February 6, 2025 • 43 mins
Author and journalist, Matt Haines explains how King Cake is more than just a dessert; it’s a cultural celebration that blends history, tradition, and culinary artistry, especially during Mardi Gras. The episode explores the origins, varieties, and the community rituals surrounding King Cake, highlighting its significance in New Orleans’ seasonal festivities. Plus, chef Sara Salgado bakes up fresh King Cake right in studio!
• Overview of Mardi Gras and King Cake season
• Historical origins linking King Cake to ancient Roman celebrations
• The evolution of King Cake in New Orleans culture
• Variants and unique flavors that reflect local creativity
• Social rituals and etiquette surrounding King Cake consumption
• Importance of King Cakes in supporting local bakeries and economies
• Advice for experiencing King Cake for the first time
• Insights from guests about the future of King Cake traditions
Introducing the SupraCut System - the automated solution that enhances safety, quality, and efficiency, cutting up to 120 perfect citrus wedges per minute, 6 times faster than manual. Patented tech delivers uniform slices, reducing waste and eliminating plastic, while the hygienic, contactless design lowers contamination and injuries, integrating seamlessly to transform your operations and improve profitability - get started at SupraCut.com and ask about risk-free trials.
Elevate your dining experience with RAK Porcelain USA! As the exclusive tableware brand for the Walk-In Talk Podcast, RAK combines exceptional craftsmanship with innovative design. Whether you’re a chef, a restaurant owner, or a food enthusiast, RAK’s high-quality porcelain products will enhance every meal. Discover the artistry of food presentation and make every dining occasion special. Visit rakporcelain.com today and see how RAK can transform your table
The following brands and companies help us continue supporting the food industry - have a look below!
Thank you for listening to the Walk-In Talk Podcast, hosted by Carl Fiadini and Company. Our show not only explores the exciting and chaotic world of the restaurant business and amazing eateries but also advocates for mental health awareness in the food industry.
Our podcast offers a behind-the-scenes look at the industry. Don't miss out on upcoming episodes where we'll continue to cook up thought-provoking discussions on important topics, including mental health awareness.
Be sure to visit our website for more food industry-related content, including our very own TV show called Restaurant Recipes where we feature Chefs cooking up their dishes and also The Dirty Dash Cocktail Hour; the focus is mixology and amazing drinks!
Thank you for tuning in, and we'll catch you next time on the Walk-In Talk Podcast.
https://www.TheWalkInTalk.com
Leave a review and rating, please!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
hello food fam.
This is the walk and talkpodcast where you'll find the
perfect blend of food fun andcooking knowledge.
I'm your host, carl fiedini.
Welcome to the number one foodpodcast in the country.
We're recording on site at ibisimages studios, where food
photography comes alive and Iget to eat it.
Here's a humble request tofollow us on Instagram at
(00:28):
walkandtalkshow, please andthank you.
Are you tired of manual fruitcutting?
Try Supercut System, anautomated solution that cuts 120
citrus wedges per minute.
With consistent slices and ahygienic design, it enhances
safely and efficiently.
Improve your operations atsupercutcom and ask about
(00:50):
risk-free trials.
Welcome to our.
You know I'm talking to youguys.
Folks, welcome to our specialMardi Gras edition of the show.
It is that time of the year.
I mean it's like all NewOrleans all day the Super Bowl,
mardi Gras.
I mean it's like all NewOrleans all day, the Super Bowl,
mardi Gras.
Ooh, wow.
Today we dive into the richtraditions and flavors of the
iconic King Cake.
(01:11):
We're thrilled to be joined byMatt Haynes, a New Orleans-based
writer and author of the BigBook of King Cake.
He's got some other stuffcooking too he's going to talk
about.
Matt will be sharing hisinsider expertise on the history
, cultural significance andmouth-watering varieties of this
carnival staple.
We've got chef Sarah Salgadoin-house.
(01:34):
Sarah is a classically trainedchef with deep roots in the New
Orleans culinary scene andshe'll be walking us through the
process of making an authenticking cake from scratch, which
she did here in the studio.
I got to eat it, I had it, johnshot it.
You know photography as usual,it's stinking beautiful.
(01:55):
Yeah, that's what I said, andthis is exciting for me because
I've never had king cake before.
And here I am today with kingcake as far as the eye can see,
and I guess I picked the wrongweek to stop eating cake.
Matt, sarah, welcome to theshow.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
It's an honor to be here.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yeah, thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Well, matt, welcome back.
You were here last year and itwas a really great episode.
I don't know, did I get my book?
I didn't see it.
Is that book?
Speaker 4 (02:25):
over there.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
No, oh, okay, it's cool man.
What's the?
What's your new book you gotcoming out?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah, so uh, first book I wrote was the big book of
King cake, and then after that,I wrote a children's book
called the little book of Kingcake, and now I'm working on,
which should be out in earlyNovember of this year.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Look man, I ain't gonna lie.
Can I be down?
Can I hang?
Like that sounds amazing.
You're talking my languageright now.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
That's what a lot of people have said, and I've sold
at this point now, between thetwo King Cake books, we've sold
over 22,000 copies.
But a lot of people are sayingyou know, I bought the King Cake
book because it's beautiful,but I'm really interested in
po'boys and so yeah, they're.
Obviously they are not asnaturally pretty to shoot as a
king cake is, but the photos areawesome.
I'm eating all of them.
(03:10):
I've eaten hundreds of po'boys.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
My man, I don't know if I don't know if I agree with
you.
I mean, yeah, the king cake,they're colorful, it's got.
I think I would probably.
I'm a savory guy man, I don'tknow.
I think that would probably fitmy optics a little, even better
than the king cake.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
They are mouthwatering photos, for sure.
They're not like I wouldn'tcall them pretty, but they are a
very impressive looking.
I can't, whenever we do a photolike we do this thing where we
look through old photos and weset layouts as we're creating
the book, and I can't do it onan empty stomach.
I have to make sure I eat a bigmeal before that or I'm making
all sorts of weird decisions.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Amen, I.
You know that's how I feelaround here.
You know, every week we havechefs that run through the that
come to the studio and naturallyI partake in the grub in the
food.
Typically we break bread overhere after, after the cooking is
done.
You know, we film while we cookand then, once the dish is done
, john gets it, he shoots it andthen we jump on the podcast.
(04:09):
One of these days I would loveto have you in studio.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Yeah, I would love to be there.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Let's talk about the history and cultural
significance of King Cakes inNew Orleans.
Why are they such a big?
I mean, they're delicious,that's why.
But why are they such a bigdeal?
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Yeah, I think that I mean now for anybody who has not
been to New Orleans duringcarnival season.
And carnival season goes fromJanuary 6th.
That's the 12th night ofChristmas.
It's the day that Christiansbelieve the three kings found
baby Jesus and presented theirthree gifts, and so that's the
start of King Cake season.
And, by the way, king cake isnamed after those three kings,
and then we eat king cake allthe way until Fat Tuesday or
Mardi Gras.
So this year that's January 6thall the way to March 5th, and
(04:54):
this is a dessert that truly canbe found everywhere.
I do a lot of kids bookreadings with the little book of
king cake, and schools arehaving king cake at least every
Friday in the classroom, many ofthem more often than every
Friday.
If you go into an office breakroom at most offices in New
Orleans, you're going to findmultiple king cakes there, and
(05:14):
then whoever finds the littleplastic baby inside that cake is
responsible for bringing theirking cake the next week.
And then, of course, at theparade route, you're finding
king cakes everywhere.
Right now, every bakery hastheir own, either a traditional
version or their own uniquetwist on it.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Have you noticed whether or not the populace
leans towards the traditional orthey're up for something new?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
I feel like I'm pretty good at taking in
information or things that I'mwatching and making sense out of
it, but not in this case.
So I am a New Yorker,originally been in New Orleans
for 16 years, and I just tend tolove decadent, wild things.
