Thursday, July 28, 2011.
The Croatian Past. At Drago's.
Tommy Cvitanovich wanted to get together this evening. I thought he'd want to see some progress on the cookbook, and what with vacations and everything there isn't much recent progress on that front. But it turned out that he wanted me to get together with Jerry Ward, who will be the photographer for the project. He works for Canon and knows what he's doing. I'm glad that Tommy knows you must have a professional for a project like this. Cookbooks have long lives.
We started by eating, of course. Tommy said that the oysters were big and corpulent, but not very salty, what with all the rain. He advised me to stay away from the raw ones, but we had a dozen char-broiled. And the fleur de lis shrimp, a new shrimp-and-grits dish along the lines of a Creole, a stuffed soft-shell crab, and a couple of other things.
Klara (Mrs. Drago) came over. Jerry asked her a question about Croatia. I mentioned that I was finishing a book about the end of World War I, in which Croatia was a major issue. The combination of those two subjects got Klara talking about her parents, what the Communists in Yugoslavia did to them, and the other desperate troubles her family and people like them had to go through in the 1940s. It all makes the worst we've seen sound like a day at the amusement park.
Tommy says he wants the book to contain an extensive history of his family and the other Croatians in the New Orleans restaurant business. There are many of those: just look for the "-ich" at the ends of the owners' names. He wants to get some recipes from those other restaurants to include in the book. I think this is a great idea. Certainly makes it easy to come up with a story arc.
I had another of those LA 31 beers from Magnolia Brewing. It is very sharp with hops and not for everyone. The Hilton Riverside--where the other Drago's is located--has suggested to Tommy that he expand his list of craft beers, because they're selling well.
Seems I run into that trend everywhere I go, now. We are supposed to do an Eat Club dinner at Café Adelaide in the fall, and Ti Martin says she's like to pair it with beer rather than wine.
On the way out, I stepped over to say hello to Drago, who was in his usual spot at the bar, greeting old customers. He is about to turn 89. "You're looking good, Drago!" I said.
"You need new glasses!" he replied, with a laugh.
Drago's. Metairie: 3232 N Arnoult Rd. 504-888-9254.
