I have always had a weakness for everything French. French Men. French Films. French Food. Champagne. French Cafes.French Kiss.The list is quite a long one.Hence spent laborious hours in learning to speak the language,during my student years in Kolkata. The obsession still does carry on. My teenage dream of getting a French lover, or better still marrying a Frenchman did not quite fall into place, so nowadays I carry on my French obsession with French Food. The soul gets happy and happy whenever I seek a French culinary connection. Not to forget French Films always find a place in the Instant Queue of Netflix at home.
A trip to France and just France is on my wish list for so long, but somehow that just does not seem to fall in place.We do cross the Atlantic and go further on to India, but have not yet managed to stop midway in Paris.Did I mention my dream City! So we decided to get a local French flavour: headed to New Orleans in Louisiana. The target: FRENCH QUARTERS. Hubby had been to the city for quite a few times, but that was for a different reason. His tastes ran in Mardi Gras. Too obvious, given his gender. But my target was totally different. To explore the lanes and by lanes of the French Quarters, soak in as much French connection I could, and stuff myself with as much French food possible.
It was a tough choice, deciding on where to dine for our anniversary, as almost every restaurant in the French Quarter claimed to serve authentic French food. We decided on GALATOIRE'S. It had been under the same family ownership for over a hundred years, serving French cuisine. Jean Galatoire founded the restaurant in 1905, at the French Quarters of New Orleans, using recipes he had brought with him from the south of France. We could not go wrong with something like this. We read about Celebrities lining up outside these doors to get a place. Moreover the restaurant had a formal dress code enforced, so we thought, why not. We do not get a chance to dress up formally every day in Kansas City, do we.
But it turned out to be quite an old school French joint. For the first time in my life, I was refused a drink,as it was not considered a lady's drink. The drink : SAZERAC.Wikipedia defines Sazerac as a New Orleans variation of the original Cognac or whiskey based cocktail, named after the 'Sazerac de Forge et Fils,' brand of Cognac which was its original prime ingredient. The cocktail is a combination of rye whiskey, cognac. absinthe and Peychaud's Bitters.
So I settled in for a safer second choice: LEMON DROP. A vodka based cocktail, which was actually refreshing. But I was a bit glum at having been refused something I wanted. Had tasted Sazerac, just that very afternoon, and wanted to repeat the slight buzz.
Foie Gras on the menu took away the initial disappointment of being denied a drink. I had been harboring a desire of tasting foie gras, and finally I had it right in front of me. FOIE GRAS and TURTLE SOUP came to our table as appetizers. We let the soup get a tad cold, as we could not let the foie gras wait any longer on our table.The juicy fat goose liver was served on croutons,with a sprinkling of chives, a cranberry gastrique, and an apricot compote. The fat goose liver,just melted, as it touched my tongue. It was not wrong to say, it was heavenly.Wonder how could people ban something so heavenly in so many places.
Our souls were satisfied just by savouring the appetizers, but we still ordered for the main course. Hubby ordered for SHRIMP CLEMENCEAU. A house speciality, which did not disappoint his shrimp loving soul. Shrimps, cubed potatoes, green peas, mushrooms, parsley in a butter-garlic sauce, touched just the right taste buds.
I opted for CRAB MEAT YVONNE, yet another house specialty. Decadent lump crab meat, sauteed in clarified butter with artichokes and mushrooms, with salt and pepper and a touch of celery. If I might add in my own 5 cents to it, this dish was even more appealing than the Shrimp Clemenceau.
We decided to skip dessert, as we were over stuffed. My French taste buds were on an all time high. A memorable dinner with a very old world charm.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS POST:
GALATOIRE'S , NEW ORLEANS: http://www.galatoires.com/home
A trip to France and just France is on my wish list for so long, but somehow that just does not seem to fall in place.We do cross the Atlantic and go further on to India, but have not yet managed to stop midway in Paris.Did I mention my dream City! So we decided to get a local French flavour: headed to New Orleans in Louisiana. The target: FRENCH QUARTERS. Hubby had been to the city for quite a few times, but that was for a different reason. His tastes ran in Mardi Gras. Too obvious, given his gender. But my target was totally different. To explore the lanes and by lanes of the French Quarters, soak in as much French connection I could, and stuff myself with as much French food possible.
It was a tough choice, deciding on where to dine for our anniversary, as almost every restaurant in the French Quarter claimed to serve authentic French food. We decided on GALATOIRE'S. It had been under the same family ownership for over a hundred years, serving French cuisine. Jean Galatoire founded the restaurant in 1905, at the French Quarters of New Orleans, using recipes he had brought with him from the south of France. We could not go wrong with something like this. We read about Celebrities lining up outside these doors to get a place. Moreover the restaurant had a formal dress code enforced, so we thought, why not. We do not get a chance to dress up formally every day in Kansas City, do we.
But it turned out to be quite an old school French joint. For the first time in my life, I was refused a drink,as it was not considered a lady's drink. The drink : SAZERAC.Wikipedia defines Sazerac as a New Orleans variation of the original Cognac or whiskey based cocktail, named after the 'Sazerac de Forge et Fils,' brand of Cognac which was its original prime ingredient. The cocktail is a combination of rye whiskey, cognac. absinthe and Peychaud's Bitters.
So I settled in for a safer second choice: LEMON DROP. A vodka based cocktail, which was actually refreshing. But I was a bit glum at having been refused something I wanted. Had tasted Sazerac, just that very afternoon, and wanted to repeat the slight buzz.
Foie Gras on the menu took away the initial disappointment of being denied a drink. I had been harboring a desire of tasting foie gras, and finally I had it right in front of me. FOIE GRAS and TURTLE SOUP came to our table as appetizers. We let the soup get a tad cold, as we could not let the foie gras wait any longer on our table.The juicy fat goose liver was served on croutons,with a sprinkling of chives, a cranberry gastrique, and an apricot compote. The fat goose liver,just melted, as it touched my tongue. It was not wrong to say, it was heavenly.Wonder how could people ban something so heavenly in so many places.
Our souls were satisfied just by savouring the appetizers, but we still ordered for the main course. Hubby ordered for SHRIMP CLEMENCEAU. A house speciality, which did not disappoint his shrimp loving soul. Shrimps, cubed potatoes, green peas, mushrooms, parsley in a butter-garlic sauce, touched just the right taste buds.
I opted for CRAB MEAT YVONNE, yet another house specialty. Decadent lump crab meat, sauteed in clarified butter with artichokes and mushrooms, with salt and pepper and a touch of celery. If I might add in my own 5 cents to it, this dish was even more appealing than the Shrimp Clemenceau.
We decided to skip dessert, as we were over stuffed. My French taste buds were on an all time high. A memorable dinner with a very old world charm.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS POST:
GALATOIRE'S , NEW ORLEANS: http://www.galatoires.com/home
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