One needs many lifetimes to enjoy all that the Crescent City has to offer. Alas, I only have ten days and one stomach.

That hasn’t stopped me from trying, though. Here are just a few of the highlights from the past week….

If you’re here during the winter and if someone you know owns an oyster boat, be sure to pack a bottle of hot sauce and an oyster knife. A screwdriver from the engine room works almost as well. Otherwise, head to Casamento's during the R months — like any proper oyster house they’re closed during the summer — or squeeze in with the tourists at Acme in the French Quarter.

If you’re here in the springtime, ask for wild crawfish from the Atchafalaya Basin. (Resist calling them crayfish or mudbugs, please.) At other times of the year, try to track down ones raised in the rice country surrounding nearby Lafayette. They’re on menus everywhere, but perhaps the best way to find some good crawfish boil is to take the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar all the way uptown to Audubon Park on the weekend. Make friends with one of the families gathered for a reunion or birthday (or at least, get to know the people tending the 60 gallon pots). A few neighborly words and a request for their recipe will nearly always garner you a pile of crawfish. Head to the shade of a nearby tree and feast away.

There are many sources for pralines, a classic New Orleans sweet. My favorite version, heavy on the pecans, comes from Southern Candymakers at 334 Decatur Street (and Iberville) in the French Quarter.

After seeing their cheerful trucks parked along Dauphine Street, I started hunting for Hubig’s pies. It wasn’t hard. The little fried treats are everywhere in New Orleans. Look for a corner store or grocery store, and you’ll soon be in front of a tempting selection. I’ve managed to try apple, coconut, and lemon, and love all three. Blackberry, strawberry, blueberry, cherry, peach, pineapple, and chocolate are still on my list. With a 7-day expiration date printed on each bag, Hubig’s little pies aren’t sold anywhere else.

Along with rice and vegetables, Prairie Arcadians raised cattle, and to those early ranchers we owe the loveliness of spoon-tender grillades and another NOLA classic, roast beef po’boys. One of the best is served up at a local bar, Parasol’s at 2533 Constance Street (and Third). Walk past the bar, stopping to order a cold beer or an iced tea (don’t even bother asking for sweet tea), and then head to the window in the back room where you can order one of these messy sandwiches. Also on the menu are the typical fried treats: oysters, boudin balls and “dickles,” sour-salty dill slices encased in a crisp coating.

Be sure to save time on Saturday morning for Market Umbrella’s
Crescent City Farmers Market at the intersection of Magazine and Girod. Just to the right of the Magazine Street entrance, Smith Creamery parks their refrigerated truck and lines up their coolers. Stop for a bit of their Creole cream cheese, an ivory-tinted mixture of cultured skim milk and pure cream. Its slightly tart, very rich flavor is the base of local cheesecakes, dips and sauces. Most folks I ask, though, admit to just eating it with a spoon.

While at the market, buy some Creole tomatoes. Dense, smooth flesh and a deep, rich, sweet flavor with just the right amount of acidity make them essential for the Cajun and Creole cooking. You can’t get them anywhere else, as their flavor comes from the soil of Plaquemines and they bruise too easily for shipping. After meals of roux-based sauces, fried foods galore, and more cocktails than I should admit, slicing these luscious tomatoes, sprinkling them with a hint of salt, and enjoying them as a refreshing mid-afternoon salad is at the top of my list for local flavors.

As you’re strolling the market and wilting under the mid-morning sun, look for an inconspicuous, hand-lettered sign offering “Amanda’s fresh fruit juices and frozen fruit bars.” An icy cold peach popsicle or a gorgeously red strawberry popsicle or, for those who have enjoyed avocado shakes at Vietnamese restaurants, the avocado and cream popsicle are all must-tries.

As you head out, don’t forget to stop by Melvin’s corner table for some of his crazy-yummy boiled peanuts. Left in the ground an extra year, they become super plump and flavorful. Boiled in a spicy mix and scooped up warm, they are addictive beyond reason.

Liz Williams, director of the excellent Southern Food and Beverage Museum, received frantic emails from post-Katrina exiles scattered across the country: “I can’t find red drink. And they don’t even know what it is around here!” Back in New Orleans, though, they can order it confidently. Also known as nectar soda, this slightly fizzy, slightly sweet, and very red drink will convert even those who swear they never sip sodas.

