Mardi Gras/Carnival Season kicks off on the 12th Day after Christmas. The revelry and pageantry of this season makes for a fun reason to have a get together with friends. Not only are the sights and decorations of the Mardi Gras season colorful, but so is the food. Here are seven food ideas for your next Mardi Gras party.
- King Cake- This oblong or circular braided pastry is often covered with icing and sugar in gold, green, and purple colors. The cake can be without stuffing or filled with everything from cream cheese to apples. And of course, many cakes come with a plastic baby. The idea being that whoever gets the piece with the baby, gets to host the party the next year.
In terms of colors on the cake, the gold stands for power, the green for faith, and the purple for justice.
- Jambalaya-This hearty dish includes meat, vegetables, and rice to soak up stock (New Orleans CVB).
- Red Beans and Rice-Often served with a side of meat such as sausage.
- Po-Boy-This sandwich on French bread can be filled with meats such as roast beef and turkey or seafood (New Orleans CVB).
- Gumbo-A stew that includes stock, seasoned veggies such as celery, bell pepper, and onions, and meat or seafood. The stew is thickened with ingredients such as roux or file powder (Wikipedia).
- Bread Pudding-Yum on a plate! This dessert is bread-based and soaked in sweet sauce often including rum or whiskey.
- Bananas Foster-Check out this dessert that is a real attention getter. Bananas, butter, and brown sugar are mixed with rum or banana liqueur and set aflame. Quite the show.
For recipes for these tasty dishes, I recommend Emerils.com’s Mardi Gras Menu, Southern Living’s “30 New Orleans Classics for Mardi Gras”, and New Orleans Cooking recipe section.
Other Mardi Gras articles to enjoy:
16 Things To Put In Mardi Gras Gift Baskets
I could go for a banana Foster! Thanks for sharing at The Weekend Retreat, hope to see you back next Thursday.
Coo-wee Char….those are some yummy recipes ya mentioned. We love Mardi Gras time of year especially since we live on the coast in Alabama. *looking around* I even decorate a small Christmas tree Mardi Gras style to celebrate. Don’t forget to add some good Couche-couche (cajun corn bread) to eat with the red beans and rice.
Happy SITS day,
Regi
Have to say that I’m not a cajun but my sweet BIL is and man oh man can he ever cook all the delicious food from his heritage.
Thanks for adding a little lagniappe with the Cajun corn bread suggestion. Huge fan of the Alabama gulf coast. Hopped over to your site and love the look of your shell designs.
Wow these are extremely Louisiana foods! I just learned about King Cake from a blogger buddy that was born and raised there. The other stuff sounds so yummy. I would love to have some Jambalaya right now! Thanks for sharing this with us at Countdown in Style! Don’t forget to stop by Friday to see if you are featured!
I didn’t know there was a Mardi Gras season! I really need to get in the kitchen and get some Mardi Gras going on! Thanks for sharing and linking up with Countdown in Style! Don’t forget to come back on Friday to see if you were featured!
~~April~~
100lbCountdown.com
Yes, especially in the Deep South, they celebrate a whole season of Mardi Gras with the last day being Fat Tuesday.
Gumbo and Jambalaya sound awesome. My mom used to make jambalaya all the time when I was a kid. Thanks for sharing with the Weekend Block Party last week, hope to see you back this week!
Thanks so much for stopping by. So glad the post brought back food memories.
Ah, a girl after my own heart! We live in Texas but we are from Louisiana, so I love this post. Thanks for linking up at our Pin-it Party last week. I’m featuring this as my favorite!!
ive never had a mardi gras party before. i will def in these recipes for later. thanks for linking up to the all things pretty party.
Thanks so much for the feature. I am very excited.