And so I'm looking at atraditional king cake, which
oftentimes has no filling insideit at all, some icing on top,
(06:00):
three color the purple, greenand gold sugar and I'm looking
at that versus I'm looking at aking cake that might have cream
cheese and strawberry orchocolate or peanut butter all
these amazing versions thatsound so exciting.
And then I bring maybe five ofthem into a school and I'm like,
oh, they're definitely going toeat.
These kids who love sugar andsweets are definitely going to
(06:23):
eat chocolate, peanut butter,king cakes first.
But they don't.
Everybody always goes by farand wide.
They go to the traditional onefirst.
Preschoolers, kindergartners,50 year olds, they all go
traditional first and I don'treally understand what's
happening, but I guess it's justnostalgia and tradition is my
guess.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
My pupils are dilated right now.
Do know what I mean.
Like we're talking about allthese like so I'm with you.
By the way, matt, I wouldtotally go cream cheese, I would
go filling, because I'm a fatass and and that's what I want
in my life.
Okay, like when chef sarah wasdoing the king cake here, she
had finished and there was like,um, there was some flat pieces
(07:03):
of sugary cinnamon flakes like,and chips or whatever, and I'm
and I'm just eyeballing thesethings and you know, naturally I
had to stop whatever I wasdoing.
I was filming for crying outloud, I had to stop and and and
take the uh, the break there andand and have that.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
I had to have it in my life right then and there of
course, yeah, I sometimes I'llcut into a king cake and then,
well, I did it.
So on January, usually, whenI'm eating king cake now it's at
like an event.
I've got a king cake book eventalmost every night and
fortunately at these eventspeople are bringing a whole lot
of king cakes.
So I'm not eating a whole cakeby myself, but on January 6th,
the start of the season, I'm ajournalist and so sometimes
(07:42):
people will send over a kingcake and that is awesome.
I appreciate it.
And my girlfriend, she is tryingnot to eat king cake this
season for caloric reasons thatI don't agree with, but that's
her decision.
And so I was stuck with thisBrennan's banana Foster's king
cake, this bananas Foster creamcheese mixture inside, and the
first thing I take a slice and Ieat it and then I start to
(08:05):
evaluate okay, which sidebecause these things are
oftentimes braided, so like someareas of the cake have more
filling than other, and I willtry to determine which direction
is going to have more fillingthan the other way and I'll
start moving in that direction.
Yeah, I love decadent things aswell.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Man, as it turns out, you and me are like peas and
carrots.
Because you're taking the sameapproach I would take, Cause I
do that with almost every meal.
You know what I mean?
I'm picking the.
If it's a chicken cutlet, allright, I'm going to have to get
the perfect chicken cutlet, theslice of pea, whatever it is, I
am looking for the first.
That first piece, that firstthing I'm going to get is going
to be the best ever.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Maybe we're selfish and it doesn't make me a good
person, but like it's like we'reboth going to get the same
number of slices, but my slicesif I have something to do with
it are going to be just a littlebit.
There'll be a little bit moreon those slices.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
You're saying all the right stuff.
I got to tell you again pupilsabsolutely dilated.
Right now I am ready tocontinue on with the king cakes.
There's a lot of traditionbehind it.
I don't think it's justeverybody going after sugary
treats.
Can you get into a little bitmore about where it comes from?
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Yeah, definitely.
I love talking about this stuff, and it's something that I
think even a lot of NewOrleanians we don't quite
realize is that this is atradition that goes back 4,000
years to ancient Rome, and sothey had something called the
Saturnalia Festival.
This is again long before MardiGras ever existed, and so the
Saturnalia Festival wasbasically held right around the
(09:30):
winter solstice, which isDecember 21st, and what they
were celebrating is what theybelieved to be that the sun, the
god of the sun, was triumphingover these winter spirits.
That's what those kind of paganRomans believed, and they were,
and what they were seeing isthat the months leading up to
December 21st, every single day,the sun's apex in the sky would
(09:52):
be a little lower than the daybefore, and the nights would be
getting longer and the dayswould be getting shorter, and so
they perceived that as that thesun was dying.
And then, on December 21st, theday was celebrating, because
every single day after that, thesun was rising higher in the
sky, the days were longer, thenights were shorter, and so it
felt like the sun was triumphingover its enemies, and so it
(10:15):
also was a great time to have afeast, because at around
December 21st, your fall,harvest all of those meats that
know, meats that you were at instorage and your vegetables that
you had harvested.
A lot of those were spoilingdespite your best efforts.
They were starting to spoil, soyou better eat them now before
you lose them.
And then it's quite a fewmonths until springtime.
(10:37):
Still, when you're going to get, you know, the earth is going
to be reproducing food again,and so the idea was put on a
whole lot of pounds now beforethis time period of birth and
struggle.
And so during that Saturnaliafestival they would eat too much
, depend on those pounds, theywould drink too much, they would
take two weeks off of work,they would wear colorful
(10:59):
costumes, they would sing andparade in the streets and this
sounds a whole lot like ourMardi Gras does today.
It's a lot of the sametraditions.
And in the middle of that feastthey would have a cake of their
own and it looks a little bit,if people are familiar with it,
the Le Deois, which is like aFrench style of king cake.
It literally translates to cakeof kings.
The Romans would have somethinglike that, which was circular,
(11:19):
not ring-shaped like we knowking cake today, and it would be
golden like the sun andcircular like the sun, and
inside the middle of that cakethere would be not a little
plastic baby like we do, but afava bean.
And whoever got the slice withthe fava bean inside is crowned
king or queen of the Saturnalia,and whereas in New Orleans
you're crowned king or queen ofyour school classroom, for
(11:40):
example, and then you'reexpected to bring the next king
cake the following week.
Not like that in Rome.
Rather than bringing the nextcake, you're actually sacrificed
to the gods.
So it was a much higher stakes,you know thing to find that
fava bean inside the cake.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
So where did the mashup come from between Roman
history and Jesus Christ?
How did that?
Where did that come in?
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Yeah, so those, the Roman Republic, spread out and
became the Roman Empire, fromBulgaria in the east to the
British Isles in the west, andwhen the Roman Empire collapsed,
the next kind of big power tooccupy all that space was
Christianity, and the Christianswanted to convert those pagans
to their religion, and so,rather than replacing all of the
(12:26):
traditions that had existed intheir beliefs, they merged them
together, and so Saturnalia wasDecember 21st, and so Christians
weren't quite sure exactly whenJesus was born.
They said, well, why don't wejust do it around the same time
of year?
And so, rather than Christmasbeing one day kind of like, we
think about it, now it was the12 days of Christmas.
So rather than Christmas beingone day kind of like we think
about it, now it was the 12 daysof Christmas, and on that 12th
(12:47):
night of Christmas is the daythat the Christians believe that
the three kings found Jesus.
And so they made thatSaturnalia cake.
They decided to honor the threekings and they called it a
three kings cake, and even in1700s in New Orleans and early
1800s, when you look atnewspaper articles, sometimes it
was called a three king's cakestill, and then eventually that
became a king's cake and then aking cake, and so many different
(13:10):
countries around Europe todayand many of the places that was
touched by Europe.
So Mexico has a tradition aswell, and so do we.
Obviously they have their owndistinct version of king cake.
Ours comes from southern France.
It looks a lot like thatsouthern French version of king
cake, called a cateau de loiscake of kings, and in early New
(13:32):
Orleans time, 1700s and 1800s,creole New Orleanians so those
are New Orleanians with Europeandescent on January 6th would
have their king cake and therewould be maybe a pecan hidden
inside, and whoever found apecan crowned king or queen
Twelfth Night.
So again, it's just a Christmastradition, has nothing to do
with Mardi Gras, and then theywould be responsible for
(13:54):
bringing the king cake one yearfrom now.
But as non-Creole New Orleaniansstarted to discover this
tradition during the late 1800sthanks to carnival season, they
said this is too fun.
Why are we just doing this oncea year?
Let's do it, you know, if youget the bean or the pecan inside
the cake, how about we hostanother party next week?