A big icy snowball drizzled in syrup is another way to cool down. The best, judging by the one-hour line I joined on a hot Sunday afternoon, is shaved up at Hansen’s Sno-Bliz. Sweet-smiling Ashley Hansen has taken over the reins from her grandparents, who invented their shop’s machine that shaves extra fluffy snow from large blocks of ice. They make their own syrup and store it in an old Frigidaire in the back of their shop on 4801 Tchoupitoulas Street (at Bordeaux). Wild cherry, strawberry, lemonade, chocolate cream, coffee, almond, spearmint, bubblegum, and many many more -- it’s a long list that you’ll have plenty of time to contemplate. Use your time in line to gather dining notes from those around you. Everyone in New Orleans can and will talk about food.

Before you leave town, be sure to stop at a grocery store. Breaux and Rouse’s are two local chains where you can stock up on supplies for recreating your favorite NOLA dishes and snag fun gifts for friends and families. Shrimp/crab/crawfish boil mix comes in little bags that are perfect for tucking into the corners of your suitcase. Zatarain’s is the old standby, but there are lots of other brands. Every cook has a favorite, and every cook adds other secret ingredients, so any of them will do you fine.

Monday is the traditional day for making rice and beans, using that big, tasty bone left from Sunday’s ham. Fortunately, you can enjoy it any day of the week here and at home. The secret, of course, is Camellia red beans. No other bean will give the right creamy consistency and that flavor that Louis Armstrong evoked in his letters -- “red beans and rice-ly yours.”

You know you’re in a food town when the postcard racks stock recipe cards to mail back to your friends. It’s been a long, hot, humid and delicious weekend in New Orleans.

Pacing has been key, of course, from judging just how many blocks a human can walk under intense sun to learning how many meals one can pack into an average day. Thank goodness for brunch to add a nice bite between early breakfast (café au lait and beignets at Café du Monde) and late lunch (roast beef po'boys with extra gravy at Parasol's).

Elizabeth's was at the top of my list, for a single menu item: praline bacon. Suffice to say that shimmering, smoky bacon topped with a crust of brown sugar is a beautiful thing.

Their crispy, hot calas, however, shined as the true star of the meal. This humble fritter -- some leftover rice, a bit of natural yeast, a generous hand with the nutmeg, and a long night of flavorful fermenting –- was once a morning staple in the French Quarter. Women in the late 1800s once walked the streets with large, covered baskets on their heads calling "Madame, mo gaingin calas! Beeelles calas…beeeeelles calas, tou cho, tou cho!" Madame, I have calas! Fine calas, fine calas, very hot, very hot!

All you need to finish a still-hot batch of calas is a snowy sprinkling of powdered sugar. Creative chefs, though, have figured out that a crispy round of rice can be the foundation of many other good things, such as poached eggs or fresh strawberries, as well as a carrier of savory bits of wild rice, sausage, mushrooms or duck confit. For Sunday brunch, a Commander's Palace serves a single, large calas smothered with a Creole courtbouillon of Gulf seafood, perfectly poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce.

Calas depend on a simple batter created out out of need and ingenuity. Creole women had figured out how to make extra money with cooked rice. There are versions now that use dry yeast instead of natural fermentation, and some call for baking powder, a nod to time-pressed cooks. But for the traditional, distinctive flavor (something San Franciscans with their sourdough know well) letting the calas batter rise overnight is not optional. Danno has an excellent recipe on his blog, NOLA Cuisine.

For a taste of classic, ungilded calas, make your way to the Bywater for breakfast or brunch at Elizabeth's. This neighborhood joint, housed in a 100-year-old building next to the train tracks, has comfortable, relaxed dining rooms, and Heidi Trull's home-style, southern specials are a favorite of locals. Meat lovers should not miss the praline bacon nor the beef grillades, tender enough to eat with a spoon and served over creamy grits. A nice rendition of eggs Sardou, a New Orleans original with artichoke hearts, creamed spinach, and Hollandaise, and anything served with their flaky biscuits are also worth sharing. Try, if you can, to save room for dessert. Red velvet, chess pie, and "ooey gooey cake" all beckon enticingly from the glass display case.

ELIZABETH'S
601 Gallier Street (at Charles)
New Orleans, LA 70117
(504) 944-9272

You know when you take a bite of something and you realize that this is a taste you are going to crave? Like salted caramel ice cream at Bi-Rite Creamery. It's usually something you can't get just anywhere. For me it often happens when I'm traveling somewhere and I won't easily find that taste again back home. Like the Middlewhite bacon sandwich at St. John's in London (on homemade bread with homemade ketchup, don't knock it til you try it), which my husband and I often wistfully talk about. Or, more recently, the most perfect shrimp po-boy from New Orleans.

