Rebuttal

You do realize this could go on forever.  A gentle reader’s response to last week was about his perceived idea of Louisiana fare, and he felt some favorites were left out. This won’t make amends, but will broaden the base.  Noted, in my family of origin, the one I joined by marriage, and the six individuals that comprise our core now, food is an engaging topic. The meal of the moment is prime focus sprinkled with memories of past successes and suggestions for the future.

First, like most states, Louisiana has a variety.  North Louisiana had dirt farmers living o garden fare.  The ankle of the boot nearest Mississippi had “soul food” with maybe a coon thrown in after a night of hunting in the Catahoula Swamps. I grew up in the Florida Parishes, a mixture of Spain from the east and creole from the west.  We had Italian settlers with St. Joseph altars and spreads laid out as thanksgiving for deliverance from famine. Do your own drooling over New Orleans favorites before moving to the Atchafalaya Swamp with maybe an alligator added to the mix. I didn’t know what a brisket was until I moved to Texas, but I knew how to cook a venison backstrap.

The question was asked about coffee, obviously not by a local.  Tea was offered only iced.  The choices were sweetened or not. I had my first cup of coffee when I was seven and at home with the flu. Dr. Gautreaux made a house call. After he listened to my chest, we sat around the kitchen table.  “Give that child a cup; it’ll loosen that cough.” Our house wasn’t a chickory fan.  Community Dark Roast was made in an eight cup drip pot that was always on the stove. Mother boiled water in kettle and poured it in the top over the grounds a cup at a time.  It was then heated before serving.  Lukewarm coffee was an anathema to hard core drinkers, good only for pouring down the sink and trying again.

The discussion could go on.  Would that I could hear each of you tell your favorite, your “comfort food” that brings the warmth of smells and taste, and the sounds of convivial laughter. Three courses or a bowl of soup, coq au vin or cinnamon toast, each creates longing for the being together where and with whom it was served.  The Israelites were rescued from slavery, drudgery, and lashings.  Yet, all was forgotten for what they remembered of Egypt.

Would we have died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full.  Exodus 16:3