You Know What They Say About...

If I had to choose my favorite dish, it would be raw oysters on the half shell. Something about that cool rush of salty goodness which hits the spot every time. On Good Friday - a day of fasting and abstention from meat for Roman Catholics - if you are going to eat only one meal, you better make it a good one. So when The Pope rang my phone this past Friday to extend an offer of lunch, we both had one thing on our minds.

We considered making the drive to Casamento's, but as we were both already downtown we decided on Grand Isle. After a quick stroll over from the office and passing by several acquaintances in the midst of the Nine Churches Walk, I found The Pope already posted up at the bar at Grand Isle with a glass of wine. (Lots of irony in that sentence.) Two dozen raw hit the table shortly thereafter. These oysters were medium in size, salty and had a rich, creamy texture. Only a dab of horseradish and a squeeze of lemon are needed to adorn the world's greatest food. Cocktail sauce need not apply.

Smoked Fried Oysters.

We continued our oyster repast with an order of the smoked fried oysters ($10.50 for a half dozen), which we have seen before. While these were plump and expertly fried, I couldn't help but miss the grilled vegetable salad and salsa verde in the original dish. And although this was a meatless feast, my ears perked up when I overheard the waitress rattle off all of the charcuterie that Chef Mark Falgoust is curing in house, including the ham in the cheddar melt. That guy takes "nose to tail" to a whole new level.

As you can see from the top picture, I chose to wash down my dozen with an ice cold Abita Strawberry, which would probably earn an "F" if this were a sommelier exam, but hey - that's what I felt like drinking at that moment in time. If I were pairing raw oysters with a purpose (which Rene and I have experience with), I would probably go with a lighter ale or lager for a beer and one of 3 different wines: (1) an albariño, the Spanish white wine from Galicia which has skyrocketed in popularity over the last few years (this is actually what The Pope drank with his dozen); (2) a nice Sancerre from the Loire Valley (don't get distracted by the name - it's only the French way of saying "sauvignon blanc"); or (3) a glass of champagne, because... well, why the hell not?

Lent may be over but our local oysters are still worth eating for a short while longer. Get 'em while they're cold.

Porktastic

A few months ago, the Parisian Princess forwarded me this article on the 35 best pork dishes in New York. Seeing as the Gulf South's premier porkapalooza will be held this Saturday, I thought that today would be the best day as ever to take stock of some of my favorite pork dishes served in New Orleans restaurants.

Often times we incorrectly connote "best" with "over the top."  Restaurant A's well executed braised pork cheeks can be just as satisfying as Restaurant B's pork tenderloin stuffed with head cheese and topped with cracklins. Bigger is not always necessarily better.

Three weeks ago at Rue 127, I had a juicy double cut pork chop that made me a believer once again in the power of simplicity. Still, I can't deny that I am enamoured with a dish that features pork in multiple iterations, such as the above rice plate from Tan Dinh - pork chop, chargrilled pork, pork meatballs, and the gratuitous fried egg. (Note this dish is not on the menu and was created on the spot as a necessary form of hangover relief.) And the first time we met Chef Mark Falgoust from Grand Isle, he blew us away with his PorkBomb.com, a sampler of so many different cuts of pork that the only thing missing was the oink.

Perhaps I'm just a sucker for overindulgence?  The jury is still out on that one.  But in the mean time, if you ever sit down for lunch at Herbsaint and the waiter tells you about the off the menu special sandwich of a paneed pork cutlet topped shaved ham, please order it without hesitation.

What are your favorite pork dishes around town?

He Does It Again

Chef Mark Falgoust of Grand Isle owns Po-Boy Fest. His Shrimp Caminada took down Best in Show last year, and he avoided the sophomore slump by earning two awards this year: Best Specialty Seafood with his Smoked Fish Po-Boy and Best in Pork with his Boucherie Po-Boy (pictured). Chef Mark told us that he spent the last two weeks curing meats for this cornucopia of pork, which mimicked the perennial favorite banh mi that were noticeably absent from this year's festival. The Boucherie Po-Boy featured pork pate, bologna, head cheese, and baked ham (all made in house) with cucumber, pickled red onion, and cracklins drizzled with Steen's cane syrup.