A few weeks ago I went to New Orleans, a city I adore and which I've visited many times while growing up in Texas, but where I had not returned for at least 8 years. This was my first visit post-Katrina, and it ended up being one of the most meaningful, eye-opening, and intense experiences I've had while traveling (more on that in another post when I've had a chance to digest it all). For me, most of what makes New Orleans so special are the people who live there and their generous and kind spirit. With all that they've been through, they still carry on with the most positive attitude, full of Southern hospitality. It's obvious every time you go to a restaurant or a bar and they serve up some authentic New Orleans cuisine, welcoming, gracious, and always happy to have you there.

On the advice of a few locals, we headed over to Domilise's Po-Boy & Bar for one of the best po-boys in town. Tucked away in a residential area, we almost drove by the nondescript corner restaurant. It's all that you might expect from a divey po-boy shop, the deep fryer and sandwich station on one wall, the bar on the other, and a handful of tables scattered in between. The line moves swiftly, and then you have to jostle for a table before your name is called and your sandwich comes out. In keeping with the old-time Southern feel, the drinks on offer include bottled Barq's root beer and crème soda.

We were told that their specialty was the "1/2 and 1/2 dressed." Huh? 1/2 fried shrimp, 1/2 fried oysters. "Dressed" means slathered with mayo, creole mustard, ketchup, and topped with shredded lettuce and pickles. There is nothing light or healthy here, so if you are looking for that, you should go elsewhere.

Not being a huge fan of fried oysters (I like mine raw), I went for the shrimp po-boy dressed (although my friend did order the 1/2 and 1/2, which only comes in a large size, and amazed us all by eating the whole thing). It was incredible, and we were not disappointed. I knew one bite in that I was done for. Fresh, crisp-fried shrimp that burst in your mouth with flavor, real Gulf shrimp that you just can't get out here on the west coast. Light, airy crisp-on-the-outside French bread--oozing with the perfect amount of condiments--held it all together. I knew that I would return to the Bay Area and think about that sandwich, and wish I could just pop on over to Domilise's and get another. I'm thinking about it right now actually. My friend Amy emailed me a week to the day that we went and reminded me of the sandwich, and how she wished she had one RIGHT NOW. It's going to be a problem, I can tell.

So I decided to try to reconstruct one from memory. It won't be the same. I don't have the sweet old guy behind the bar asking, "What can I get you sweetie?" Or the friendly folks around us smiling and chatting with us, or the smell of the fresh seafood being deep fried, or that perfect taste that I crave when it all came together one day in New Orleans.

A Dressed Shrimp Po-boy

Serves 4

Ingredients
For the shrimp:
Peanut oil for frying
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornflour
1 egg
1 1/2 lbs medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

For the sandwiches:
4 soft white French rolls (New Orleans style), split in half and warmed in the oven
Mayo
Creole mustard
Ketchup
About 2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
Dill pickle slices

Preparation
1. In a medium saucepan, add enough oil so that it is 1/2-inch deep. Heat to 375 F.

2. Have ready three shallow bowls. In bowl #1, put about 1/2 cup flour. In bowl #2, crack the egg and whisk it until frothy. In bowl #3, stir together about 1/2 cup cornflour with about 1/4 cup flour. Rinse and dry the shrimp. Dredge them first in the flour, then in egg, then in the cornflour mixture.

3. Add the shrimp, in batches to avoid overcrowding, and fry just until golden brown. Set aside to drain on a paper-towel lined plate.

4. Spread each side of the bread with mayo, then creole mustard. Layer the fried shrimp, a squirt of ketchup, the lettuce, and then the pickle slices on the sandwich. Eat it up!

Domilise's Po-Boy & Bar
5240 Annunciation St.
New Orleans, LA
504-899-9126
map

A small way that you can help:
The Southern Food and Beverage Museum, located in New Orleans, lost over half its collection of cookbooks in Katrina. They are trying to rebuild their collection through donations across the country. If you have cookbooks on the American South or cuisines and cultures that have influenced the cuisine of that region; community-based cookbooks or pamphlets; culinary histories; or any cuisine-based books that you think they might be interested in, please send them to:

Southern Food & Beverage Museum
Attn: Liz Williams
1 Poydras Street, #169
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130