And so then it became, andevery Friday there's a king cake
(14:16):
party tradition.
And then that Christmas timetradition started to encroach
into what was becoming carnivalseason, and it went all the way
through carnival season to MardiGras day, and the reason it
didn't go the next day wasbecause that was Lent, and all
of a sudden, this is a cake thatwe can't eat anymore, and so
that's how it went from being aChristmastime tradition in
Europe to all of a sudden acarnival Mardi Gras tradition
(14:38):
here in you know, kind of alongthe Gulf Coast, and we're the
only place in the world thatit's a Mardi Gras tradition and
then a Christmas tradition.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
I think it's fascinating that you're a New
Yorker and you transplantedyourself to New Orleans.
Have you been embraced by thelocals?
Are you considered now a local?
The fact that you have all ofthis knowledge and respect for
the local traditions and whatnot, how are you embraced?
Speaker 3 (15:02):
I love watching people's faces.
When I started King Cakes I'llgive like a.
I could talk forever about KingCake history and so I've got a
nice little, a restrained 25minute King Cake history
presentation.
I'm doing one at the librarytonight, for example, but I did
one at like this you know FrenchQuarter High Society function
yesterday, and so always at thebeginning I'll tell my kind of
(15:24):
journey to King Cake functionyesterday, and so always at the
beginning I'll tell my journeyto King Cake.
It's a funny story and I lovethat.
I love watching people's faceswhen they find out that the
person who's about to talk tothem about King Cake is from New
York.
There are definitely somefrowns and some scowls and I
really lean into it and then Ican usually win them over.
I always say that, being a NewYorker, I took I never thought
(15:45):
to make a book about pizza orbagels.
You know, you kind of takethose things for granted a
little bit.
And it was only like I think alot of Louisianians they love
King Cake but don't always thinklook deep into it the same way
that I did.
For me King Cake was like whatin the world is this?
So I wanted to explore it, andmaybe that's not something that
we always do when it's an itemthat is, you know, right there
(16:05):
in front of us from birth.
Basically.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
So what you're saying is there's a collective whisper
of New York City happening inthe crowd.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Yeah, I can feel, I feel like I can hear it and then
, uh, then I own it and theneventually I think people,
people, by the end they'rebuying the book, so I don't
think they're too upset with meby the end.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
And it's a funny presentation.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
I mean, new Orleans is a place that I can never say
that I am from New Orleans.
I think that would be steppinginto a pothole.
But I think that I chose NewOrleans my family's back in New
York.
I chose to be in New Orleansbecause I love it so much and I
love its unique traditions, andso to be able to learn about
them and write about them is alot of fun for me.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
To give a deeper perspective of how big this
whole King Cake operation is.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
talk about the economics of it, of king cake in
New Orleans yeah, I mean,there's no definitive number,
though that would be a greatproject to do, truly.
Not just every bakery, but manyrestaurants, many breakfast
cafes, many chocolatiers, theyall have their own.
(17:15):
The Audubon Insectarium has acricket king cake, so everybody
tries to put their own spin on aking cake, based on what their
story is or what their businessis, and so I think when I
created the book, so a couple ofyears ago, a number we found
was something like 750,000 kingcakes being consumed in New
(17:36):
Orleans alone during carnivalseason, and I think it's
impossible that number must beso much higher now, even just a
few years later.
There's so much growth everyyear, and I remember, when we
were interviewing people for thebook, a few things that stand
out to me.
One was a baker, la Boulangerieon Magazine Street Maggie
Scales is a baker there and shesaid that selling king cakes
(18:00):
during carnival season is soessential because that's the
amount of, that's the profit,the revenue that's going to help
your bakery get through a longsummer in New Orleans.
New Orleans is a tough time.
Not many people want to visitNew Orleans when it's 100
degrees plus there, and so forbakeries to be able to survive
that summer.
Selling king cakes and having agreat king cake season is
(18:24):
really important for them, andanother baker told me that they
actually are only open duringcarnival season.
This is K Wood and Randazzo's.
Randazzo's is one of the bigking cake families and they said
they made a joke.
They said you know, our goal isto sell enough king cakes
during January and February sothat the rest of the year we can
just go fishing, which Iappreciate.
(18:44):
There's a lot of king cakesbeing sold this time of year and
that is really important to thesurvival of bakeries the rest
of the year.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
If I'm not mistaken, our good friend Sean Pooch
Rivera sent some king cake fromRendazzo's.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
I think he was going to send it from there.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
I'm not sure where they were coming from.
I believe that's what he toldme and I could be wrong.
I'm still waiting for thesecakes, but you know, at the end
of the day it should be arrivingtoday sometime randazzo's is
pretty good is it?
well, so that leads me to mynext question, and I have two
people here, you know, withsarah and matt, that could
probably answer this.
And not to take away fromanyone else, but like, if there
was, if you were going to go toa traditional shop to get your
(19:31):
king cake, well, who is it?
And if you were going to amodern, more modern style king
cake, who would that be?
Speaker 2 (19:38):
I would say Randazzo's.
I've had my fill of Randazzo's.
Definitely, I actually knowsomebody that works at that
bakery.
Duong Phong is like the numberone hot seller.
I can't remember who was doingit, but like we were talking
about the d'Aubage.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
You know I got Gambino's.
They are kind of famous fortheir d' their dobaj and kind of
a traditional bakery I think.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Gambino's might have done the dobaj style, but I
can't remember exactly.
I never got to try that becauseevery time you would go to get
it you had to wait in lineforever down the block.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Matt, what say you?
Speaker 3 (20:17):
I think that for a traditional king cake, which so
like, I'll do a lot of likeevents that are King Cake and
wine and cheese pairing or KingCake and beer pairing, and we'll
try to do five different KingCakes, and so I do want to
include a traditional one inthere.
I try to mix it up.
Randazzo is such a good onebecause there's like it's like
King Cake Game of Thrones.
(20:38):
Basically there's all theselike different.
It all started one father andhis three brothers and
generations and generationslater there's lawsuits and
divorces and people are sayingthey're stealing the recipe and
bringing it to other bakeries.
So that is fun from a storyperspective.
I think that Gambino's,specifically the filled
(20:58):
Gambino's king cakes are reallydelicious, and then Kaluta's,
which is a traditional king cakespot.
They're pretty innovative aswell.
So they'll do their traditional.
They've got a great traditionalking cake which some people say
is a lot like curiously likeRandazza's, because there was a
lot of student involved there.
But every week they'll dosomething different, like a
boudin king cake or a brownieking cake or a lava king cake,
(21:22):
all sorts of things, so thatmakes it fun too.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
You had me at boudin.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Yeah, boudin king cake is really, really good and
especially, you know, when I wascreating the book and I'm
eating hundreds of differentking cakes anytime there was a
savory one, a sushi king cake orsomething like that, I was very
grateful to give my taste budsa rest for a second.
I was very grateful to give mytaste buds a rest for a second.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
But on these newfangled king cakes, are the
older establishments doing themtoo, or are they kind of just
sticking with the tried and true?
Speaker 3 (21:50):
It's a little bit of a mix.
I think that someplace likeRandazzo's, I don't think
they're doing boudin king cake.
I don't think they're gettingwildly innovative because for
them their business is all aboutthat tradition, so I don't
think their customers would evenwant it.
So I think that you have that.
And then I think maybe a placelike Kaluta's is a little bit of
a unicorn kind of between thetwo.
(22:10):
They've got their traditional,but I think they just have a
desire to just try differentthings.
But if you want to have thoseunique king cakes, then it's
best to just go to see what'sout there.
Every bakery is putting theirown spin on it, and so I don't
think there's besides a placelike Kaluta's which has the
capacity to make so many kingcakes.
(22:31):
It can try many differentstyles.
Most places are just like oh,this chocolate here has the
really good chocolate king cake.
There's a Vietnamese restauranton the West Bank, on the other
side of the Mississippi River,and they have like a cafe de
sous, you know Vietnamese styleof coffee that they put inside a
king cake, and then they've gota Andan style like filled king
(22:52):
cake as well.
