It's Mardi Gras Time!

Today is Shrove Tuesday or as it's known in New Orleans Mardi Gras. It's also Carnevale in the rest of the world. It's also the last "fun" day before Lent. You can go as wild as you want with yummy foods or stay traditional with the Shrove Tuesday pancakes.



Mardi Gras cooks have elevated this day to a high art. The most famous is the Kign cake a brioche like bread cake that is decorated with the official Mardi Gras colors of purple green and yellow. A plastic or china baby representing the Christ Child is added to the cake after it's been cooled and decorated. Bakers have also added a dried bean orgold coin.Finding any of these means good luck, but the luck is really in the butter sweet taste of the cake itself. Other favorites include a shrimp gumbo. the f med red beans ad rice(what New Orleans dish wouldn't be complete without it) and anything with made with crawfish.


Carnevale food is also just as good and as tempting . There are the Fasnacht doughnuts , yummy home made jelly doughnuts from Germany. The fillings can be raspberry red current or apricot. Italy has it's own variety of fritters , from the saffron laced Sardenian ones to cenci , powder sugar strips of fried pastry. there are also meaty pizzas made with sausage and pancetta. of course the English have Shrove Tuesday pancakes. These are made more like the French crepes, light and crispy with just lemon and sugar as opposed to th e thick doughy American pancakes

Whatever you call it, be it Shrive Tuesday , Mardi Gras, Fasnacht or Carnevale, it's a time for good eating before the fasting. Enjoy all the treats and sweets while you can. Then you can repent !