Napoleon House - New Orleans, LA

I have not had the privilege nor time to write about food recently, other than with short and really bad descriptors like "good," "great," or "awesome." with that in mind....

most people who think of new orleans think of things like this:



(i'm not going to look for pictures of girls with beads. there were sets thrown at me even in the off-peak season of Lent and therefore non-Mardi Gras insanity. from several other 1st person accounts, Mardi Gras in full-swing involves a lot more vomit and sticky beer on the sidewalks than at a frat convention afterparty.)

when i think of New Orleans, I think of food. first off, there are a few rules you should know when you're headed there:

1. you are not on a diet. even if you were before, the drink and/or the food will break you.
2. you must not be allergic to seafood or dislike spicy things. you miss out on the full experience. it's possible for you to enjoy other things (read on for details). by the way, i cannot consider those who are unwilling to try new foods because of strange appearance/smell to be true foodies. you can debate me on that if you want.
   
3. the French Quarter is for people who like noise. if you don't like noise... don't stay overnight in it. there are a lot of burlesque-type establishments and downright strip clubs, so perfect for that bachelor party of excess, but not for that family entertainment. daytime is best, it gets very rowdy at sundown.
   

with that being said, here's some highlights...

we went to the Napoleon House as soon as we dropped our luggage off.



the muffuletta is the huge italian sandwich you see here. it's about a foot in diameter. in Napoleon House's version, there is ham, Genoa salami, and pastrami, with provolone cheese and a thick layer of Italian olive spread, which tasted like a combination of celery, olives, and a few bits of carrot and red pepper for show. these things are usually served unheated, but we all liked the heated version -- the bread was warm and crusty on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside -- deliciously proportioned with olive spread and a minimum of the italian meats. high on sodium, and good for starving fresh-off-the-plane folks like us. $11.95 for something bigger than your face to eat? stellar.

the Boudin sausage on the left is fresh sausage made with onions, pork, liver, and rice, sometimes with pigs blood. i think our version didn't have the pig blood, but i could be wrong. it was definitely a hit, and was slightly sour tasting. i think it had been boiled in a combination of brine water, peppers, and onions, sort of sauerkraut-like, and then seared in a pan for good measure. it wasn't bad though, and was again, very heavily seasoned. i had expected it to be mushier because of the rice inside, but it wasn't, so there was a good texture to it too. i think the sausage encasing protected much of the rice from being too overcooked.

being as i am asian, and with two other asian girls in tow, we ordered a side of jambalaya for good measure. another staple for the area, it is usually a combination of chicken, shrimp, and sausage cooked in rice. verdict? wasn't spicy enough to us (i happen to love habanero (sp?) peppers, and once had 4 of them in under a minute in an effort to win a $50 dining hall credit... on an empty stomach ... the follies of college life). on the bland side, but it served to clear the senses after the sandwich, and alternating the three made it possible to finish most of it. we did leave the jambalaya -- it wasn't the most exciting of dishes there.

decor? Napoleon house is old -- one of the oldest buildings in the area, it was reputed to be one of Napoleon's hideouts, and is decorated with pictures and paintings from that era on painted, peeling walls, with an inner courtyard for outdoor dining:



and to drink... what's not to love about drinking? the specialty of the area is the local brew. Dixie's beer (in the picture below, background), which was light tasting and refreshing. the original brewery has since been shut down from damage done by Hurricane Katrina, but it is still in production at other breweries in limited batches. it's a good beer to wash down the salty and spicy combination we signed up for.



in the foreground is a glass of the local drink special: Sazerac. i'm an avid whiskey drinker (usually Irish), but even for me, it was an acquired taste. i wonder what it would have tasted like had the glass been prepped with a layer of absinthe. :-) it's rye whiskey, with bitters, a lemon peel, and a grape-tasting brandy. tasted like 'tussin and Jager, so if you're into either one... you're a winner on this drink. i'm personally not a fan. i had a better tasting version of this in NYC at Bua, a small bar on the Lower East Side with a half-price draft and drink special on weekdays. they used the same rye whiskey, but i don't quite recall the variant, it tasted much less like Jager. i dislike Jager. licorice is not on my top-foods list.

...whew, that was a long entry for one place. i'll find some time to critique and write on another spot sometime later.