Last week Mary Ann met a young man at Galatoire’s that intrigued her. He came to her attention because a table of young ladies went to him to have their picture taken with him. Ever the producer, Mary Ann went over to see what this was about, and learned that he is a DJ from London and is one a global station. She invited him to visit the show to talk about his trip to New Orleans and his food discoveries here. We did that today.
His stage name is Jesus (Hey' soos) Bacalao, (yes, exactly like the salt cod) and the Jesus is a nod to his birthplace. Oaxaca. Mexico. This is a long story we had no time to get into today. We talked about New Orleans, since this was his first visit. We were impressed with his research. He came prepared.
He arrived last Thursday and took his first meal at Mr. B’s. Gumbo Ya-Ya and Barbecue shrimp. Check. Mary Ann met him his first full day, when he arrived at 8:45 am to get into Galatoire’s. Here he had fried chicken and an okra gumbo he declared the best thing he’s ever eaten.
The purpose of the trip was fried chicken, and he was dismayed to learn that he was leaving the day of the Fried Chicken Festival. He had it at Willie Mae’s Scotch House, where he also had fried okra. He’s now a big fan of that vegetable. And on Saturday he went first to Acme, then to Felix’s. Acme better for raw and chargrilled oysters, but he liked the buffalo ones at Felix’s too.
Tonight he visited Drago’s after the show, and Parkway yesterday. Still on the list is Jacques-Imo’s, maybe Liuzza’s by the Track, and Casamento’s. He’s carefully weighing his options for his last five meals before heading west to Cajun country for some boudin.
This guy was a great interview, and we asked him to phone in is observations for the rest of the trip. We hope he does.
I had some production to do when the show was over, so we decided to cook here. MA boiled some pasta and made one of the house favorites here at the Cool Water Ranch.
Garlicky Pasta
I lb bag of pasta, preferably rotini
⅓ cup olive oil
7 cloves garlic chopped
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 T crushed red pepper flakes
1 T dried thyme
1 T dried basil
1 T dried oregano
Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste
1.Boil water for pasta
2.Chop garlic, and parsley
3. When pasta is nearly done, heat skillet to medium. Pour in olive oil. Then toss in garlic and parsley. Stir constantly because garlic burns quickly.
4.Add all herbs and stir. Add pasta with some water and keep stirring, coating all ingredients.
5. Remove from heat and generously douse pasta with finely grated parmesan
