by A. Laban
You call it Mardi Gras, we call it carnival.
Mardi Gras isn't just a one-day, blow-out party in New Orleans. "Fat Tuesday" is actually the last day of carnival, when historically Catholic countries celebrate the weeks preceding Lent and its forty-day period of abstinence and prayer leading up to Easter. Carnival traditionally begins on the Twelfth Night after Christmas and continues until Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. Ages ago, a fatted calf was slaughtered the day before Lent began, which gave name to Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras.
Carnival, like most Christian holidays, traces its roots back to a seasonal pagan celebration, in this case, the raucous Roman festival of Saturnalia, which itself evolved from older cultures' winter solstice celebrations. The term "carnival" is derived from the Latin words "carnis" meaning "flesh" and "vale" for "farewell." As Christianity spread across Europe, the church adopted and reformed this pre-Lenten celebration and renamed it "carnelevamen," which means "farewell to flesh."
French settlers brought carnival to the New World and New Orleans as well. Early Mardi Gras celebrations, however, were not organized community events, and carnival was celebrated with wild parties thrown in private homes. It wasn't until 1857 when the first parade and float appeared. That year, the first true Mardi Gras "krewe" was formed and named themselves the Mystick Krewe of Comus, the Merrie Monarch of Mirth, after the Greek god of revelry. Comus launched the first Mardi Gras float and began the tradition of the parade and an elaborate ball, bringing together a winning combination of populist street celebrations and elite social functions.
All that partying works up an appetite, and in New Orleans, it's satisfied with Cajun and Creole dishes, the region's two unique culinary traditions. The Creoles were New Orleans' upper class, and their menus, while they incorporated African and Indian influences, were more a reflection of their noble European heritage. Classic European recipes updated with regional ingredients were often prepared by the trained cooks the wealthy Creoles could afford. Dishes were enhanced with sauces, which were often heavy on butter and cream.
"Cajun" is a corruption of "Acadian," a group of southern French farmers who relocated to the backwoods of Louisiana from Nova Scotia in the early eighteenth century when the British pushed the French out of Canada. Cajun cooking is a mixture of French, Spanish, African, coastal Mexican and native Indian cooking. It's a working-class cuisine dependent on hunting, subsistence crops and relatively simple cooking techniques.
The Cajuns found ample fish, shellfish and game, including crawfish, turtles and squirrels, in the bayous of the Louisiana Territory. Local Choctaw Indians showed the settlers how to powder sassafras leaf into a thickening and flavoring agent and how to barbecue meat and make cornmeal. Blackened seafood is a traditional Cajun dish, and Cajun cooks typically relied on the three peppers - black, white, and Tabasco. The Cajuns were probably the first to cook flour into "roux," the foundation of gumbos, fricassees and many other one-pot dishes. West African slaves influenced Cajun dishes further by adding okra, or "gombo" as the vegetable was termed in an African dialect, to thicken stew and gumbo was created. Similarly, "jambalaya" is said to derive both from "jomba," an African dish of simmered fish; and from a combination of "jambon," the French word for ham, and "ya," an African word for rice.
We've borrowed many of the Big Easy's Mardi Gras traditions, but, with some winters delivering two feet of snow and sub-zero temperatures, we're not able to take to the streets to celebrate. Instead, the South rises in Chicago every February in the numerous Cajun restaurants around town. In some locals' opinions, Mardi Gras Central in Chicago is actually west - west on 294 to Wheeling - where Crawdaddy Bayou hosts celebrations daily from late January through Mardi Gras. Each night, a Mardi Gras king and queen decked in ornate costumes and headdresses lead the costumed restaurant staff in hourly parades during dinner. Parade members throw doubloons ("gold" coins), beads, candy and toys for restaurant patrons, who all receive masks and beads. Live Zydeco music plays continuously while, on Fat Tuesday, Crawdaddy Bayou's heated and enclosed porch becomes Bourbon Street North. Over the course of the weeks' celebrations, the restaurant gives away a trip for two to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, and $10 gift certificates are awarded to diners who find the prize, a tiny plastic infant, in their King Cake, a traditional Mardi Gras pastry.
Pam Pistorius of Crawdaddy Bayou says that her restaurant's celebration and parades are big hits. "Locals really do love Mardi Gras parties. They absolutely love getting the beads, and people will run around the restaurant trying to get as many as possible to lay claim to having the most - until they can barely hold their necks up, I might add."
Pam observes a distinct cultural difference between Northern and Southern revelers. "Down South, no one is ever in a hurry for anything. Up here, everyone is in a hurry for something. Locals get frustrated with waiting, and they don't like the closeness of a tight crowd. In New Orleans during Mardi Gras, you don't move through the people down the street; the street of people moves you when it's time. Northerners want to be seated immediately, eat fast, get their beads, see their parade and be gone. Southerners love to stay, hang out and visit. The longer the visit, the more successful the event."
In Chicago, where we're often desperate to lift the gloom of February, we frequently fail to recognize that Mardi Gras Day is the final blow-out marking the end of carnival and the beginning of Lent, the most pious period in the Christian calendar. Plenty of local parties continue after Fat Tuesday has come and gone. This year, Brother Jimmy's will host a charity party in conjunction with the Make A Wish Foundation, February 18. There won't be any abstinence on Sheffield that night at a party billed as "Mardi Gras Madness."
Rio di Janeiro is a city that gives New Orleans more than a run for its money with a decadent carnival celebration that starts the Saturday before Ash Wednesday, ends Fat Tuesday and features samba clubs, music, parades, and scantily-clad participants. Rhumba, our local taste of Brazil, will help make the decadence last here in town with a celebration that's not held until February 21.
Can you blame us for trying to make the carnival last as long as possible? Why should we have to wait until Taste of Chicago? Laissez les bons temps rouler!
- Look for good times at the following:
The Artful Dodger, 1734 West Wabansia, (773)227-6859. Mardi Gras, February 16, all-you-can-eat Cajun buffet, including vegetarian dishes, $10. Live music.
Club Creole, 226 West Kinzie, (312)222-0300.Special food and drinks. Live music on Mardi Gras, when the restaurant will be open until midnight.
Crawdaddy Bayou,, 412 North Milwaukee, Wheeling, (847)520-4800. Food and drink specials through February 16. Live music and nightly parades. Masks, beads and prizes.
Dixie Kitchen & Bait Shop, 525 South Harper Court (773-363-4943) and 825 Church, Evanston (847-733-9030). Special multi-course dinners on Mardi Gras, beads and toys given away. $3 jars of Hurricanes.
Heaven on Seven on Rush, 600 North Michigan, (312)280-7774. Live music, prizes, magicians and tarot card readers through February 16.
Joe's Be-Bop Café & Jazz Emporium, Navy Pier, 700 East Grand, (312)595-5299. February 8-16, live music, Cajun specials, "How Hot Can You Take It" jambalaya contest, February 13-14.
Louisiana Kitchen, 2666 North Halsted, (773)529-1666. Special menu and special drinks, including the Creole Cooler and authentic Hurricanes and Blue Bayous, through February 16.
Maple Tree Inn, 13301 South Old Western, Blue Island, (708)388-3461. "Maple Tree will be kickin' butt as usual on Mardi Gras." February 12-16 baubles, bangles and beads. Live music inside and on the veranda with a menu of Cajun-Creole specials. Open February 14.
Redfish, 400 North State, (312)467-1600. Celebration through February 16 with special drinks and a special menu. Live music Friday, Saturday and Tuesday.
Rhumba, 3631 North Halsted, (773)975-2345. Opens at 4pm on February 21 for a celebration that includes live music.
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