VLVL(4)(x) The California Bayou
Vincent A. Maeder
vmaeder at cycn-phx.com
Fri Aug 29 12:54:19 CDT 2003
"Redwood Bayou," "Bûcheron Affamé," "Humbolaya." "tofu à la
étouffée," and "Chef 'Ti Bruce," (VL, Ch. 4, pp. 42-43) all classic
Pynchon creations combing a bit of French Louisiana Bayou with local
Northern California culture.
Yep, here's your Tofu Etouffee
http://www.recipesource.com/special-diets/vegetarian/00/rec0089.html and
even a nostalgic look at crawfish etouffee
http://www.louisianafoods.com/recipes/crawfish_etouffee.html (Those
were great days when all we talked about was crawfish, weren't they?
Ok, sarcasm moment over). Etoufee is a method of cooking, it is French
for smother, which consists of cooking in a tightly covered pan. What
WILL the French think of next?
Humbolaya is easy, too. There's jambalaya ("spicy Creole dish
of rice and ham, sausage, chicken, or shellfish with tomatoes, peppers,
onions, and celery" http://www.onelook.com/?w=jambalaya) and Humboldt
County (which we're coming to; promise) slammed together into Northern
California's take on that old Creole dish.
Redwood Bayou follows easily, taking bayou ("a swampy arm or
slow-moving outlet of a lake (term used mainly in Mississippi and
Louisiana)" http://www.onelook.com/?w=bayou&ls=a) and splicing it with
Redwood after the rather sizeable trees up in Northern California
http://www.sempervirens.org/amzrdwds.htm
Ok, one left, Bucheron Affame. Hmm, Bucheron is a cheese
described as "a piquant goats milk cheese from Poitou (St. Saviol).
Flaky and less moist than fresh Chevre, Bucheron tastes great when
crumbled into a salad." French, of course
http://www.todarobros.com/french_cheese.asp while affame means to
starve (irony never ceases for Mr. Pynchon). So, perhaps we might
starve trying to eat the bucheron, especially a dry piquant cheese...
yuck.
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