Bruce on just another Sunday in the Bywater

This is an excerpt from an e-mail from Bruce at NoLAdder that I had to share with you. Doesn't this sound and smell about as good as it get??  Bruce is trying to explain to me about cooking fish on a plank. But, I don't know nuthin' about fish and planks!

I was walking in da'ByWater on one of my visits to town, maybe even Christmas, down Royal around Piety, and there was a pack of gay boys having a soiree in their back yard and really throwing down the food. I mean I could smell it for a couple of blocks before I found them. I say gay boys but you know everyone was there from within a few blocks...the St Ann crowd. They had 3 (THREE) 55gal cookers going, 2 shrimp boilers and a ton of other stuff going on at the table. Really these cats were swingin. I just stood there thinking that this is of course what it means to miss New Orleans...when they opened one of the cookers and started pulling out these plank fish: Salmon, Red Fish, Mahi (each mahi with its own portabella mushroom on top), catfish,  a pile of crawfish mixed with...hmmm...peppers and maybe chow chow (that one was to absolutely die for but I can't even begin to say what was in it. I do remember corn and the peppers which had been grown right there beside the cooker:), so where was I...Judith, they pulled out about ten planks. Rockin. So the wood, guy told me he might get 4 good cookings with one plank but sometimes he'll use a thick piece of particularly good pecan and try to make it last and soak it all up don't'cha know. They said that it really did not take long for the fish to cook on the planks. Now as for the heat? They had one of those side fire bins, you know connected at the bottom of the cooker, for the heat and smoking. Dude was good with the wood fueling too to whip that many fish.
Now in one of the other cookers they had a whole hog with a pomegranate in its mouth and truffles for eyes and total mystery stuffing. The 3rd cooker was all veggies and only smoked...or roasted peppers in the bottom?
So there, just another Sunday afternoon in da'bywata.

Comments

[New Orleans News Ladder]

Jeez Louie! Yer such a Grrrl, Mxs. Judith!
Thank you for the post. What a compliment.
I hung it on da'Ladda...(wit'a dixlamer in da'intress of full disclosia don't'cha know:)

You have a great time in Italy and make sure you make friends with the pasta makers. Then you will do juuuust fine.

Thanks again,
Bruce
Editilla~New Orleans News Ladder