So there's all sorts of amazingversions and then that's what I
think like when you're going toa king cake party and you want
to bring something unique.
Finding one of those smallerbakeries that are doing
something really different is alot of fun.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Is there such a thing called king cake etiquette?
Speaker 3 (23:08):
New Orleans is a funny place because people get
really passionate about rules incertain instances, certain
instances, and so, for example,there is an ongoing debate about
whether you're supposed to keepthe knife inside the king cake
box or take it outside of thebox and wash it, kind of, every
(23:30):
time you're done.
I think that the people who saythey're keeping the knife in,
they're getting real loud aboutit and kind of winning the
debate.
But that would be an example oflike these king cake rules.
Another like very like peopletake it very seriously is that
you can not eat king cakeoutside of carnival season.
So again January 6th till thisyear it's March 4th Sometimes I
(23:54):
think last year was January 6thto February 13th, so a much
smaller season you are.
If somebody sees you eating kingcake on January 4th, I would
not be surprised if they knockedit out of your hand, which I
always think is funny.
Yeah, I always think it's funny, because king cake used to just
be a January 6th and January6th only thing, and so it's fun
(24:15):
to think that we are in fact,the ones who have already
bastardized this tradition, butnow we've kind of set a rule.
This is what we know, and sodon't deviate from this.
Yeah, it's kind of interesting.
Definitely a king cakeetiquette out there.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
It's almost like a Hatfields and McCoy sort of
thing, right?
Yes, wow, absolutely.
I mean, listen, I wouldprobably look to smuggle my king
cake in somewhere and eat it inthe confines of my home, and
that's what I would probably do.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
That's if you can find it.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
I'm sure I'd find a source.
They don't make it before, thenReally yes.
You'd have to pay a chef, abaker or something on the side.
Get it brought in.
Real hush On the hush man.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Maybe Maybe oh, my goodness.
You saying the word king cakesmuggle kind of reminded me of
something funny that I saw thisyear for the first time, and so
I was on January 6th, I was atDang Phang Bakery, which Sarah
said surprisingly has becomeit's a Vietnamese bakery that's
become the most popular kingcake in New Orleans.
And so I thought, oh, this willbe a good place to get there
(25:17):
early and sell some books.
And so I asked Linh Tran.
I was like oh, when should Iget there early and sell some
books?
And so I asked Lin Tran.
I was like oh, when should Iget there?
And she was like well, we openat eight, but people start
getting there at 4.30 in themorning.
I was like, okay, I'm not goingto get there at 4.30 in the
morning, but I'll get there atlike seven or so.
And it was cold for New Orleans,it was like 39 degrees, it was
(25:37):
chilly and truly.
People had started lining upbefore 5 am, which is bonkers.
Now I was there signing books,it was cold, having a nice time,
though, and this one guy comesup to me and he says hey, can I
buy a book?
I was like sure, who do youwant me to make it out to, and
he was like make it out to the?
And he kind of whispered to mehe's like make it out to the
King Cake Smugglers.
And I was like what is?
(25:59):
He was semi-serious and so what?
These guys?
I figured it out.
What these guys do is sothey're in Mississippi, along
the Gulf Coast, and so they willmaybe even Alabama I remember
(26:20):
someplace in there and they goto Dongfang once or twice a week
and buy as many king cakes asthey can get their hands on,
which you're only allowed to getlike three or four if you stand
in line at a time.
So they just go in line, buyfour, get back in line, buy more
, as many as they're allowed totake, and then they drive them
(26:41):
back home across the border.
So they're smuggling themacross the border and they just
sell them out of bars near theirhometown.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
And they're taxing it too.
You know, they're taxing thatKing Cake.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
For shame, yeah, I guess.
So I mean, they're making moneysomehow.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Listen, Matt, I know that you have a hard cut off
here.
I'm going to ask you a questionbefore, before you go.
I think you have a photo shootcoming up, right?
Speaker 3 (27:01):
I do for the Po'boy book.
Yeah, we're in the middle ofphoto shooting right now.
What advice do you have forfirst-time visitors to New
Orleans on the best ways toexperience this thing that is
king cake?
Yes, that's a very goodquestion, and I feel like if
somebody has just one king cake,I don't think it's common it's
pretty common for them to saysomething like oh yeah, I mean,
(27:25):
king cake was fine, but it'skind of just like a cinnamon
roll, right, and so I think thatthat probably is the very
traditional version of King Cakeand, you know, maybe with no
filling.
That's certainly important totry.
There's so much nostalgiaaround that, but I would say,
try multiple King Cakes, andthere's ways to do that there's.
(27:47):
I think the most interestingdevelopment in King Cake in the
last couple of years is thatthere's all of these places now
that sell multiple versions inone place, so you don't have to.
It used to be that you'd have todrive around from place to
place all over town, puttingmiles on your car, taking a
whole afternoon to try to geteven a few King Cake places.
(28:07):
Now you can go to a place calledthe King Cake Hub and there's
going to be 40 to 50 differentkinds of King Cake in one place.
If you want to just get slicesof King Cake, there's a place
called the King Cake Feast andthe A is in parentheses, so it
could be King Cake or maybe the.
Oh yeah, the A is inparentheses, so it's like a King
Cake Fest or King Cake Feast,and they meet up once a week
(28:29):
during carnival season and youcan buy slices from like 30
different bakeries, and so Ithink things like that are a fun
way to really get the scope andvariety of what's out there In.
That variety is where King Cakegets really interesting and
where you see all thesedifferent bakers are making
their own versions, and behindevery single cake there's a
story, not just of thesebakeries but the story of New
(28:50):
Orleans, and I think that's whatI tried to do in the book and I
think that's where the fun inKing Cake is for people coming
to try it for the first time.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
That's so awesome.
Are these guys the restaurantsand bakeries and whatnot?
Are they set up for shipping?
Do they ship these things outof state?
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, they do.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
Many do, yeah, many do.
They ship these things out ofstate?
Yeah, they do.
Many do.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, many do.
I think my all time favorite isTartine, and they are pretty
inexpensive for a, you know, fora King Cake at this point,
especially a King Cake, that'sthis good.
I think it's like 30 bucks or31 bucks, and then you, they'll,
they'll set up for shipping aswell, like they'll.
They ship two or three times aweek.
I think they do plenty ofbakeries do.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
And folks listen.
If you want to purchase the BigBook of King Cake, go to
thebigbookofkingcakecom.
Matt will sign it and ship it.
I would do it.
He's a good guy.
I've seen the book.
It's gorgeous.
Photography's great.
I mean, you know, nothing's asgood as a Hernandez pick, but
I'm just saying he did aterrific.
(29:51):
You know, nothing's as good asa Hernandez pick, but I'm just
saying he did a terrific,phenomenal job.
I had to say that for my boy,john, over here.
Matt, I appreciate you spendingsome time with us today.
We're you and me, or let's getout, let's try to jump on a call
.
I know that you're swamped.
I do want to get on a phonecall with you and let's set some
other stuff up.
I think we have a lot of thingswe can do.
That would just be superamazing for content and, you
know, just getting the word outfor everything that you're doing
(30:12):
and what we're doing.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
And yeah, let's do it If it's.
If it's King cake related, thenwhenever you want, let's make
it happen.
If it's not King cake related,then then I think I'll have so
much more time once the season'sdone, and so you, you tell me,
but it might be it might be po'boy related.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
I'm just saying okay, it might be po-boy related.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
I'm just saying, okay , can I be invited back?
Then I'm down, of course.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
We'll probably have a line of people here that want
to, you know.
Hey, can we get to the studiothat day?
All right, listen, matt, bewell, we'll catch you on the
other side.
Man, be good, okay.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yeah, thank you, and Sarah, sorry.
I an amazing cake today.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Thank you.
Can you give the abridgedversion of how to make a king
cake?
It takes effort and you have toknow what you're doing, but I
think like people can do this athome.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
They can.
