BOOK REVIEW

Pulitzer Nominee George Weinstein does it again

Straight out of Erskine Caldwell’s Tobacco Road and Georgia Boy, George Weinstein weaves a tale of a young stuttering Bud MacLeod with his port wine birthmark and his siblings, Darlene, Jay and Chet growing up during the depression in rural Georgia with a totally dysfunctional set of parents, struggling their way through life, if you could call it a life. Their papa, a cuckold drunk, their mama living in constant fear of her abusive husband who would not only physically abuse the boys and verbally abuse her.

Both parents had a peculiar love for Darlene, the boys were required to work the fields and Darlene wasn’t even required to do housework. The adult characters-white and black-act act as if they are trapped by their circumstances and/or choices, and the MacLeod children are intent on not ending up the same way, fleeing South Georgia if they have to. Papa leaves after mama shoots him, the boys grow up hard and fast, papa comes back “Born Again” . Mama well…. you will have to read the book and make your own decisions…what happens? That will keep you turning the pages of Hardscrabble Road.  Buy this book and let me know what you think.

Also by George Jake and the Tiger Flight.

October 8, 2012
Eating my way through New Orleans

As usual my plans revolve around food; I managed to entice, a couple of my foodie friends to join me in New Orleans for a night and a day of food, drink and cigars. Arnold Gentilezza and Amadee Emanuelli, both coworkers, but working in other locales. Arnold drove in just for dinner from Baton Rouge and Amadee traveled from Biloxi, they met me at the Marriott Hotel at 555 Canal Street, New Orleans, We had 7:45 reservations for dinner at the Palace Café  Dickie Brennan’s  new place at 455 Canal Street just across Chartres Street, a very short walk, practically next door to the Marriott,. We were just a few minutes early and the hostess took us to the bar and assured us that it would be just a few minutes, and it was, I didn’t have time to finish my perfectly made Hendrix perfect martini. Upstairs in the beautiful dining room we were seated at a balcony table overlooking the bar and dining areas below, the view was outstanding; wrought iron, columns and stained glass. A properly set table with all the necessary hardware, servers bordering on overly attentive and their bountiful menu.

For starters Amadee ordered  Barbecued Shrimp In a New Orleans style barbecue sauce, spiked with Abita beer, served with Creole toasted French Bread, Arnold had the Shrimp Rémoulade  Spicy boiled shrimp dressed in New Orleans rémoulade, served in a crisp tomato cup on micro greens with herb vinaigrette and chopped egg .  I had heard so much about the Crabmeat Cheesecake baked in a pecan crust with a wild mushroom sauté and Creole meunière  from my new friends from Covington, Louisiana, Buddy and Annie Spell that it was a must do for me. The other guys didn’t rave about their appetizers, saying that they were okay, but my Crabmeat Cheesecake was outstanding the others had a taste and agreed that it far surpassed their choices. We were offered wine or other potables but opted for water instead. Round Two here come the entrees , the Shrimp Tchefuncte, Very nice gulf shrimp in a Creole meunière sauce with green onions, roasted mushrooms and popcorn rice was Amadee’s choice, Arnold opted for the  Crispy Braised Pork Shank  with a warm salad of crispy sweet potatoes, bleu cheese, frisée & house made bacon, finished with a Ponchatoula strawberry barbecue sauce and after looking at the other offerings I too ate the “Pig Leg”, it was good and plentiful but not remarkable, Arnold and I both shared some of the pig meat with Amadee and we shared the same opinion on the value of the dish, okay but not memorable. Desert was offered and refused. For no other reason other than that Arnold had to drive back to Baton Rouge, it was early and desert wasn’t what any of us had in mind. Outside and goodbye to Arnie, Amadee and I headed to the Royal Oyster house, Amadeee had been “jonesing” for oysters so we headed for our desert bar at the oyster bar.

RATING  ONE to FIVE    3.25

The Royal House had been recommended, not that it is better than all of the other Oyster Joints in the Quarter; it was the favorite place of my Covington friends. Again just a few blocks into Vieux Carrie on the corner of Royal and St. Louis and we needed to walk off the meal which we had finished just an hour before. When we arrived I was sort of taken aback at the crowd at the door, it was about eight deep, not in line but a crowd, and I was thinking “this isn’t going to work” but Amadee pushed through the throng and told the door guy that we just wanted to sit at the bar and with a big toothy smile “Arrow” said, “well you gentlmens just come ooon inn,” and we did. Sitting at the end of the bar near the service station we were greeted by another big toothy smile and I mean GOLD toothy, Willie the Shucker, Willie Gant to be exact gave us the old home treatment, “What’ll you gents have?” we each held up a dozen fingers and the bi-valve mollusks were relieved of their shells and what a treat. These spectacular morsels come from the brackish waters where the Pearl River meets the Gulf of Mexico near the Louisiana Mississippi border, born under ideal conditions and grown to a very respectable 2 plus inches of pure oyster meat. Willie and each his teammates open 7 to 8 hundred of these delicacies a day, served raw on the half shell with a little cocktail sauce and horseradish, a squeeze of lemon and a dash of Tabasco Sauce ®, either on a cracker or just “slurp em’” out of the shell , Deeelicious.  We each finished our respective dozen and ordered another half dozen apiece. Ummmm Good.

