Big Eats in the Big Easy: Tujague's and Galatoire's

I've just returned from New Orleans, where in the gaps between events at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting and its Meals in the Greco-Roman World Seminar, of which I am a member, I managed to get out and see - and more importantly taste - some of what is on offer in one of the most interesting cities in the USA.

Diverse cultures have contributed to make New Orleans what it is today, and there are at least three distinct strands of local cuisine. Creole food is the heart and soul of eating in New Orleans, and amounts to a hybrid of French haute cuisine - at least as it was at some point in the past - and contributions from African, Spanish and other populations who found themselves in Louisiana. Cajun (Acadian) food is not dissimilar but is more rustic, the up-country cousin. Some dishes belong to both, if with variations. Last and not least New Orleans has plenty of "soul food", the pan-Southern cuisine of African American community, with local variations that connect with Creole food.

Most of my experience on this trip was of the first two. Among many restaurants serving Creole food, there is a kind of distinction between "old-line" restaurants maintaining a strong sense of tradition in food, decor, and the structure of the meal, and those which are moving faster in style but attempting to take the best of the food with them.

Two of the best-known traditional restaurants are institutions where locals and tourists enjoy old-fashioned food and service: Tujague's and Galatoire's.

The first of these is over 150 years old - and shows its age for good and ill. The bar area is a warm nostalgic feel, but the dining room is perching a bit too precariously on the brink between chic and shabby - even the floor leans to one side. The Tujague's menu is also an intriguing throwback, table d'hôte only, with courses and dishes that recall times past.

You start with a shrimp remoulade - fresh shrimp nested on iceberg lettuce shreds and a sharp sauce which, as typically with Louisiana Creole food, is strongly tomato-based and with plenty of horseradish. Then comes soup - this night a crawfish and sweet potato bisque which was more than passable.

Next comes the crowning oddity of the fixed menu, a further 'appetizer' of slow-cooked beef brisket, with another variation on a tomato-based creole sauce. This was a tender chunk of beef, just a couple of ounces, that shredded readily under the fork and was not too dry.

Most diners are probably about done at this point, but of course the main (entrée in US terms) was still to come. Here there is some choice at Tujagues: that night it included a filet mignon, done to order, and veal bordelaise. Like remoulade, 'bordelaise' has developed in its own Creole direction with a strong garlic base, and in this case some mushrooms, and the breaded veal was (amazingly) served on top of spaghetti.

Afterwards there was a good bread pudding - which I could only negotiate by having left half the main course on the plate - to finish the meal.

Tujagues is a fascinating experience but the food was not in itself remarkable. Galatoire's provides a more appealing old-world experience. Set at the end of Bourbon St just a block or two away from some pretty sordid establishments, Galatoire's is an island of old-world charm, its tiled floors, bentwood chairs, mirrored walls and pressed-tin ceilings all conveying a sort of colonial graciousness.

Food at Galatoire's works by the more (currently) conventional à la carte, and offers a rich variety of the seafood that characterizes the up-scale Creole restaurants: crab, shrimp, oysters are all in abundance. Crawfish, that other local specialty, barely makes it onto the menu, perhaps more a feature of the country-cousin Cajun menu. As often in New Orleans, oysters are for baking: at Galatoire's you can have them Rockefeller, fried, or en brochette, but don't expect them natural.

The most popular dish at Galatoire's is 'Poisson Meunière Amandine', prepared with the local ocean trout. The fish is fresh and delicious, but the heavy dredging with flour and frying is another case where Creole tradition might best be amended.

As at Tujagues, a bread pudding is a solid but pleasing way to finish, if you still can.

In coming posts, reviews of Creole establishments that have stepped further away from the past, and of some simpler but appealing local restaurants.