Billdo/Cajun Man's Jambalaya Jam - Wednesday 1/17

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Last Thurdsay I was with a group of people, and we had a Mardi Gras King Cake. A traditional Louisiana pastry that is first served on King’s Day (Feast of the Epiphany on January 6). Baked into the cake is a small, gold figurine of a baby, representing the Christ child. The person who gets the slice of the cake that contains the baby becomes King for the Week.

Along with the honor of being King for the Week comes a responsibility. The King is required to provide a King Cake for the next week’s party. This goes on from King’s Day through Mardi Gras.

Well, last week when I was eating my piece of cake, I bit down on something hard, and found it was a little golden baby. I was King for the Week.

Wanting to know more about this tradition, I spoke to our fellow poster Cajun Man, who is unsurprisingly an expert in Cajun practices. He also has an aunt in Louisiana who owns a bakery that specializes in King Cakes and will ship them by overnight delivery to New York (or anywhere else).

While we were talking, Cajun Man had an idea. Because he and DrMatrix were unable to make last weekend’s dopefest and missed seeing everyone, he suggested that if I were to host a King Cake party, he would provide a giant pot of his celebrated Jambalaya, and we could invite the dopers for dinner.

I enthusiastically agreed, and we decided that this Wednesday, January 17 at 6:30 would be a good time to have it at my apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan (the island, not the moderator).

So, if you are interested in having an authentic Cajun Jambalaya dinner this Wednesday evening, please e-mail me. I’ll e-mail you back with my address and probably ask you to bring a little something to make the dinner complete (and if you want to respond on the thread and keep it on the front page, that would be good as well).

See you Wednesday, and bring your Mardi Gras beads!

2

In European countrys, the arrival of the wise men bringing gifts to the Christ Child is celebrated twelve days after Christmas. This day set at January 6th is called twelfth night or Epiphany. One of the most popular customs to honor this day is the baking of a special cake representing The three kings … A “King’s” Cake. The European custom was to hide a bean inside the cake and the person finding the bean had to portray one of the wise men. Others put a small figure inside the cake representing the Christ Child Good fortune was to come to the person finding the figure.

Louisianians like the idea of continuing this tradition. New Orleans and surrounding areas hold the custom of the king cake parties. The king cake is brightly decorated in purple denoting justice, green for faith and gold for power and now contains a plastic baby. The tradition being that during the carnival season, which begins on twelfth night and ends on Fat Tuesday (The day before Ash Wednesday), whoever receives the piece of cake containing the baby must buy the next king cake to continue the weekly party.

Thousands of king cakes are consumed during the carnival season in the Crescent City. This tradition has also spread nationwide.

During Mardi Gras, locals and tourists alike flock to New Orleans. This has become one of the top celebrations in the world. During this time, which began in 1837, many private masked balls and street parades are held day and night. These public parades have marching bands, dance teams, animals and giant floats where masked riders throw beads, doubloons, and trinkets to the waving arms of crowds yelling “Throw me something, Mister.” On Mardi Gras Day, excitement is felt as everyone joins in costuming to view a day filled with the longest parades ending with the Krewe of Rex Parade, the grandest of all.

Except for police protection and cleanup, the cost of Mardi Gras is absorbed by the many Krewes in the area, which are totally self funded by the thousands of members.

3

How sad for me that a previous engagement prevents me from attending!

Will the person who gets the baby be king of the SDMB for an entire year? The possibilities are amazing (and a little scary).

4

Yesterday, at one of our local grocery stores, we saw a King Cake! I would have liked to buy it, but it didn’t say whether or not there was actually a baby doll in it, and none of the bakery staff was on hand. But I think it would be a cool addition if we end up having a Doper Super Bowl Party here.

And good luck with your party, Billdo and CajunMan. I’d come to it if I were close, and I will e-mail my hermit-like daughter (the one who lives in Jackson Heights) about it (she posts under the name Angie Gailbird).

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5

Sounds great.

Whoever gets the baby will be king or queen of just the King Cake party attendees and only for one week.

6

Spider Woman, if you do decide to have a King Cake for your party, you might consider ordering one from here. I can personally guarantee that said cake will have a baby inside (not to mention you would be getting the best King Cake in the entire state of Louisiana).

7

We were going to have a Super Bowl Party if the Vikings won (they did worse than lose; I’m not sure they showed up).

I must have missed those pictures yesterday of the King Cakes. They are there, plain as day. They are similar looking to the one at the local bakery here (although I’m sure the ones here can’t compare).

Have fun at your party!

----:)/ x o x o x
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8

Well, the King Cake is ordered and will be arriving fresh by UPS next day on Wednesday.

Hope you can get your chance to be King (or Queen) for the week.

9

I’ll be there, of course.

10

There can be (and is) but one king of the SDMB…His Royal Majesty, King Cecil Adams!

11

i gotta tell you, i had a couple of bites of aforementioned king cake from what’s gotta be the best bakery in new orleans because i’ve never tasted anything as wonderfully sweet; and the promise of another bite of king cake might be just enough to get me out of my neighborhood to the upper west side. not to mention i have tasted cajun man’s famous jumbalaya and that itself would be almost enough to get me uptown. i’ve always wanted to be queen for a day but queen for a week!!! i don’t know if i could handle that so if i get the golden baby i may discreetly slip it back into someone else’s piece of cake. have i said too much?

12

Well, the King Cake just arrived fresh from Louisania and Cajun Man is on his way over with the Jambalaya, but there’s still time to come on over and get some.

If you can make it to the Upper West Site of New York tonight, e-mail me. Perhaps you can be king for the week.