It's, it's not, it's really nothard at all.
A very basic, simple king cakeis.
It just takes patience and ofcourse you have to know how to
read a recipe.
But the abridged version of itis you make a simple kind of
(31:24):
brioche style dough.
You know you have to bloomyeast, sugar, milk, egg, flour,
of course, allow the dough timeto rise, roll it out, fill it,
roll it up, braid it, form it,allow it to rise again, pop it
in the oven until it's goldenbrown and beautiful, and then
(31:46):
you, you ice it however you want.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
It's like a four hour process.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Right, you ice it however you want, it's like a
four hour process, right?
Yes, it can take a little bitlonger, a little bit around that
time, depending on yourhumidity level, where you are,
how hot your kitchen is, whetheryou're in the deep South, like
the swamp area, like Louisiana,or someplace like here.
(32:10):
It just all depends on thehumidity that can cause your
dough to rise faster, which canspeed up the process, which
isn't always good, but roughlyfour to five hours john, I'm
waiting to see these picturesalready.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
I ain't gonna lie, sarah.
I mean I'm so happy that youcame out today and I know you
had a little reservation aboutit too our, our boy, sean puge
river Rivera.
Well, you know what, sean?
Why don't you get?
Look at you, get Sean on thephone.
Hello, sean, it's Carl.
Walk and talk.
(32:38):
How you doing my man, carlwhat's going on there?
Boy, I'll tell you what.
I'm never going to call youPooch again After what I've
learned from Chef Sarah.
You know I mean I'll still callyou pooch.
We had a great, great featuredguest in Matt Haynes.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
You knew that he was going to be on the show and it
was very entertaining.
I saw him last week at the KingCake the BYES King Cake, King
Cake and Conversation.
He was the main focus of theconversation.
He was a great guy, Always agreat guy.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
He's easy to talk to, he's incredibly educated on all
things king cake.
His new po-boy book is comingout and, uh, I'm kind of excited
about that.
I need some po-boy in my life.
Speaker 4 (33:20):
I don't know when you're getting over here, but
that's what we're going to donext time you come here to the
studio ironically, that's whatwe've been doing all day today
is making plays for all theprivate jet leader pilots that
are coming in town today,tomorrow, all of the above, so
every day.
Right now, we're actually forthe big games.
We are in the preparation, butwe have the privilege of we
(33:40):
gained the contract to do allthe private jets that come in
and out.
So, as much as I want to enjoythe festivities in New Orleans
and all of the hoopla andeverything that's going on, it
is an opportunity to takeadvantage of all the great
contracts and blessings thatcome our way economically.
So we are definitely hustling.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Well, I would go get yourself some king cake and
celebrate.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
I'm already about three or four king cakes deep
this season, so I think I needto cut back on the king cake.
But what's going on, brother?
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Yeah, I heard that.
I mean, I had half a king caketoday myself.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
That's your first time having a king cake, correct
.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Yes, and I got it on video too.
I love it there was almost afight.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
Did the king cake just end?
Speaker 1 (34:22):
It was a fight.
You had a special shout-outthat you wanted to put out there
, right.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
I do, I do.
I want to shout out Eric Cook,the King of Modern Creole.
That's his new book that's outright now.
But he also, his new book isModern Creole.
But he is the King of ModernCreole.
I love him very much, very goodfriend.
We've been in the trenchestogether a long time in this
culinary industry and he isreally exciting.
He's just going bending overbackwards for Stan Hayes from
(34:48):
Operation Barbecue Relief, ericGreenspan from out in LA, who
they've been out there feedingeveryone, whether it be the
firemen who are fighting thefires to the actual people who
lost everything in that horribledevastation out there.
They were out there fightingthe odds, I guess you would say
and feeding all those people.
And Greenspan and Stan, theyhandle everything, everything
(35:10):
from.
They get everything in thehills of Appalachians, where I
was, and then they were down inTampa.
They kind of help out everybody, kind of like how we try to
help everybody out.
But Eric Cook is making sure,bending over backwards to make
sure that we're all accommodatedthis Friday night and he's kind
of throwing a little soireetogether.
I wish you guys could be herejust to kind of honor them and
those guyse together.
I wish you guys could be herejust to kind of honor them.
(35:31):
And those guys are in townbecause they're doing a big NFL
barbecue kickoff thing with abunch of NFL players and stuff
like that.
So it's really really cool,yeah.
But I just wanted to make surethat Eric Cook was shot out
because he is really taking thetime to make sure that we're
accommodated when obviously inNew Orleans, you know
hospitality is the name of thegame, but you know we're more
(35:51):
worried about everyone who'scoming in town being taken care
of rather than our own.
But this time Eric's makingsure that.
You know, I guess I was ratheroxymoronic, because he's taking
care of us but we have guests intown and he's bending over
backwards to make sure thatother chefs that are normally
worried about everybody else.
He's worried about the chefsrather than worried about the
guests.
So the chefs are the gueststhis time.
Should I say?
Speaker 1 (36:11):
The other day I was on the phone with Aaron Robbins.
He was interviewed by OperationBarbecue and it was a terrific
interview.
He's in an area that wasaffected.
Over there, boneyard is hisbarbecue spot.
He's been around for 20 yearsplus.
He's actually a culinarian.
(36:32):
He's got a heck of a bio.
He's going to be on the show.
We're going to do a specialbroadcast for that.
So that's coming up and I guessyou, meeting with Stan and me
with I'd love to give them someas much support as possible.
It's a, it's a great outfit andthey they do a lot.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
They do a lot for everybody.
You know what I'm saying.
Every Greenspan as well.
I mean.
He killed it out there at theworld food championships with
his demos and whatnot, and healways adds a spice of life and,
just you know, humility andhumor to everything he does.
So it's really he's fun to hangwith and it's going to be
awesome.
I have about a five-hour periodto be able to hang out with
everybody and then get back tothe grind of making sure that
(37:18):
these jets, when they leave NewOrleans, are fed, you know, so
we're feeding all the pilots,the stewardesses, the stewards
and the actual people who are inthe airplanes that are leaving
or should I say private jets.
So I have about five hours tohang out and hopefully maybe
consume one or two drinks andthen get back to normal life and
spend the whole night from 7 pmtill 7 am make accommodating
(37:41):
all these jets.
So it's it's pretty cool, it'spretty fun.
At the same time it's thearduous process.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
You know you're fighting the good fight culinary
life you are doing that, I'mfighting.
Speaker 4 (37:50):
A good fight, babe, you're doing a good fight.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
Culinary life you are doing that.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
I'm fighting a good fight.
The energy is real here in neworleans, man, I love it.
It's, uh, it's.
I'm proud to be from neworleans, I'm proud to be from
the hospitality, you know, meccaof the united states and maybe
even the world.
But we're hosting.
We, you know, we hold a recordfor the most super bowls and we
know how to do it.
Well, we're built to host.
That's what we call it.
We're built to host.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
That's what we call it.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
We're built to host.
Who do you got on the game?
That's a tough one.
A tough one.
I tell you what for theeconomic value?
The fact that the Swifties comein town and you know Taylor
Swift and Travis Kelsey and allthat hoopla with.
You know the bandwagon thatthat brings and spends a lot
more money and brings a lot of.
You know we've had a lot ofkind of some bad things
happening down here with the.
You know certain things thathappened on the new year, what
(38:31):
have you?
Everybody reads the paper.
You know that's bringing a lotmore fanfare to the city and I
kind of appreciate that.
Taylor Swiss was here maybeabout a month or two ago, sold
out all three nights at thesuperdome and obviously she's
going to be in town for her, forher boyfriend playing.
So I don't like the fact thatthey're going to three-peat, but
I kind of want them tothree-peat with Kansas City.
But I'm a diehard Saints fan,so at the end of the day, that's
(38:54):
who I really want to win Nextyear, always next year.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
You heard it here, folks Always, next year it's a
true story Always next year.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
Baby, Always next year.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
All right, good to catch you on side B.
