6 Reasons to Love New Orleans

In spring 2018, we launched a series of illustrated books that’s near and dear to our hearts: the Little Local Cookbooks. Each one of these small, giftable books acts as both a cookbook and a travel guide: celebrating the quintessential flavors and landmarks of its place of origin.

The Little Local New Orleans Cookbook honors a city that occupies a singular place in our consciousness, a city famed for its rich cultural traditions, its incredible music, and its infectious joie de vivre: New Orleans. Our author, Stephanie Jane Carter, has deep roots in the Crescent City, where she’s been writing, speaking, and curating exhibits about food for a dozen years. In her recipe selection, she highlights quintessential New Orleans dishes and drinks, from the Hurricane and the Sazerac to Creole Gumbo and Bananas Foster—and delves into the fascinating history behind them. These recipes are complemented by illustrator Courtney Jentzen’s glowing watercolor images of the city’s iconic landmarks, from the stately St. Charles streetcar to the colorful balconies of the French Quarter.

We couldn’t be happier to highlight this glorious, much mythologized city, where every day—and every meal—is cause for celebration. Here are six reasons to love New Orleans:

1. Cocktails

In June 2008, the Louisiana House of Representatives took a strong stand: By a 62-33 margin, they moved to declare the Sazerac the official cocktail of New Orleans. That designation would be a high honor anywhere; in the Big Easy, it’s damn near gospel. After all, this is a city with celebration woven into its DNA, where the annual calendar revolves around festivals and parties. This is a city where the bars can stay open all night, and the revelry often spills into the streets. And, of course, this is the city that gave birth to a veritable who’s who of classic cocktails, including the Absinthe Frappé, the Vieux Carré, the Ramos Gin Fizz, and the Cafe Brûlot.

So just what sets the Sazerac apart from the competition? Longevity. Legend has it that the drink—a potent mixture of rye whiskey, bitters, and absinthe—was invented in the 1830s, making it, by some accounts, the first cocktail ever invented. It all started when local pharmacist Antoine Amédée Peychaud had an idea: He would combine cognac with fruit-driven bitters he had made from his family’s secret recipe. The cocktail soon gained fame at Sazerac Coffee House. Over the years, the drink evolved, with the cognac replaced by rye whiskey, and the absinthe swapped for Herbsaint. The Sazerac has reigned supreme ever since: Today, nearly 200 years after Peychaud first developed the drink, one bar alone—the Sazerac Bar at the Roosevelt New Orleans Hotel—sells some 30,000 Sazeracs a year!

2. The French Quarter

Stately French colonial buildings, their balconies decorated with intricate iron grillwork and planted with lush window boxes. Musicians posted up on street corners, perched on buckets and crates, playing trumpets and trombones and guitars and cellos, filling the air with beautiful noise. Horses clip-clopping down cobblestone streets, and tinkling piano music spilling out alley doors. Scents of jambalaya and gumbo and beignets wafting through the air. The French Quarter is a wondrous feast for the senses, yes, but it’s also something more: it’s the New Orleans of dreams, of legends, the place people picture when they think of the Big Easy.

That makes sense: After all, when NOLA was founded, in 1718, it grew up around a central square, the “Vieux Carré,” later renamed the French Quarter. Sitting flush along the Mississippi River from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue, extending inland to North Rampart Street and Louis Armstrong Park, the neighborhood is tiny, occupying less than one square mile. But that small space contains an embarrassment of riches. Within its boundaries, you’ll find Jackson Square and the French Market, Café du Monde (of beignet fame) and the Napoleon House (so named because it was once offered to the general himself, as a refuge during his exile). Here, you’ll find the city’s top shopping spot, Royal Street, and its jazz headquarters, Preservation Hall. The neighborhood is the city’s red-hot culinary center, too: The Quarter is home to more restaurants and bars per square block than any other neighborhood, and it’s the birthplace of a host of famous creations, such as the Hurricane (Pat O’Brien’s Bar), Bananas Foster (Brennan’s), Blackened Redfish (K-Paul’s), and the Muffaletta Italian Sandwich (Central Grocery).

3. Paddlewheelers

At heart, NOLA has always been a river town, its distinct crescent outline—and busy shipping economy—shaped by the mighty Mississippi. The timeless symbol of the river and the city’s shipping muscle? The paddlewheeler. Tall and stately, powered by a steam engine and a great wheel, these steamboats made it possible to move people and goods up and down the river more quickly and easily.

The first steamer’s journey to New Orleans, in 1811, is the stuff tall tales are made on. Launched from Pittsburgh, captained by Nicholas Roosevelt (yes, that would be Teddy’s great-grand-uncle), the New Orleans had to contend with an earthquake en route, which caused the Mississippi to flow in the opposite direction for 45 miles. Throughout its journey, the ship provoked an array of reactions from onshore onlookers: while some gaped and cheered upon spotting the boat, others pelted it with rocks, fearing the vessel was carrying British invaders. When the New Orleans finally arrived in the Big Easy, four months after leaving Pennsylvania, it inaugurated a golden age of travel and trade, opening the door for other steamboats ferrying cotton, sugar, and passengers to sweep in and out of the city. By 1814, New Orleans had counted some 20 steamboat arrivals; two decades later, that number had soared to 1,200.

