Mar 5, 2020
Image: Mardi Gras float - clipartpanda.com
In the Christian calendar, Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday, the day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday, is a day to feast before the weeks-long fast that ends with Easter according to time.com. While it’s many cities celebrate that last chance to party, which falls this Tuesday, no city is more famous for Mardi Gras — “Fat Tuesday” in French — than New Orleans.
And, though the Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans originated in this Christian tradition, today the celebration is better known as a day for people of all faiths, races, and ethnicities to come together at the parades, eat great food, and compete to catch beads, doubloons and other throws from the people wearing masks on the floats parading down the streets.
Here’s an introduction to the history behind some of those popular traditions.
Krewes
This term for the New Orleans clubs that organize the Mardi Gras festivities was coined by The Mystick Krewe of Comus, the group that put on the first parade in the city with themed floats — the model for future parades — in 1857. They started the tradition of wearing masks and carrying torches, known as flambeaux, to light the evening revelries. The organizers came from Mobile, Ala., which had been hosting similar festivities ever since French-Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville threw a party when he landed in the Gulf Coast city (which he called Point du Mardi Gras) on Fat Tuesday in 1699.
Though the krewes’ public parades meant the festivities could be seen by the general public, that didn’t mean anybody could participate in the clubs or attend the balls they held. Membership to five of the earliest clubs — Comus, Momus, Twelfth Night, Rex and Proteus — had been mostly closed to all but the moneyed elites. Not coincidentally, the number of these groups ballooned in the first half of the 20th century, as the populations left out formed their own: Italians, Germans, the Irish, women. African-Americans formed Zulu, the krewe famous for starting the tradition of handing coconuts in 1910 because they were less expensive than beads.
Mardi Gras Colors
The Rex Organization — the group founded in 1872 that’s also famous for starting the tradition of naming a parading Carnival King — claims credit for the purple, green and gold color scheme now associated with Mardi Grass. That was the color-scheme of their 1892 “Symbolism of Colors” parade, and the three shades are said to symbolize justice, faith and power, respectively.
Masks and Costumes
Masks and costumes have been associated with Shrove Tuesday celebrations for centuries. And even today of the masks commonly seen in New Orleans on Mardi Gras are the same types popularized by the two-to-three-week-long Carnivale in Venice that culminates with Fat Tuesday. But masking and costume-wearing in New Orleans also has a specifically American history, as it was another way for revelers who were officially excluded from the festivities to join in, by concealing their identities.
This phenomenon was particularly pronounced during the Jim Crow era of the early 20th century. For example, the African-American men now known as Mardi Gras Indians first paraded down the city’s back streets in Native American costumes, in a nod to Native Americans who took in and protected runaway slaves. Another poignant example, according to Kim Marie Vaz’s The ‘Baby Dolls‘: Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition, can be found in the African-American prostitutes who dressed up as “Baby Dolls” — a persona chosen because that’s what male clients called them — in hopes that the costumes would help them land work at a time when sex work was racially restricted.
These days, the Mardi Gras tradition has earned a special exemption from the Louisiana law that generally bans concealing or disguising one’s face in public.
Mardi Gras in Athens, Georgia, is drastically different from Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana according to redandblack.com. There most likely will not be a huge parade that fills West Broad Street, and there will probably be a disappointing lack of people tossing colorful beads and cups into a crowd of Athenians.
However, Mardi Gras still exists as a culture-rich tradition and the last day of dietary freedom before Lent for the Catholic population.
If you’ve never celebrated Mardi Gras before and want to this year, or you’re a Louisiana native thirsting for some of those traditional foods from back home, these seven foods will put a smile on your face the day before Ash Wednesday.
1. King Cake
This delicious and traditional cake is a staple for the Mardi Gras season. A round cake covered with glaze and purple, green and gold sugar (purple represents justice, green for faith and gold being representative of power), the king cake also typically hosts a baby Jesus figure inside the cake, and whoever receives the piece of cake with the figurine in it will have a stroke of good luck. However, in New Orleans, it’s customary for the lucky person to buy or make a king cake for the next gathering.
Jamie Madsen, a sophomore from Woodstock whose mother is from Louisiana, shared some fond memories of Mardi Gras.
“We do eat a lot of king cake,” she said. “My dog was chewing on something one day and he was chewing on one of the baby Jesus’ [from the king cake,]”
Martinique Edwards, a fourth year who has a Bachelor’s degree as well as a masters in environmental health, also has roots in Louisiana.
“My mom’s side of the family, they’re from New Orleans,” she said, “Every now and then, my family members ship over a king cake from New Orleans.”
Though Mardi Gras is both a religious and a culture event, for Madsen’s family, it’s more a celebration of culture and family roots.
“I think for my family, Mardi Gras is more cultural [than religious],” Madsen said.
Since Fat Tuesday is the day before Lent, Madsen had some advice for others.
“Eat a lot of food and enjoy your last day of freedom before Lent,” she said.
2. Crawfish Étouffée
Though significantly harder to find in Athens, crawfish étouffée is a very traditional dish in Cajun and Creole cuisine. It’s a thick, seasoned stew-type meal which is then served over white rice. The bell peppers, onion and crawfish give it its signature, warm flavor which the flour and butter allow it to reach an ideal consistency.
Although Athens doesn’t offer much in terms of Creole food, New Orleans Online has a simple recipe for anyone craving some Louisiana comfort food.
3. Dirty Rice
Dirty rice is another staple common to New Orleans, although some might be scared away due to one ingredient: chicken liver.
Although the liver is typically seen as a staple ingredient, dirty rice can be made without it. The rice itself is cooked in chicken and beef stock, giving it an incredible flavor and making it dark in appearance, hence the name “dirty rice.”
4. Po’ Boy
If you’re looking for an easier New Orleans meal to make, the po’ boy might be your best bet. The traditional sandwich uses a baguette for the bread and usually contains either beef or various types of fried seafood, most commonly shrimp or oysters and is complemented by lettuce, tomato and usually mayonnaise or a flavorful alternative, remoulade sauce.
For Edwards, the po’ boy is a staple and is best in Louisiana.
“If we were down in New Orleans [this year], we’d probably be eating po’ boys and red beans and rice,” Edwards said.
5. Jambalaya
With both French and Spanish influence, jambalaya is a popular dish in Louisiana that combines rice with meat and the “holy trinity,” that is, bell peppers, onions and celery.
While some might confuse jambalaya with another dish of rice and meat, gumbo, the two are significantly different.
If you’re looking to have an adventure in the kitchen, The Darling Gourmet boasts the “BEST New Orleans Jambalaya, which calls for Andouille sausage, chicken, shrimp, spices and of course, vegetables.”
Madsen said that there’s usually a lot of good home cooking during the season of Mardi Gras.
“My mom [normally] cooks rice, chicken and sausage,” she said.
6. Crawfish Boil
Though a crawfish boil is more of a social event and not necessarily a typical dish you would make at home for kicks, they could still be used for smaller events, say, a Mardi Gras party.
In fact, Alton Brown has a delectable recipe that can yield 10-12 servings. If you’re not up to cooking a large meal and would rather go for a day trip, Big Easy Grille in Atlanta is hosting its 16th annual Mardi Gras Crawfish Boil on Saturday, Feb. 8, and will feature live music, lots of beads, beer specials and “general debauchery.”
7. Pancakes
Probably one of the easiest items to make, pancakes are essential this time of year because Pancake Day is actually on Feb. 13, the same day as Mardi Gras in some years.
In order to make your pancakes more festive, all you need to do is add a few drops of food coloring in various bowls of batter so you can have green, purple and yellow pancakes. It’s as easy as that.
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