So it started with breakfast. First course - breakfast couscous with raisins, almonds and all sorts of yummies in it, served with yoghurt and drizzled with honey.
Second course (for breakfast!) - shrimp and grits. And it's delicious. The grits are cheesy and buttery and delish.
Then it's off to the New Orleans School of Cooking for a cooking class. Even though it's not vegetarian, why not learn to cook Cajun food. I had asked Chuck for a recommendation via email a while ago and then booked this one before he came back with another place. When I said I was going to this one, he said it was the better one, he had to say the other cos the owners had stakes in the other.
So we all meet in the general store and get our names ticked off. There is quite a collection of people gathering at the door to get in first, even though we are told it is going to be seated in order of reservation - which makes me number five or six so I get a good spot at the front. Sandra is our cook/chef and she is hilarious - gives the culinary history, tells funny stories and cooks at the same time.
She starts by preparing the bread pudding. This can have any assortment of things added to it. Today, it's coconut and pineapple and Piña Colada. Once that's in the oven, it's onto the gumbo, which begins with a roux - flour and oil stirred constantly for 15 to 20 minutes (and this is why I will never make gumbo - even though I know how now).
Sandra explains all the origins of the gumbo - the Native Americans had the corn. Early settlers brought the flour. The Nuns brought herbs, the enslaved Africans brought okra, the Germans brought eggs, milk, cheese, chicken and beer. The Spanish brought tomatoes and garlic. The jambalaya isthe Creole version of paella. And the difference between Cajun and Creole is Creole are rich and town, use more sauces and shellfish. Cajun are country and will eat anything meat - road kill, rodents, anything meat.
Her anecdotes are so funny. She tells how when her generation made gumbo, they used bacon dripping. Her health-conscious daughter tells her not to use it - it's not good for you. But she still puts in one part of it and her daughter always asks, "Why is my gumbo not as good as yours?" And the smell of the roux is the Creole mating smell.
Gumbo and jambalaya have the holy trinity ingredients, which are onion, celery and green bell peppers. Garlic is the Pope.
All the while, she is cooking up gumbo and jambalaya. She does ask if there are any Californians and if there are, they're about to eat more fat than they have in their lifetime.
And the difference between gumbo and jambalaya - gumbo is made from a roux and is soup that can be served over rice, jambalaya is not made from roux and has rice cooked into it.
I am told by the nice Michigan couple and the North Carolina family that they are delicious. They are filled with chicken and sausage and chicken stock and bacon dripping so I don't have any - a fact the father of the North Carolina family was happy about cos he got mine.
Last of all she made praline, which was yummy too. They had jugs of water, iced tea and their own beer - all of which I tried. Don't like beer normally but it was okay - and it was midday by then. Finished off with the bread pudding, which was excellent too. Then, of course, you exit through the general store where they have cookbooks, aprons, all sorts of condiments, all sorts of stuff.
Next port of call was the Bottom of the Cup Tearooms for a clairvoyant reading - cos it's the place to do it, so why not...
I have had a palm reading before, years and years ago - someone who was meant to be excellent, very highly recommended. The first thing she said to me was that I enjoy organising children's birthday parties so I didn't believe a thing she said after that!
Had a quick stop at the restroom at the back of the hall and as I was coming back, Brandie said, "you poor thing, you're stuck with me." Then she got really worried that she'd offended me. I told her not to worry - didn't want to say too much cos I wanted her to have to read me with no clues - including the foreigner part.
Back we go into a little room and it's Tarot cards. I think there's a variety of Tarot, palm and teacups. I didn't care which. So she basically told me that over the next two years there'll be advancement and travel with work. She started off by saying I would be moving in the next six months which I emphatically denied - all that work renovating, no way I'm moving. She then transferred the 'moving' to the workplace.
Then she directly asked me where I was from and what I did. In a nutshell - over two years, advancement and travel with work. A relationship with a man from a different country, possibly in uniform, who I will make it difficult for but who will persist. A nice man. Lots of travel generally and good health.
So there we go. That's all good news! She again apologised for her first comment. I told her I thought it was funny and she said once she knew I was Australian she knew she was okay coz we can take a joke..
The palm reader had told me I would marry a man from the Black Forest - possibly a soldier. So I must be on the lookout...a foreign man in uniform...
I headed down to the wharf to book a ticket for tonight. Went past the cafe where I had the coffee and beignet yesterday - look at the difference between being a tourist on a Friday to a Saturday!
Then had a stroll along the riverfront to the markets. I was on the lookout (not for a Black Forest soldier) for a vegetarian jambalaya and I found one. The Cajun Cafe at the Market. And it was delicious!
The markets are great - all sorts of stalls, heaps of food, oyster shucking, music playing, great place. Then for a walk along Royal Street - a great street with shops full of art, jewellery, Halloween decorations, masks, all sorts of colourful stuff. Found a great shop with gorgeous lamps and bric-a-brack (not sure how to spell that and predicative text is not helping me.)
And more muses...
It's very hot and I decide to go back to the Inn to have a sit and a coffee. Have to tell myself it's okay to sit for an hour or so, I don't have to be going every single second. I can stop for a bit.
Heading to the wharf and I think I'd better go down Bourbon Street to have a proper look. It's just not my sort of place. Almost scary. There's guys up in the balconys calling down to the topless painted chickie babes, lots of noise, lots of people imbibing, just lots of loud people. Next street down (I think) is the lovely Royal Street - very different.
It's interesting to think if people's different experiences of the one place. My holiday here will be the polar opposite to someone who is here to party on Bourbon Street.
Down to the Natchez Paddle Steamer for a dinner jazz cruise on the Mississippi! How cool is that?? As we're lining up and waiting, a guy comes out and plays some Dixie tunes on the calliope on the top of the boat. They operate with the steam.
I spoke to him later and he said it's just two octaves and is the same as playing a keyboard.
Chose the early sitting so we pretty much got on the boat and straight into the dining room. Dinner was standard fare but local and fine - catfish, creamed spinach, corn and peppers, potatoes with bread pudding for dessert (not as good as Sandra's today).
The boat set sail and we steamed up the river. I had a good look over the three levels, including the engine room with the massive pistons operating the paddles.
Paddles from the side...
And from above...
Managed to get a seat (cos I was hovering when they called the second dinner sitting and scurried into a seat vacated by someone heading down to eat) right at the front for the band. They were soooooo very good. And it was really fantastic, sailing down the Mississippi listening to Dixie music.
Sat and listened to the band until we docked. They ended with When the Saints Come Marching In. They were just great.
Started walking back, thinking I should get a cab - it's not far but I'm not too sure how safe it is. But there are stacks of people out and about - it is Saturday, there's people everywhere, ghost tours, it's fine to walk back.
So this wasn't all about food after all...
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