Fit for a King

      No trip to New Orleans would be complete without a tour of Mardi Gras World, an incredible collection of floats, past and present that are stored in just 1 of 18 warehouses throughout the area.  They are owned by the various groups or "crewes" that sponsor them, but 90% of them are designed, created and kept under the watchful eye of the Kern family.  We had the opportunity to observe past floats "props" and also see some that will appear in next year's parades.  Just walking into the building was an amazing experience as we were greeted by a burst of colors:

     Only after a brief video and entrance into the warehouse did we realize the magnitude of the annual effort.  Looking down the long aisle was like going into fantasy land.



   
       There were also works in progress like this depiction of Noah's Ark.

     It was after the tour, however, that we learned about another New Orleans culinary tradition, King Cake.  Originally practiced in Europe to acknowledge the arrival of the gift bearing Magi who visited Jesus on the 12th day after his birth, it was transported to America and continues to be observed in connection with Mardi Gras.  The day is known to Christians around the world as the Feast of the Epiphany or Twelfth Night and occurs each year on January 6th.  That is coincidentally the official commencement of Mardi Gras season in New Orleans that concludes on the day prior to Ash Wednesday (Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras).

     On that day it is the tradition to bake a small porcelain (now plastic) replica of the infant Jesus into a King's Cake and to serve it at a Twelfth Night celebration.  The cake itself is composed of a sweet dough with cinnamon, often baked in an oval shape and decorated in the customary colors of Mardi Gras: green, purple, and gold. 

                                                                                         

 The individual that discovers the infant in his/her slice of cake is then responsible to host the King Cake party the following year.  According to the website Mardi Gras New Orleans, "Mardi Gras season and King Cakes go hand in hand with literally hundreds of thousands of King Cakes consumed at parties and office lunch rooms every year."

     Twelfth Night party at your house next January?