A Mardi Gras Secret Told

Since 1819 a little known Mardi Gras tradition has accompanied New Orleans’ chefs as they make their way to work during the wee hours of the morning.

Along their way to work the chefs often nod and smile as they pass the members of the Skull and Bones Gang. No, these are not the northern members of Yale’s elite secret society come South. Rather they are followers of a tradition as old as Mardi Gras itself.

Dressed all in black, their costumes are painted with the outline of a fleshless human skeleton. Their faces are covered with large papier-mache skulls, making their true identity a closely held secret.

So attired, they knock on closed doors and tell those within to get up and start their day no matter the length of their evening before. Truly this is a message any weary chef can understand as he wait for his staff to arrive.

They remind sleepy business people on their way to work to remember that life is short, to make the most of every day, every hour – to be fair and honest in their dealings. 

They tell the children leaving home to hurry along to school, that education is freedom and the creator of choice. They also warn the children to avoid drugs that hurt and harm.

In short, they are the early morning conscience of the City, reminding all that life’s lasting values are in the everyday, the normal flow of life. The exhilaration of celebration is delightful, but the truth of life lays in the reality of a day started and ended with purpose achieved.

And that is why the chefs of New Orleans and the Skull and Bones Men knowingly nod to each other in the early hours because they share a secret - a secret they hope everyone else will soon know as well, that life is shorter than we think. Why not honor this meaningful tradition by serving some 'bone' cookies to your staff, especially if they're running late.

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2014

Two Legends Reign as St Regis NYC Re-installs the King Cole Bar Mural

New Yorkers are cheering as the St. Regis Hotel has now reinstalled Maxfield Parrish's famous King Cole Bar mural after a four year absence. After a century of being surrounded by smokers, the artwork has been restored to its original stunning luster. The result is like seeing the large 30 foot painting for the first time.

The restored mural now glistens with an iridescent effect that is exactly what Parrish famously created during his lifetime without equal.

Like a master chef who layers flavor on flavor to create a final culinary masterpiece, Parrish placed layers after layer of light-enhancing varnish between his individual colors to create the unique glowing effect that the staff of the Rustin Levenson Art Conservation Associates have so carefully reclaimed.

Art historians, as a result, consider Parrish to be in a class by himself – just like the famed King Cole Bar itself. Year after year the rich, the famous and the talented have favored this New York landmark. Most often it is the Bar’s famed Bloody Mary cocktail that everyone seems to ask for at least once (or twice).

Indeed, this esteemed cocktail was created in its final form at the King Cole by bar master Fernand, “Pete” Petiot.  And although there had been previous versions, it was at the St Regis that it was finally christened the Bloody Mary – all thanks to James A. Michener and Juanita Hall.

Prior to 1947, the Bar had served the cocktail under the name of the Red Snapper. But that year a previously unknown writer, James A. Michener, released a small book entitled, Tales of the South Pacific. Within a year this collection of revealing stories about war in the Pacific theater would win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature. It would go on to be transformed into the epic musical, South Pacific, by Rogers and Hammerstein.

Enter Juanita Hall. In the Broadway production and also in the 1958 movie version, she would play a unique character entitled, yes – you guessed it, Bloody Mary. A skilled jazz singer in her own right, she made this role her own. Her haunting rendition of the song, Bali Ha’i, won her the Tony Award, the first ever presented to an African American woman. 

In one of those rare moments when a society acknowledges a major cultural change, the name of this half tomato-half vodka (plus spices) cocktail converted overnight to the Bloody Mary, the name of Juanita Hall's unforgettable character.

And so it has been called ever since. Oh, various individual people would, through the years, say they alone named the drink. Such occurances, however, seldom stem from a single source - history rarely works that way.

No perhaps, just perhaps, it was the conscience of the American people who decided to honor a book, a musical, a pivotal role – a difference, an acceptance of equality... all still presided over to this very day by ol’ King Cole in the restored mural that now glows softly behind the bar at the legendary St Regis Hotel. 

Post Note, November 21, 2013: Chef John De Lucie just finished his relaunch of the King Cole Bar and Salon. Among those present to celebrate the re-installation of Parrish's grand painting at the St. Regis Hotel were Uma Thurman and Hilary Rhoda - definitely ladies of discerning taste and style.

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013