Speaker 4 (39:08):
Gotcha.
Love y'all.
Johnny, I love you.
Baby.
Sarah, I'm so glad you were onthere.
Carl, you know I love you, boy,Y'all be good.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
Go get it.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Talk to you soon, all right.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
Sarah, I am thrilled that you made it out here today.
I really am.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
I'm super happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
This was harmless right.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
It really was.
It wasn't as bad as I built itup in my head to be.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
She was nervous.
She was very nervous.
We talked about it.
There was a ledge, brought herback in.
It was okay.
You know, we're still waitingon King Cakes to arrive to the
studio.
We have chef Ricardo Castrohere, local baker and chef that
sent some, and I can't wait.
(39:50):
I saw pictures of what theylook like.
Can't wait for them to get here.
And there's actually a neworleans product I think it's
rendazos.
That's gonna, that's that's dueto arrive as well.
We're looking to take picturesof everything, some really great
king cake photography and, uh,man, I'll tell you what I'm
gonna have some more king cakenow.
How do you like that?
Speaker 2 (40:11):
you want me to cut you a slice?
Oh hell, yeah, okay, all right,listen sarah.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
Again.
Appreciate you, john.
I'm gonna take all the kingcake you're getting.
On, we are out.
hello food fam.
This is the walk and talkpodcast where you'll find the
perfect blend of food fun andcooking knowledge.
I'm your host, carl fiedini.
Welcome to the number one foodpodcast in the country.
We're recording on site at ibisimages studios, where food
photography comes alive and Iget to eat it.
Here's a humble request tofollow us on Instagram at
(00:28):
walkandtalkshow, please andthank you.
Are you tired of manual fruitcutting?
Try Supercut System, anautomated solution that cuts 120
citrus wedges per minute.
With consistent slices and ahygienic design, it enhances
safely and efficiently.
Improve your operations atsupercutcom and ask about
(00:50):
risk-free trials.
Welcome to our.
You know I'm talking to youguys.
Folks, welcome to our specialMardi Gras edition of the show.
It is that time of the year.
I mean it's like all NewOrleans all day the Super Bowl,
mardi Gras.
I mean it's like all NewOrleans all day, the Super Bowl,
mardi Gras.
Ooh, wow.
Today we dive into the richtraditions and flavors of the
iconic King Cake.
(01:11):
We're thrilled to be joined byMatt Haynes, a New Orleans-based
writer and author of the BigBook of King Cake.
He's got some other stuffcooking too he's going to talk
about.
Matt will be sharing hisinsider expertise on the history
, cultural significance andmouth-watering varieties of this
carnival staple.
We've got chef Sarah Salgadoin-house.
(01:34):
Sarah is a classically trainedchef with deep roots in the New
Orleans culinary scene andshe'll be walking us through the
process of making an authenticking cake from scratch, which
she did here in the studio.
I got to eat it, I had it, johnshot it.
You know photography as usual,it's stinking beautiful.
(01:55):
Yeah, that's what I said, andthis is exciting for me because
I've never had king cake before.
And here I am today with kingcake as far as the eye can see,
and I guess I picked the wrongweek to stop eating cake.
Matt, sarah, welcome to theshow.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
It's an honor to be here.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yeah, thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Well, matt, welcome back.
You were here last year and itwas a really great episode.
I don't know, did I get my book?
I didn't see it.
Is that book?
Speaker 4 (02:25):
over there.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
No, oh, okay, it's cool man.
What's the?
What's your new book you gotcoming out?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah, so uh, first book I wrote was the big book of
King cake, and then after that,I wrote a children's book
called the little book of Kingcake, and now I'm working on,
which should be out in earlyNovember of this year.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Look man, I ain't gonna lie.
Can I be down?
Can I hang?
Like that sounds amazing.
You're talking my languageright now.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
That's what a lot of people have said, and I've sold
at this point now, between thetwo King Cake books, we've sold
over 22,000 copies.
But a lot of people are sayingyou know, I bought the King Cake
book because it's beautiful,but I'm really interested in
po'boys and so yeah, they're.
Obviously they are not asnaturally pretty to shoot as a
king cake is, but the photos areawesome.
I'm eating all of them.
(03:10):
I've eaten hundreds of po'boys.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
My man, I don't know if I don't know if I agree with
you.
I mean, yeah, the king cake,they're colorful, it's got.
I think I would probably.
I'm a savory guy man, I don'tknow.
I think that would probably fitmy optics a little, even better
than the king cake.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
They are mouthwatering photos, for sure.
They're not like I wouldn'tcall them pretty, but they are a
very impressive looking.
I can't, whenever we do a photolike we do this thing where we
look through old photos and weset layouts as we're creating
the book, and I can't do it onan empty stomach.
I have to make sure I eat a bigmeal before that or I'm making
all sorts of weird decisions.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Amen, I.
You know that's how I feelaround here.
You know, every week we havechefs that run through the that
come to the studio and naturallyI partake in the grub in the
food.
Typically we break bread overhere after, after the cooking is
done.
You know, we film while we cookand then, once the dish is done
, john gets it, he shoots it andthen we jump on the podcast.
(04:09):
One of these days I would loveto have you in studio.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Yeah, I would love to be there.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Let's talk about the history and cultural
significance of King Cakes inNew Orleans.
Why are they such a big?
I mean, they're delicious,that's why.
But why are they such a bigdeal?
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Yeah, I think that I mean now for anybody who has not
been to New Orleans duringcarnival season.
And carnival season goes fromJanuary 6th.
That's the 12th night ofChristmas.
It's the day that Christiansbelieve the three kings found
baby Jesus and presented theirthree gifts, and so that's the
start of King Cake season.
And, by the way, king cake isnamed after those three kings,
and then we eat king cake allthe way until Fat Tuesday or
Mardi Gras.
So this year that's January 6thall the way to March 5th, and
(04:54):
this is a dessert that truly canbe found everywhere.
I do a lot of kids bookreadings with the little book of
king cake, and schools arehaving king cake at least every
Friday in the classroom, many ofthem more often than every
Friday.
If you go into an office breakroom at most offices in New
Orleans, you're going to findmultiple king cakes there, and
(05:14):
then whoever finds the littleplastic baby inside that cake is
responsible for bringing theirking cake the next week.
And then, of course, at theparade route, you're finding
king cakes everywhere.
Right now, every bakery hastheir own, either a traditional
version or their own uniquetwist on it.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Have you noticed whether or not the populace
leans towards the traditional orthey're up for something new?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
I feel like I'm pretty good at taking in
information or things that I'mwatching and making sense out of
it, but not in this case.
So I am a New Yorker,originally been in New Orleans
for 16 years, and I just tend tolove decadent, wild things.
And so I'm looking at atraditional king cake, which
oftentimes has no filling insideit at all, some icing on top,
(06:00):
three color the purple, greenand gold sugar and I'm looking
at that versus I'm looking at aking cake that might have cream
cheese and strawberry orchocolate or peanut butter all
these amazing versions thatsound so exciting.
And then I bring maybe five ofthem into a school and I'm like,
oh, they're definitely going toeat.
These kids who love sugar andsweets are definitely going to
(06:23):
eat chocolate, peanut butter,king cakes first.
But they don't.
Everybody always goes by farand wide.
They go to the traditional onefirst.
Preschoolers, kindergartners,50 year olds, they all go
traditional first and I don'treally understand what's
happening, but I guess it's justnostalgia and tradition is my
guess.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
My pupils are dilated right now.
Do know what I mean.
Like we're talking about allthese like so I'm with you.
By the way, matt, I wouldtotally go cream cheese, I would
go filling, because I'm a fatass and and that's what I want
in my life.
Okay, like when chef sarah wasdoing the king cake here, she
had finished and there was like,um, there was some flat pieces
(07:03):
of sugary cinnamon flakes like,and chips or whatever, and I'm
and I'm just eyeballing thesethings and you know, naturally I
had to stop whatever I wasdoing.
