Food Matters

Mardi Gras is coming in Louisiana this year, just as in all the years before.  Fat Tuesday will fall on the last day of the month, February 28, with Ash Wednesday on March 1.  The parades won't be as fancy this year, or the streets as crowded, but those who love the Grand Old Lady of the South will still dance in the streets.  No amount of wind and flood water can wipe away the joy of this last big celebration before Lent.

 

The King Cake, a gaudy yeast bread coated with icing that is sprinkled with sugar in the traditional colors of gold, purple and green, is a Mardi Gras tradition.  Baked into this cake are always one or more symbols of good luck, the most enduring of which is the tiny plastic "baby" which promises that the finder will be lucky all year long.  Bakeries in southern Louisiana have always specialized in these cakes, though they have gone mainstream in the past few years.  It's probably a natural for the King Arthur Flour Company to feature a King Cake Kit at this time of year.  What makes it really special, however, is the company's promise to donate of $2 for the rebuilding of New Orleans for every King Cake Kit sold.  I mention it here because it seems a great way to have a taste of Louisiana Mardi Gras while also sending a bit of help and hope to the Big Easy.  FMI: http://www.prm0.net/bakerscatalogue/default_RT60203X.asp

 

Best, Jennifer