That's pork 5 ways on one sandwich. It's a porkapalooza between bread. The Pork Bomb.com Po-Boy. If ever there were a worthy adversary to the pig, it is Mark Falgoust. Cracklins and cane syrup should replace popcorn at the movie theatre. Someone get Adolfo on the phone.

Now, we might as well address the elephant in the room - or perhaps, more appropriately, the 40,000 people in the street. I love eating po-boys, drinking beer on a fall Sunday afternoon, and leisurely strolling down Oak Street. Unfortunately, it's kind of tough to do all those things at Po-Boy Fest. At times it felt as if Oak Street had transformed itself into the Superdome walkways during halftime, with people slowly moving in a continuous herd which at any second could suck in those innocently standing on the fringe. I think that the line for GW Fins' Fried Lobster Po-Boy was as long as every wait for the Plaza level women's restrooms... combined.

But to be honest, I don't know if Palmer Park would have been any better. This year's Po-Boy Fest took up over 7 blocks of Oak Street plus many of the side streets. That is a lot of area, probably more than the empty green space at the corner of Carrollton and Claiborne. And I tend to side with the merchants of Oak Street who lay claim to starting the festival and its original purpose of drawing attention to their businesses via the Main Street Program. But then again, there are people who go to Po-Boy Fest but never eat a po-boy because the lines are 30 minutes long and half the vendors are sold out by 5:00. I was shocked at the number of people there at 11:30 this year.

Perhaps it's time to make Po-Boy Fest a two day affair with the goal of spreading out the crowds. Plus, the vendors would probably sell more po-boys and the resident businesses more merchandise.

Does anyone else out there have a solution? How was your experience at this year's Po-Boy Fest?

Fish Fridays - Mark Falgoust

Often in life true talent finds you instead of the other way around. Back in January, we were invited by the folks at Grand Isle to sample some new dishes which they were experimenting with. While little of what we tasted has found a permanent home on the menu (and therefore why we didn't write about it here), we were blown away by several of the creations of Chef Mark Falgoust.

We attempted to secure his services for our "Farewell to Meat" series, but Mark was a little busy at the time with his impending nuptials as well as other chefly duties (like figuring out how to cater his own wedding reception). While his "Pork Bomb.com" will have to wait till next year's Carnival for unveiling, his turtle sauce piquant was ripe and ready for Fish Fridays.

"The secret to the sauce is equal parts red sauce and brown sauce," says Mark. His red sauce recipe is akin to Tony Mandina's, while his brown sauce is a derivative of the massive quantities of stock made in the kitchen every week. Together these two simmer with trinity, chilis, and turtle meat.

Upon presentation, a strong aroma of lemon wafts from the plate to your nose, and the heat from the chilis linger on the tongue after each bite. In our opinion, this thick stew could rival seafood gumbo as your potage of choice on Lenten Fridays.

While his love for charcuterie and the rustic foods of South Louisiana are an homage to his roots, Mark's training and experience - his resume includes stints at Peristyle, Herbsaint, Cochon, and Craft in NYC - expands his culinary range into more "refined" cuisine as well. A perfect example is the ad hoc oyster salad which he created just a few hours before we arrived in the kitchen.

The dish begins with an assortment of chopped, grilled vegetables - fennel, zucchini, and mushrooms - and a julienne of roasted red pepper. These are tossed in a salsa verde composed of mint, Vietnamese chilis, garlic, and parsley ground by mortar and pestle. The oysters were brined for 45 minutes in a mixture of salt, sugar, and sriracha. (Did we mention that Mark loves chilis?) After a quick drain, he smokes the oysters over low heat until they just begin to plump up. After the oysters cool, they tossed in simple cornmeal batter and dropped in the deep fryer.

Place vegetables on a plate along with a drizzle of salsa verde and a pool of tarragon aioli, stack oysters, another touch of aioli, and marvel. I cannot put into words how delicious this was and can only hope that one day we will all be able to order it off the menu at Grand Isle.

Bon appetit.