I was filming for crying outloud, I had to stop and and and
take the uh, the break there andand and have that.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
I had to have it in my life right then and there of
course, yeah, I sometimes I'llcut into a king cake and then,
well, I did it.
So on January, usually, whenI'm eating king cake now it's at
like an event.
I've got a king cake book eventalmost every night and
fortunately at these eventspeople are bringing a whole lot
of king cakes.
So I'm not eating a whole cakeby myself, but on January 6th,
the start of the season, I'm ajournalist and so sometimes
(07:42):
people will send over a kingcake and that is awesome.
I appreciate it.
And my girlfriend, she is tryingnot to eat king cake this
season for caloric reasons thatI don't agree with, but that's
her decision.
And so I was stuck with thisBrennan's banana Foster's king
cake, this bananas Foster creamcheese mixture inside, and the
first thing I take a slice and Ieat it and then I start to
(08:05):
evaluate okay, which sidebecause these things are
oftentimes braided, so like someareas of the cake have more
filling than other, and I willtry to determine which direction
is going to have more fillingthan the other way and I'll
start moving in that direction.
Yeah, I love decadent things aswell.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Man, as it turns out, you and me are like peas and
carrots.
Because you're taking the sameapproach I would take, Cause I
do that with almost every meal.
You know what I mean?
I'm picking the.
If it's a chicken cutlet, allright, I'm going to have to get
the perfect chicken cutlet, theslice of pea, whatever it is, I
am looking for the first.
That first piece, that firstthing I'm going to get is going
to be the best ever.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Maybe we're selfish and it doesn't make me a good
person, but like it's like we'reboth going to get the same
number of slices, but my slicesif I have something to do with
it are going to be just a littlebit.
There'll be a little bit moreon those slices.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
You're saying all the right stuff.
I got to tell you again pupilsabsolutely dilated.
Right now I am ready tocontinue on with the king cakes.
There's a lot of traditionbehind it.
I don't think it's justeverybody going after sugary
treats.
Can you get into a little bitmore about where it comes from?
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Yeah, definitely.
I love talking about this stuff, and it's something that I
think even a lot of NewOrleanians we don't quite
realize is that this is atradition that goes back 4,000
years to ancient Rome, and sothey had something called the
Saturnalia Festival.
This is again long before MardiGras ever existed, and so the
Saturnalia Festival wasbasically held right around the
(09:30):
winter solstice, which isDecember 21st, and what they
were celebrating is what theybelieved to be that the sun, the
god of the sun, was triumphingover these winter spirits.
That's what those kind of paganRomans believed, and they were,
and what they were seeing isthat the months leading up to
December 21st, every single day,the sun's apex in the sky would
(09:52):
be a little lower than the daybefore, and the nights would be
getting longer and the dayswould be getting shorter, and so
they perceived that as that thesun was dying.
And then, on December 21st, theday was celebrating, because
every single day after that, thesun was rising higher in the
sky, the days were longer, thenights were shorter, and so it
felt like the sun was triumphingover its enemies, and so it
(10:15):
also was a great time to have afeast, because at around
December 21st, your fall,harvest all of those meats that
know, meats that you were at instorage and your vegetables that
you had harvested.
A lot of those were spoilingdespite your best efforts.
They were starting to spoil, soyou better eat them now before
you lose them.
And then it's quite a fewmonths until springtime.
(10:37):
Still, when you're going to get, you know, the earth is going
to be reproducing food again,and so the idea was put on a
whole lot of pounds now beforethis time period of birth and
struggle.
And so during that Saturnaliafestival they would eat too much
, depend on those pounds, theywould drink too much, they would
take two weeks off of work,they would wear colorful
(10:59):
costumes, they would sing andparade in the streets and this
sounds a whole lot like ourMardi Gras does today.
It's a lot of the sametraditions.
And in the middle of that feastthey would have a cake of their
own and it looks a little bit,if people are familiar with it,
the Le Deois, which is like aFrench style of king cake.
It literally translates to cakeof kings.
The Romans would have somethinglike that, which was circular,
(11:19):
not ring-shaped like we knowking cake today, and it would be
golden like the sun andcircular like the sun, and
inside the middle of that cakethere would be not a little
plastic baby like we do, but afava bean.
And whoever got the slice withthe fava bean inside is crowned
king or queen of the Saturnalia,and whereas in New Orleans
you're crowned king or queen ofyour school classroom, for
(11:40):
example, and then you'reexpected to bring the next king
cake the following week.
Not like that in Rome.
Rather than bringing the nextcake, you're actually sacrificed
to the gods.
So it was a much higher stakes,you know thing to find that
fava bean inside the cake.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
So where did the mashup come from between Roman
history and Jesus Christ?
How did that?
Where did that come in?
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Yeah, so those, the Roman Republic, spread out and
became the Roman Empire, fromBulgaria in the east to the
British Isles in the west, andwhen the Roman Empire collapsed,
the next kind of big power tooccupy all that space was
Christianity, and the Christianswanted to convert those pagans
to their religion, and so,rather than replacing all of the
(12:26):
traditions that had existed intheir beliefs, they merged them
together, and so Saturnalia wasDecember 21st, and so Christians
weren't quite sure exactly whenJesus was born.
They said, well, why don't wejust do it around the same time
of year?
And so, rather than Christmasbeing one day kind of like, we
think about it, now it was the12 days of Christmas.
So rather than Christmas beingone day kind of like we think
about it, now it was the 12 daysof Christmas, and on that 12th
(12:47):
night of Christmas is the daythat the Christians believe that
the three kings found Jesus.
And so they made thatSaturnalia cake.
They decided to honor the threekings and they called it a
three kings cake, and even in1700s in New Orleans and early
1800s, when you look atnewspaper articles, sometimes it
was called a three king's cakestill, and then eventually that
became a king's cake and then aking cake, and so many different
(13:10):
countries around Europe todayand many of the places that was
touched by Europe.
So Mexico has a tradition aswell, and so do we.
Obviously they have their owndistinct version of king cake.
Ours comes from southern France.
It looks a lot like thatsouthern French version of king
cake, called a cateau de loiscake of kings, and in early New
(13:32):
Orleans time, 1700s and 1800s,creole New Orleanians so those
are New Orleanians with Europeandescent on January 6th would
have their king cake and therewould be maybe a pecan hidden
inside, and whoever found apecan crowned king or queen
Twelfth Night.
So again, it's just a Christmastradition, has nothing to do
with Mardi Gras, and then theywould be responsible for
(13:54):
bringing the king cake one yearfrom now.
But as non-Creole New Orleaniansstarted to discover this
tradition during the late 1800sthanks to carnival season, they
said this is too fun.
Why are we just doing this oncea year?
Let's do it, you know, if youget the bean or the pecan inside
the cake, how about we hostanother party next week?
And so then it became, andevery Friday there's a king cake
(14:16):
party tradition.
And then that Christmas timetradition started to encroach
into what was becoming carnivalseason, and it went all the way
through carnival season to MardiGras day, and the reason it
didn't go the next day wasbecause that was Lent, and all
of a sudden, this is a cake thatwe can't eat anymore, and so
that's how it went from being aChristmastime tradition in
Europe to all of a sudden acarnival Mardi Gras tradition
(14:38):
here in you know, kind of alongthe Gulf Coast, and we're the
only place in the world thatit's a Mardi Gras tradition and
then a Christmas tradition.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
I think it's fascinating that you're a New
Yorker and you transplantedyourself to New Orleans.
Have you been embraced by thelocals?
Are you considered now a local?
The fact that you have all ofthis knowledge and respect for
the local traditions and whatnot, how are you embraced?
Speaker 3 (15:02):
I love watching people's faces.
When I started King Cakes I'llgive like a.
I could talk forever about KingCake history and so I've got a
nice little, a restrained 25minute King Cake history
presentation.
I'm doing one at the librarytonight, for example, but I did
one at like this you know FrenchQuarter High Society function
yesterday, and so always at thebeginning I'll tell my kind of
(15:24):
journey to King Cake functionyesterday, and so always at the
beginning I'll tell my journeyto King Cake.
