By eleven I’m eating gumbo. It’s silky smooth, seasoned heavily with cayenne and paprika and delicious. I’m spending the morning at the New Orleans School of Cookery, listening to a NOLA native explain the fundamentals of making a brown roux (it requires at least 15 minutes of whisking: “if the mailman needs you, shout forContinue reading “Day Fourteen: Gumbo”
Category Archives: Travel
Day Thirteen: Not Haunted
By the time we make it to the Quarter the heat is unbearable. A shopkeeper bemoans summer in New Orleans: the streets are empty and cabin fever is rife. If autumn ever comes, it sure as hell feels a long way off. St. Louis Cathedral is a cool relief from the furious heat and jazzContinue reading “Day Thirteen: Not Haunted”
Day Twelve: The Big Easy
Never has the sight of an apple been met with such elation. After days of eating nothing but carbs, meat and sugar, the produce section of Walmart is nothing short of heaven. Much excitement gained from the spice aisle – shame about the sister’s lack of enthusiasm. Her expression of desperation suggests we should probablyContinue reading “Day Twelve: The Big Easy”
Day Eleven: The City of New Orleans
The train waits, grey and strong and noble, at the platform. We stow our bags on the lower deck and climb to a lounge with panoramic windows. The Amtrak ploughs for eight hours through the swamps of Mississippi. Trailer parks and clusters of weather-beaten shacks break up the swathes of lurid green water; at oneContinue reading “Day Eleven: The City of New Orleans”
Day Ten: In Memoriam
The Stars and Stripes fly at half mast. The flag languishes in a plaza clogged with the stagnant humidity of a staling summer. We languish alongside it. Eventually a shuttle saves us and takes us to Graceland. Its instant appeal is almost impossible to put into words. The walls of the billiard room are coveredContinue reading “Day Ten: In Memoriam”
Day Nine: Memphis
The Greyhound offers its regular handful of down-and-outs, for whom Memphis is nothing but an air conditioned station: a pit stop on a directionless journey. A woman on the city bus from the station tells us that she lives in Broadway, where there are “white folk who look out for each other”. She shakes herContinue reading “Day Nine: Memphis”
Day Eight: Belle Meade
A slow morning spent writing and trying to make sense of everything. These long, indulgent days drag at our heels, slowing everything down to a Southern rhythm. An almost empty bus takes us out of town to Belle Meade Plantation. It’s the first time I’ve walked on grass in a week. Marietta, with her hoopContinue reading “Day Eight: Belle Meade”
Day Seven: Nashville and The Tattoo.
It’s important to note that when I woke on the 8th September, I did not think that I would end the day bearing a tattoo. Perhaps it was my impulsiveness, perhaps it was Nashville, but whatever it was, I now have ‘Feast’ inked onto my forearm and I’m not entirely sure who I am anymore.Continue reading “Day Seven: Nashville and The Tattoo.”
Day Six: In Search of Pie
I wake with pie on my mind. It’s quite simple: Derby pie for breakfast or no Derby pie at all – isn’t it terrible, these tests of respectability one must face whilst forever moving on the road? And what a test this is. Bacon ice cream accompanies a feast of pumpkin, chess, apple, meringue, keyContinue reading “Day Six: In Search of Pie”
Day Five: Keep Louisville Weird
The one and only reason I insisted we pass through Louisville on our way to Nashville, was because of the food. It’s completely the fault of a certain Kentuckian cook on YouTube – a skinnier Paula Deen – who made the likes of fried cat fish and chess pie seem so appealing. With this inContinue reading “Day Five: Keep Louisville Weird”
To The Table 