For thousands of people every year, the ultimate destination for Mardi Gras is Bourbon Street in New Orleans. \nMany traditional elements of Mardi Gras stem from the area’s Creole and Cajun culture. The food, music and language permeate the festivities, from the Creole dish jambalaya to the Cajun-based zydeco music.
The Food\nBob Crowley, owner of Dat’s Cajun Restaurant on Grant Street, said Cajun cooking has three main elements.\n“Slow cooking, simple ingredients, a large amount of spice,” he said. \nAmong those simple ingredients are the “holy trinity” – celery, green peppers and onions – and seafood or poultry, usually spread over rice. \n“The two classics are my favorites,” he said. “Gumbo and jambalaya.” \nFor Brad Miller, creative director of the Vincennes Festival du Mardi Gras, the best part of the celebration is the Fricassee Cook-Off.\n“Music, dance, fricassee,” he said, summing up the best parts of the festival.
The Music\nDennis Stroughmatt, lead musician of The Creole Stomp, has made Creole and Cajun music a way of life, touring throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. He considers himself an ambassodor for the style.\nStroughmatt is quick to point out the differences between Louisiana “African” Creole and the Indiana/Illinois/Missouri Creole musical styles.\n“It all started in the same place,” he said, explaining that in colonial times, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri were considered “upper Louisiana.” “What changed was the 20th century and the outside influences.” \nLouisiana Creole music shows elements of blues, jazz, African and Caribbean music and tends to be slower, meant for couple dancing, Stroughmatt said. This is where zydeco, the music associated with New Orleans and Mardi Gras today, has its roots. The “Upper Louisiana” style is faster and leans more toward line dancing. \nCajun music is closer to Louisiana Creole style, but with more of a “country” sound and less African and bluesy.\nThe language \nThe word Creole actually means “native to the colonies,” and originated from Portuguese, said Kevin Rottet, a professor in the Department of French and Italian and co-author of several books about Louisiana Creole.\n“It’s a language that emerged among the slaves,” he said. \nRottet said the Louisiana Creole created on plantations in the 1700s is only one form – anywhere there were slaves, they picked up the words of French, Spanish, English and so on, but without the grammatical accuracy that comes from formal education. The forms vary based on the origins and native language of the colonists, geographical location and origins of the slave population. Jamaican or Haitian Creole is noticeably different from Louisiana Creole; in a sense they’re different dialects of the same language.\nCreole is also used to describe people who were “native to the colonies,” so descendants of both the colonists and the slaves claim the title.\nThe meanings behind the traditions of Mardi Gras itself\nMardi Gras, also known as “Fat Tuesday” or “Shrove Tuesday,” is the last hurrah for Catholics and some other Christian sects before Ash Wednesday, according to the Web site for St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Durham, NC. During the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter that make up Lent, practitioners are expected to act penitently and give up certain luxuries – often, this means not eating certain foods or giving up enjoyable activities such as playing video games or watching TV. The length of time signifies the 40 days that Jesus fasted in the desert in the New Testament.\nAccording to a New Orleans Web site, mardigras.com, the easily-recognized Mardi Gras colors – green, purple and gold – come from the French king cakes that have traditionally been served at New Orleans Mardi Gras festivals. The cakes were decorated with these “royal” colors – purple for justice, green for faith and gold for power – to represent the biblical three kings who traveled to Bethlehem after the birth of Christ.
Vincennes celebrates 275 years with Festival du Mardi Gras
Residents of Vincennes, Ind., didn’t have to travel as far as New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro to celebrate Mardi Gras this year, as the Festival du Mardi Gras observed the party holiday and commemorated the city’s 275th anniversary.\nOne of the Festival highlights was Saturday’s Bishops Ball or the Le Bal d’Évêques, which honors the four French-Catholic Bishops of Vincennes who founded the University of Notre Dame in the mid-1800s.\nDance instructor J. C. Jones also taught festival-goers the Cajun Jig, the Cajun Waltz and the Cajun Two-Step before Dennis Stroughmatt and the Creole Stomp played French Creole music Saturday.\n“It’s just really fun music,” said Shyla Beam, executive director of the Vincennes/Knox County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We’re honored to have Creole Stomp back this year.”\nAt intermission, the Mardi Gras Queen was crowned. To determine Mardi Gras king or queen, each visitor to the Festival is entered into a raffle. Ten tickets were drawn and each of of the 10 received a piece of king cake, one of which contained a small plastic baby figurine – the most common trinket found in the dessert. The person who got the baby in his or her piece of cake was declared the holiday monarch, then got to choose a co-ruler.\nOrganizers also announced the winner of the Fricassee Cook-Off competition, which the visitors selected. For Creative Director Brad Miller, the fricassee is one of the most traditional parts of the Festival. \n“The world is changing too much already,” he said, adding that the winning is all about “who’s got the best ancient recipe.”\nTopping off the festival was a French pancake breakfast Tuesday evening.\n“French pancakes are more like a crepe,” Beam said. “It’s a thinner batter and they roll them instead of flip them.” \nAccording to a press release from Vincennes/Knox County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Vincennes, which is located in southwest Indiana near the Illinois border, was originally settled mainly by Quebecois families forced out of Canada by the British army in the 1760s. Vincennes was in some way a “suburb” of New Orleans, as settlers would travel the 700 miles down the Wabash and Mississippi Rivers to the city to trade. These traders brought much of the New Orleans culture and traditions back to their already French city.
