Bayou Banquet
May 9th, 2008 by Nola
Tis the season. Crawfish season, that is. And shrimp. And really, it’s always crab season here in Louisiana. Growing up in New Orleans, there are many things I took for granted and many things it seems my family actively sought to avoid. But one Louisiana thing my family has always embraced is its seafood.
All of my childhood summers were peppered with crab boils, crawfish boils, shrimp boils. There is something that draws me to the formality involved in a boil, the ritualistic element: there’s the special large pot and burner, the paddle, the strainer basket, the spices, the vegetables, and, of course, the seafood. Oh, and the large-handled spoon. The spoon! The spoon that is used to dip into the searing hot liquid to taste for spiciness while the seafood is boiling.
What I have tasted from the hand of my grandfather, father, uncles and brothers from that spoon–truly boiling, smoking hot spiced juices. This is HEAVEN to me. I once drank cups of this at a time (back when I didn’t know what sodium was). Oh, me.
YatPundit changed his avatar on Twitter to a long metal spatula holding a crawfish over a boiling pot. That image is so iconic in New Orleans. How iconic? Well, it reminded me of a puzzle I had growing up, a puzzle I still own and still build from time to time. A puzzle purchased by my mother from D.H. Holmes Department Store. I give you, “Bayou Banquet”:
I LOVE this picture! It is so representative of Louisiana food and particularly a seafood boil: boiled crabs, shrimp, crawfish; lemons and vegetables to add to a good boil; oysters on the half-shell and stuffed peppers; cocktail sauce and Dixie beer; the Times-Picayune newspaper to cover the table; the notable Louisiana spices; the seafood basket and net; and French bread and gumbo. How can you not want to live in a place where this is standard fare on a warm summer night?
For those of you here in NOLA that still call Dillards Holmeses out of habit, I leave for you this picture of the side of the puzzle box:
that is just so cool! i might use that pic as my laptop’s background while i’m in baltimore next week
YatPundit’s last blog post..Renard Poche Harnesses The Energy Of New Orleans
very cool. I am jealous of course!
mybayouvieux’s last blog post..what to say?
Seriously, you’re just being mean when you show/write stuff like that! Crawfish, how I miss thee. I’m eating 10 lbs when I get home.
Jane Moneypenny’s last blog post..Back to the Beginning
Very cool. I discovered that I do not like crawfish in the shell, but I’ve yet to meet a shrimp I don’t like.
Katie’s last blog post..The Yat Man
Oh, I totally forgot about DH Holmes–too funny!! I so miss the eating in NOLA, I get homesick reading your blog! ha. I live in FL now, and can NOT find good seafood here…(they think seafood is fish in Florida–um no people!!)
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I just realized I am missing a crawfish boil right now. Good thing there is one tomorrow night.
I used to have a set of Old Fashion glasses from Holmeses with New Orleans scenes on them. And for years, my favorite coffee mug was a Holmes mug, with a picture of Daniel Henry Holmes on his horse-drawn wagon, selling his wares before he set up his store on Canal Street.
I want to dive right onto that table!!
Happy Mother’s Day! Enjoy.
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Hello, I am new to your blog.
I was in NOLA last week on business, I live an hour away and while I still had money in the meter, I stopped at Central Grocery. $150 later. Some things never change.
Audubon Ron’s last blog post..Mother’s Day Story
i need that food right now!! SHARE!!
jameil1922’s last blog post..Unconcious Mutterings
I have a friend from LA who would invite us to Thanksgiving dinner. Some of the most awesome food I’ve ever had. Until then I never thought of crawfish as a holiday menu item. I still can’t ’suck the heads’ though…. ewww.
Tara R.’s last blog post..Wait… for… it….
Oh yum! I’ve been cursed though…I’ve developed a seafood allergy. It’s pure hell.
Tis the season-enjoy!
Lanny’s last blog post..An Extra Birthday
My brother would like this post. I don’t like crawfish (gasp! I know, it’s sad but I do love other seafood!!) but he does and he will face them on the plate after he’s done eating them so they look like they’re staring at me. It’s creepy:)
Yum!!! I bet our crab boils here in Ohio don’t quite compare.
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That is the absolute coolest puzzle ever. I remember my Mom going to D.H. Holmes when I was a kid to buy patches for my Brownie uniform. I’m finally returning home in a couple of days and I am SET for my crawfish boil this coming weekend. I’ve been having dreams about it, it’s horrible.
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That all sounds so delicious. “Back when I didn’t know what sodium was”- hilarious
Sandy (Momisodes)’s last blog post..I Quit
When I saw your post I looked above my computer at the same image hanging there and smiled. I have that puzzle as well. I liked it so much that I framed it when it was done. I have also have some crawfish trays with Bayou Banquet on them.
Bayou Banquet!! I know a lot about this painting. I was in charge of development of this product at D.H. Holmes back in 1983. This art has been reproduced on numerous items; trays, puzzles, glassware, coasters, poster, cookbook, etc. The artist is Joyce Hensley, a freelance artist that worked in the advertising department of Holmes. This was created for the time of the 1894 World’s Fair. Many other items with New Orleans and Seafood designs were also made at the same period. Even after 25 years it still gets many coments and brings back thoughts of New Orelans and Louisiana.
I have this very same puzzle. Still in the box with the wrapping still on it. Somehow, over the years — I just could not part with it! The childhood picture is still fresh in my mind of crawfish boils at Grandma & Grampa’s house in Algiers! I can smell the boil, and remember my dad, grampa & uncles standing around the pot drinking their Dixie Beer on Sundays. I’d go in to the kitchen that was at the back of their shotgun house & help Grandma & my Aunts make real mayonaise and fixins for the potato salad & we’d all enjoy the breeze from the kitchen window fan. When the boil was done, my job was to put the newspaper on the picnic table made by Grandpa, & my brother would bring out the chairs. We’d all sit in the shade under the garage door & feast on crawfish & fixins. My brother & I then would ride bikes around and around the shot gun double, and jump off the porches til we couldn’t stand up anymore! After that, when the mosquitos came, it was cards at the Kitchen Table! Those were the days!