Category Archives: pickled mirlitons

>French Market Pickles

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Just before Xmas I spent a very sunny and warm day with a friend strolling through the French Market in New Orleans. The French Market is a large open air market nestled between the Mighty Mississippi and the French Quarter. As we came upon a Cajun Santa Claus selling Xmas trees Annie pointed out two ladies eating Sno Balls-a New Orleans treat that I am newly obsessed with since my first taste. I loudly protested that those sno balls could not compare to the real deal at Hansen’s Sno-Bliz and as I did so, Santa’s helper tried to convince me that he could change my mind. I had no money and he wasn’t giving away sno balls so I guess we will never know but as I slinked away I found I had wandered into a whole shelf full of pickles!

They had all kinds-tomatoes, green beans, cukes, and of course, my new favorite, pickled mirlitons! It was reassuring that pickles had such a nice presence in the French Market amongst all the bottles of hot sauce and bags of Zapps. As we kept on walking I found pickles just about everywhere we went (this happens alot when you are ME).

There was no one manning the “Gator Bites” booth so I’m not sure if this is a new nickname for pickles or if they’d run out of gator…

And here is just one of many pickle ornaments I came across that day. This one was in an antique shop where it was passed up for an empty bottle of Dr. Nut that day.

Does this post seem a little rambling? I’m sorry, I think I’m still hungover from New Year’s Eve, 12th Night, and the Saints playoff game…but there may be no end in sight in this town…more beignets and coffee?

Twitt

>The Multi-tasking Mirliton

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You can do anything with a mirliton… and at the Mirliton Festival last weekend it was all done.

So,we all know you can obviously pickle it, but you can stuff it with seafood and ham,

…and you can fry it up(my favorite cooking method of all time)…

…and you can put it on stuff, like make a slaw and garnish a taco with it or you can put it on a pizza.

And in New Orleans you can sit in the perfect fall sunshine and listen to the Mardi Gras Indian funk band the 101 Runners and eat to your heart’s content.

I’m too relaxed and happy to write anymore!

Twitt

>Mirliton Festival!

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This Saturday, November 6th, is the 21st Annual Mirliton Festival in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans, but it will be MY FIRST and I am super, super, excited!

Have you ever heard of the Mirliton? You can read about my first encounter with this delicous pickled vegetable here.

It’s new to me, but down here in New Orleans they have been celebrating it for over 20 years. According to the website for the festival there will be a second line, food, arts, beer, and more music (there’s a band called The Mirlitones!). I can’t wait to learn more about this vegetable that lends itself so beautifully to pickling, to taste it in other dishes and hopefully I can grab some seeds and try growing my own. Has anyone out there ever pickled or cooked with the Mirliton?

I’ll see you there and back here after, Mirliton Freaks!

Twitt