On Ash Wednesday, I happened to hear one of our office building’s security guards ask a custodian how he enjoyed Mardi Gras. “It was fine,” the man answered, “I just stayed home, watched TV, had hot dogs and red beans and rice.” He paused, as though to remember something else important, “oh yes and some king cake,” he laughed. The other man responded in awe: We all know that there can be nothing finer on Mardi Gras than hot dogs, red beans and king cake. (That of course is providing that the hot dogs at least have mustard and chili and that the beans are seasoned with sausage, plus the cakes are injected with something gooey.)
As for the evening, it has been my position that anyone whose TV watching is elevated to viewing the Rex ball should serve Moon Pies and champagne. However, there is a concern: Moon Pie is very popular and its disc shape makes it a reliable throwing item, but it is not from here. It is made in Chattanooga and, worse yet, it was first popularized by Carnival in Mobile. A more favorable local choice would be a Hubig’s Pie, manufactured in Elwood (within the shadow of the Huey P. Long bridge), from which my pick would be the apple flavored.
Here I digress to take note that Jefferson Parish, where commercialism in parades is tolerated, at least has the distinction of claiming to be the “king cake capital of the world.” According to parish publicists, there are now 36 different bakeries producing king cakes made in Jefferson. Take that Chattanooga!
Jefferson is one of three reasons that I credit for the dramatic expansion of the king cake over the last couple of decades:
- There is lots of space suitable for small businesses in Jefferson, such as bakeries for whom having a better pastry is a way to establish itself.
- Emergence of the Viet Names bakery. The country was once part of “French Indochina”. A good influence from that was the masterful French baking techniques. Dong Phoung, now considered perhaps the top local king cake bakery, is located in Eastern New Orleans—so while Jefferson Parish has the numbers, New Orleans has a major quality leader.
- And the other reason is the growth of global rapid shipping such as UPS and Fed. Ex. What was once sold mostly in New Orleans stores can be shipped to other places so quickly that the cakes are still relatively fresh from the oven.
Moon Pies are not as indigenous to a city and its celebrations as king cakes are to New Orleans; and (breaking news) Hubig’s, which forever has specialized in the handheld pie, now makes its own version of king cake.
Someone recently experiencing the quirkiness of our Carnival is James Checchio, who on Feb. 11 officially became the new Archbishop of New Orleans. As a well-traveled native of New Jersey, he has seen various celebrations, but during a TV interview Mardi Gras night he expressed a surprise about the local Mardi Gras. “I thought it was just one day,” he confessed. He had not realized the season lasted for weeks.
Brace yourself Archbishop. That’s are many king cakes in your future.
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To contact Errol, email elabordenola@gmail.com!
BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS: Errol’s Laborde’s new book, “When Rex Met Zulu: And Other Chronicles of the New Orleans Experience,” (Pelican Publishing Company, 2024) is now available at local bookstores and websites.
Laborde’s other recent publications: “New Orleans: The First 300 Years” and “Mardi Gras: Chronicles of the New Orleans Carnival” (Pelican Publishing Company, 2017 and 2013), are available at the same locations.
WATCH INFORMED SOURCES, FRIDAYS AT 7 P.M., REPEATED AT 9:30 A.M. Sundays. WYES-TV, CH. 12.