In the late 1800s, the paddlewheelers disappeared for the most part, outpaced by the faster, cheaper railroad. But, to this day, two beautiful specimens, the Creole Queen and the Steamboat Natchez, still ply the waters near town, offering locals and travelers a water’s-eye view of the river that shaped the city.

4. Gumbo and Jambalaya

In a city renowned for its food, few dishes are more iconic—and beloved—than two rich, comforting classics: gumbo and jambalaya. Like so many things in the Big Easy, the dishes reflect the city’s history as a cultural melting pot. Gumbo takes its name from kingombo, the West African Bantu word for okra, one of the stew’s main ingredients. The dish, however, also draws heavily on culinary influences from the French (roux), Choctaw Indians (filé powder, made from dried ground sassafras), and German (sausage). Jambalaya, meanwhile, is a sort of mishmash of Spanish paella and West African jollof rice, topped with German-inspired sausages and sprinkled with Caribbean spices (first imported to NOLA by the French). Another thing that gumbo and jambalaya share is their base: Both dishes are built on a group of ingredients so vital to Creole and Cajun cooking, they’re known as the “holy trinity”: diced onions, green pepper, and celery.

Beyond that, the dishes diverge. Gumbo is packed with protein-laden goodies—which might include crab, shrimp, chicken, beef, sausage, wild turkey, and even frog—but it is, at the end of the day, a thick stew with a base of shrimp stock. While jambalaya often incorporates many of those same proteins, it is, ultimately, a rice dish. Cooks often thicken their gumbo with roux, a cooked mixture of flour and butter, which gives the dish an undercurrent of richness. Jambalaya, meanwhile, doesn’t contain roux, but it does feature Creole seasoning and hot sauce—giving the dish a spicy kick.

Gumbo and jambalaya come in many forms, depending on season, ingredient availability, and, of course, the whim of the cook. Where to start looking for inspiration? For our money, we’re partial to Stephanie Carter’s gumbo, a lighter Creole version of dish that incorporates generous portions of fresh okra and ripe tomatoes. But no matter which recipes you follow, you’ll find that gumbo and jambalaya are the best sort of comfort food: a balm for the soul.

5. King Cake

If gumbo and jambalaya are NOLA’s favorite main dishes, there’s no question as to the city’s preferred dessert: king cake. The sweet treat is beloved, in part, due to its rarity: per tradition, it’s only available during Carnival season, which runs from Epiphany (January 6) through Mardi Gras (mid- to late February). That timing reflects the symbolism behind the dessert which, historically, was meant to celebrate the wise men’s visit to Bethlehem. (Hence the cake’s circular, crown-like shape, and the small plastic baby hidden inside it, a nod to the story of the magis’ visit.)

As with gumbo, Louisiana king cake appears in myriad forms. At heart, it’s a doughy, brioche-based pastry, covered with a sweet, colorful topping. Beyond that, anything goes! Some cakes are laced with cinnamon sugar, while others are filled with all sorts of goodies: strawberries, crème fraiche, pecan praline, Nutella...One chef might top her cake with sanding sugar, another with chocolate ganache. Roam the Big Easy, and you’ll find inspired variations everywhere, from the guava and cream cheese king cake at Norma’s Sweets Bakery to the “Elvis,” La Boulangerie’s iteration, a brioche filled with peanut butter and roasted banana, with house-cured bacon and toasted marshmallows on top. But while the cakes vary, one rule is steadfast: the person who gets the slice containing the plastic baby must provide king cake for the next party. In fact, the trinket is such a key figure in New Orleans lore, the local NBA team has a seasonal King Baby mascot!

6. Mardi Gras and Jazz

In this famously free-spirited city, one celebration, in particular, stands out, a holiday that, for many, is nearly synonymous with New Orleans itself: Mardi Gras. The celebration, which runs through Carnival season and culminates with 12 days of intense revelry, crescendoing on “Fat Tuesday,” draws some 1.4 million visitors to the city. During that time, local krewes (social clubs) mount over 70 parades, featuring dancers, marching bands, and floats. Masked float riders toss some 25 million pounds of purple, gold, and green beads to excited onlookers, and participants strut their costumes—the most elaborate of which shine with thousands upon thousands of beads.

While the numbers are impressive, what’s truly unforgettable is the experience of it all. The sight of huge, colorful floats: Here, a smiling king with intricate butterfly wings, trailed by a garden in full bloom. There, a giant green dinosaur—its neck outstretched, its massive frame shining in the night with a brilliant neon glow. Then there are the smells: the spicy, comforting scent of jambalaya, and the cinnamon-sweet aroma of fresh-baked king cakes. And beneath it all, the swinging, danceable rhythms of jazz, the city’s own musical style...New Orleans’ gift to the world. Born in the early 19th century out of myriad influences—African-American dance and drumming traditions, West African and Caribbean call-and-response chanting, and homegrown brass bands—jazz is now the soundtrack of the city, an integral part of everything from parades to brunches to funerals. And it’s glorious, life-affirming, and utterly infectious—kind of like New Orleans itself.

For more reasons to love New Orleans, check out The Little Local New Orleans Cookbook, available on Indiebound and wherever books are sold.