Johnny Kim
It has already been 5 weeks since we arrived in the city of New Orleans, and needless to say, I have fallen in love with this city. Every aspect about the city is so unique and interesting from the music to people to its culture. However, if I had to choose one thing that I really enjoyed was definitely the food.
I have always been a foodie. When I go to new places, I am always adventurous with trying out new food, and New Orleans was a perfect place for me to venture. Before coming to New Orleans, I have never tried traditional Cajun or Creole food, but now it is one of my favorite dishes. So let me take you to some of my favorite food I had in the past five weeks.
I have always been a foodie. When I go to new places, I am always adventurous with trying out new food, and New Orleans was a perfect place for me to venture. Before coming to New Orleans, I have never tried traditional Cajun or Creole food, but now it is one of my favorite dishes. So let me take you to some of my favorite food I had in the past five weeks.
From the very first day in NOLA, food was amazing. After an eventful morning flight (a long story about how I almost missed my flight...), I was extremely hungry when I arrived at Loyola. Ashley recommended some restaurants around the area and I decided to check out Dat Dog. I loved the interior decor of the place and was amazed at the different sausages and toppings they offered. Because I always enjoyed spicy food, I decided to get the hot sausage. Then for the topping, one option caught my eyes: chef's special. It pretty much meant the chef will put whatever topping he or she feels would suit well with the sausage. So I decided to be adventurous from Day One and chose that option. The result - amazing. Truly one of the best hot dogs I have ever had in my life.
During our first visit to the French Quarter, we came across the Creole Tomato Festival. The air filled with aroma from different food vendors and I was amazed to see how the each and every food vendor managed to incorporate tomatoes into their dish. As a see food lover, I tried the Creole Tomato Crabcake Andrea. The dish had sliced crabcake on top of sliced tomato covered with creamy clam sauce with scallops on top. I definitely wanted more after I finished.
When you go around New Orleans, you will see lots and lots of restaurants selling Po-Boys. The first time I tried a Po-Boy was when I was at Duke and tried a shrimp Po-Boy at Pitchfork Provisions, which I didn't quite enjoy. However, when I first tried the fully dressed (meaning includes all toppings such as lettuce, pickle, tomatoes and sauce) roast beef Po-Boy, I was so amazed. The French bread had such chewy texture which complemented very well with the insides. Ever since my first experience, I craved Po-Boys every time we dined out - hence tried cat fish Po-Boy as well as buffalo shrimp Po-Boy. There are still so many different Po-Boys I would like to try before I leave including oyster and fried alligator Po-Boys.
Speaking of alligators, I have tried the alligator jambalaya when I went to the crab festival for a Red Cross event. Surprisingly, as many people told me, alligator had a very similar taste and texture as chicken except a bit less tender. The festival had so many unique food including crawfish quesadilla and many more.
Creole and Cajun food has definitely been one of my favorite food that I have tried here in NOLA, and if I had to choose one food, it would be gumbo. When we visited the New Orleans cooking school for our Saturday activities and tried my first gumbo for the first time, I was blown away. The mixture of seafood and meat alongside hot spices, it brought so many different flavors to my tastebuds. On our way back from WWII museum, we decided to try a fancier creole/cajun restaurant called Cochon. I tried the pig cheek with shrimp and eggplant dressing as sides and although the food didn't completely fill me up, the taste was simply amazing.
Last but not least... DESSERTS! I have such a weakness for sweet food and NOLA has so many good dessert places and options. The options are truly diverse. I really enjoyed the cheap traditional one dollar snoballs with over 20 flavors to choose from. I have already been to Cafe du Monde twice to try the original beignet. Magazine street also has so many good desserts including district donuts where they have different and unique flavors daily (I tried the tiramisu and the Nutella, both of which were delicious) as well as Sucre where they have amazing gelato and macarons.
There are so much other food that I have left out or forgot to take pictures of (including the crawfish boil), but in conclusion, I truly enjoyed my food experience here in New Orleans and I appreciate every meal I have here. I am looking forward to my three weeks left here to venture every corner of the Big Easy to try as much food as possible. Talking about all these delicious food is making me hungry... so I am going to go cook myself some food... Adios!
There are so much other food that I have left out or forgot to take pictures of (including the crawfish boil), but in conclusion, I truly enjoyed my food experience here in New Orleans and I appreciate every meal I have here. I am looking forward to my three weeks left here to venture every corner of the Big Easy to try as much food as possible. Talking about all these delicious food is making me hungry... so I am going to go cook myself some food... Adios!