauce) is great for dippin'. Crab cakes are wonderful too. There are many recipes for those that vary in style quite a bit. I prefer lots of Dungeoness crab; minimal breadcrumbs and seasonings served with a delicate sauce our vinegarete, if anything. Why wreck the delicate crab with some over bearing red pepper / jalepino business?

The main course can go many ways. You can go Cajun and keep it real or go Creole and jazz it up on the more refined side. I love comfort food and any kind of stew is great to me, so I would probably go with a prawn and Andouille sausage Gumbo served with red beans and rice, a little corn bread on the side. This is great for entertaining because it can all be done way earlier in the day, or the day before, just don't add the prawns till until a few minutes before serving to keep them succulent and tender. You can make stock from the prawn shells and add to the gumbo to marry the flavours; this makes the gumbo really tasty and well rounded. I like fresh cilantro on top of mine.

If you can't keep drinking the Juleps a sustain intelligible conversation, serve beer or an Italian Prosceco (bubbly), not that I'd give Krug or Veuve Cliquot the snub, but after all, you should be a bit lit from the bourbon.