RATING  ONE to FIVE    3.75

Then off to Bourbon Street to observe the wild and weird and they were in fine form for a balmy October Saturday night, the beads were flying and the Ta Ta’s were showing, unbelievable.

 A short walk down Bourbon Street is the New Orleans Cigar Factory; small, quaint and been there forever, one youngish guy rolling and from what I have heard from old time rollers he won’t last because he rolls two hundred to three hundred sticks a day, the old timers  say his hands will give out. We each bought a cigar lighted up and waked back to the Marriott. What a day, a great evening makes.

Sunday, October 07, 2012, for me I’m usually up a 5:30 but today I slept in until seven, made my way to the hotel’s coffee shop for a great pot of Arabica and a plate of six small beignets and a couple of slice strawberries. I had called my new best friend in the NOLA foodie business Jimmy Boudreaux the reservationist at Commanders Palace, one of New Orleans oldest and finest on Thursday of last week and the best he could do was 1:45, well that’s sort of late to hold for breakfast / lunch brunch but I had, had the fluffy little dough pillows drenched in powdered sugar and sided with strawberries, enough to tied me over, well maybe. Jimmy said to call him after 9:30 to see if he had had any cancellations and he did, he was able to move us back to 12:30 which was perfect. Arrived a little early and were shown the bar and at Commanders that is a treat, you have to walk through the working kitchen and I mean working. But it’s working like a fine timepiece and every piece is fitting together perfectly, the hostess doesn’t let you tarry but gives you enough time to see it in its finest. At the bar I had to have one of the signature Bloody Marys, with the rim of the glass dusted with Commanders secret seasoning; other than the traditional salting they rim the glass with a Cajun seasoning plus other herbs and spices, the only one that stands out in my mind is the oregano. Another hostess arrives and puts our drinks on a tray so we can’t spill them as she shows us to our table. What can I say,

”this is Commander’s Palace” exquisite; our wait staff was made up of three  first class waiters, Jon, Woody and Patrick; they catered to our every need, explained every item which we asked about, and moved in and out without  “hovering” . When my Bloody Mary was exhausted I ordered a Sazarac Cocktail, it came perfect, yesterday when I arrive at the hotel I ordered one and sent it back, too sweet  For our first course Amadee ordered the  Turtle Soup A Commander’s classic ~ Finished tableside with a splash of sherry and I ordered the Oyster & Absinthe “Dome” Poached briny Gulf oysters with bacon, artichokes, tarragon, cream, and a splash of Parisian absinthe ~ Presented under a flaky pastry shell . Astonishing, unreal , delicious. For Entrees I chose the Shrimp and Grits, I have had this dish prepared at the home of friends who are well versed in the culinary arts, I have had them in the Carolina Low Country, in Savannah  and in Texas but these were the best ever. Amadee selected the Lobster Truffel, I tasted it was delectable. We both followed the dinner with their Bread Pudding topped with the whisky sauce and then possibly the best cup of coffee I have ever had, Amadee being from Puerto Rico a coffee producing area and grew up with connoisseurs of their native bean  is somewhat of a coffee expert and explained the process of making and roasting the beans and talked about the Alto Grande coffees which was the favorite of his family.

You think that’s perfect, well we asked about the possibility of smoking a cigar and were taken to a private garden patio, filled with sub-tropical plants, tables with ashtrays and served a 20 year old Warres tawny port, enjoyed two of my birthday H. Upman selects, we were cordially greeted by kitchen and wait staff who were taking “smoke breaks” . Before leaving were  joined by Steve Woodruff who is the Operations Manager for Commander’s Palace as well as Café Adelaide, and told some of the history of the “Brennan’s “ family of restaurants    

RATING  ONE to FIVE    5.00

Ratings are based on: Ambiance, Value, Expectation, Service, Quality

-o- 

I have just re-read "The Big Oyster"

'History on the Half Shell'

by

Mark Kurlansky  

The compleate Oyster book, brings to mind the harvesting,  preparation and of these delectables, now I know why Lewis Carroll included these creature in the following:

The Walrus and The Carpenter

Lewis Carroll

(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)

The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done--
"It's very rude of him," she said,
"To come and spoil the fun!"

The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead--
There were no birds to fly.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
"If this were only cleared away,"
They said, "it would be grand!"

"If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose," the Walrus said,
"That they could get it clear?"
"I doubt it," said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.

"O Oysters, come and walk with us!"
The Walrus did beseech.
"A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each."

The eldest Oyster looked at him,
But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head--
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster-bed.

But four young Oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat--
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn't any feet.

Four other Oysters followed them,
And yet another four;
And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more--
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Walked on a mile or so,
And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low:
And all the little Oysters stood
And waited in a row.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

"But wait a bit," the Oysters cried,
"Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!"
"No hurry!" said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.

"A loaf of bread," the Walrus said,
"Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed--
Now if you're ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed."

"But not on us!" the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
"After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!"
"The night is fine," the Walrus said.
"Do you admire the view?

"It was so kind of you to come!
And you are very nice!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"Cut us another slice:
I wish you were not quite so deaf--
I've had to ask you twice!"

"It seems a shame," the Walrus said,
"To play them such a trick,
After we've brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"The butter's spread too thick!"

"I weep for you," the Walrus said:
"I deeply sympathize."
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.

"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,
"You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?'
But answer came there none--
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one.