It's a funny story and I lovethat.
I love watching people's faceswhen they find out that the
person who's about to talk tothem about King Cake is from New
York.
There are definitely somefrowns and some scowls and I
really lean into it and then Ican usually win them over.
I always say that, being a NewYorker, I took I never thought
(15:45):
to make a book about pizza orbagels.
You know, you kind of takethose things for granted a
little bit.
And it was only like I think alot of Louisianians they love
King Cake but don't always thinklook deep into it the same way
that I did.
For me King Cake was like whatin the world is this?
So I wanted to explore it, andmaybe that's not something that
we always do when it's an itemthat is, you know, right there
(16:05):
in front of us from birth.
Basically.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
So what you're saying is there's a collective whisper
of New York City happening inthe crowd.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Yeah, I can feel, I feel like I can hear it and then
, uh, then I own it and theneventually I think people,
people, by the end they'rebuying the book, so I don't
think they're too upset with meby the end.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
And it's a funny presentation.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
I mean, new Orleans is a place that I can never say
that I am from New Orleans.
I think that would be steppinginto a pothole.
But I think that I chose NewOrleans my family's back in New
York.
I chose to be in New Orleansbecause I love it so much and I
love its unique traditions, andso to be able to learn about
them and write about them is alot of fun for me.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
To give a deeper perspective of how big this
whole King Cake operation is.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
talk about the economics of it, of king cake in
New Orleans yeah, I mean,there's no definitive number,
though that would be a greatproject to do, truly.
Not just every bakery, but manyrestaurants, many breakfast
cafes, many chocolatiers, theyall have their own.
(17:15):
The Audubon Insectarium has acricket king cake, so everybody
tries to put their own spin on aking cake, based on what their
story is or what their businessis, and so I think when I
created the book, so a couple ofyears ago, a number we found
was something like 750,000 kingcakes being consumed in New
(17:36):
Orleans alone during carnivalseason, and I think it's
impossible that number must beso much higher now, even just a
few years later.
There's so much growth everyyear, and I remember, when we
were interviewing people for thebook, a few things that stand
out to me.
One was a baker, la Boulangerieon Magazine Street Maggie
Scales is a baker there and shesaid that selling king cakes
(18:00):
during carnival season is soessential because that's the
amount of, that's the profit,the revenue that's going to help
your bakery get through a longsummer in New Orleans.
New Orleans is a tough time.
Not many people want to visitNew Orleans when it's 100
degrees plus there, and so forbakeries to be able to survive
that summer.
Selling king cakes and having agreat king cake season is
(18:24):
really important for them, andanother baker told me that they
actually are only open duringcarnival season.
This is K Wood and Randazzo's.
Randazzo's is one of the bigking cake families and they said
they made a joke.
They said you know, our goal isto sell enough king cakes
during January and February sothat the rest of the year we can
just go fishing, which Iappreciate.
(18:44):
There's a lot of king cakesbeing sold this time of year and
that is really important to thesurvival of bakeries the rest
of the year.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
If I'm not mistaken, our good friend Sean Pooch
Rivera sent some king cake fromRendazzo's.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
I think he was going to send it from there.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
I'm not sure where they were coming from.
I believe that's what he toldme and I could be wrong.
I'm still waiting for thesecakes, but you know, at the end
of the day it should be arrivingtoday sometime randazzo's is
pretty good is it?
well, so that leads me to mynext question, and I have two
people here, you know, withsarah and matt, that could
probably answer this.
And not to take away fromanyone else, but like, if there
was, if you were going to go toa traditional shop to get your
(19:31):
king cake, well, who is it?
And if you were going to amodern, more modern style king
cake, who would that be?
Speaker 2 (19:38):
I would say Randazzo's.
I've had my fill of Randazzo's.
Definitely, I actually knowsomebody that works at that
bakery.
Duong Phong is like the numberone hot seller.
I can't remember who was doingit, but like we were talking
about the d'Aubage.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
You know I got Gambino's.
They are kind of famous fortheir d' their dobaj and kind of
a traditional bakery I think.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Gambino's might have done the dobaj style, but I
can't remember exactly.
I never got to try that becauseevery time you would go to get
it you had to wait in lineforever down the block.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Matt, what say you?
Speaker 3 (20:17):
I think that for a traditional king cake, which so
like, I'll do a lot of likeevents that are King Cake and
wine and cheese pairing or KingCake and beer pairing, and we'll
try to do five different KingCakes, and so I do want to
include a traditional one inthere.
I try to mix it up.
Randazzo is such a good onebecause there's like it's like
King Cake Game of Thrones.
(20:38):
Basically there's all theselike different.
It all started one father andhis three brothers and
generations and generationslater there's lawsuits and
divorces and people are sayingthey're stealing the recipe and
bringing it to other bakeries.
So that is fun from a storyperspective.
I think that Gambino's,specifically the filled
(20:58):
Gambino's king cakes are reallydelicious, and then Kaluta's,
which is a traditional king cakespot.
They're pretty innovative aswell.
So they'll do their traditional.
They've got a great traditionalking cake which some people say
is a lot like curiously likeRandazza's, because there was a
lot of student involved there.
But every week they'll dosomething different, like a
boudin king cake or a brownieking cake or a lava king cake,
(21:22):
all sorts of things, so thatmakes it fun too.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
You had me at boudin.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Yeah, boudin king cake is really, really good and
especially, you know, when I wascreating the book and I'm
eating hundreds of differentking cakes anytime there was a
savory one, a sushi king cake orsomething like that, I was very
grateful to give my taste budsa rest for a second.
I was very grateful to give mytaste buds a rest for a second.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
But on these newfangled king cakes, are the
older establishments doing themtoo, or are they kind of just
sticking with the tried and true?
Speaker 3 (21:50):
It's a little bit of a mix.
I think that someplace likeRandazzo's, I don't think
they're doing boudin king cake.
I don't think they're gettingwildly innovative because for
them their business is all aboutthat tradition, so I don't
think their customers would evenwant it.
So I think that you have that.
And then I think maybe a placelike Kaluta's is a little bit of
a unicorn kind of between thetwo.
(22:10):
They've got their traditional,but I think they just have a
desire to just try differentthings.
But if you want to have thoseunique king cakes, then it's
best to just go to see what'sout there.
Every bakery is putting theirown spin on it, and so I don't
think there's besides a placelike Kaluta's which has the
capacity to make so many kingcakes.
(22:31):
It can try many differentstyles.
Most places are just like oh,this chocolate here has the
really good chocolate king cake.
There's a Vietnamese restauranton the West Bank, on the other
side of the Mississippi River,and they have like a cafe de
sous, you know Vietnamese styleof coffee that they put inside a
king cake, and then they've gota Andan style like filled king
(22:52):
cake as well.
So there's all sorts of amazingversions and then that's what I
think like when you're going toa king cake party and you want
to bring something unique.
Finding one of those smallerbakeries that are doing
something really different is alot of fun.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Is there such a thing called king cake etiquette?
Speaker 3 (23:08):
New Orleans is a funny place because people get
really passionate about rules incertain instances, certain
instances, and so, for example,there is an ongoing debate about
whether you're supposed to keepthe knife inside the king cake
box or take it outside of thebox and wash it, kind of, every
(23:30):
time you're done.
I think that the people who saythey're keeping the knife in,
they're getting real loud aboutit and kind of winning the
debate.
But that would be an example oflike these king cake rules.
Another like very like peopletake it very seriously is that
you can not eat king cakeoutside of carnival season.
So again January 6th till thisyear it's March 4th Sometimes I
(23:54):
think last year was January 6thto February 13th, so a much
smaller season you are.
If somebody sees you eating kingcake on January 4th, I would
not be surprised if they knockedit out of your hand, which I
always think is funny.
Yeah, I always think it's funny, because king cake used to just
be a January 6th and January6th only thing, and so it's fun
(24:15):
to think that we are in fact,the ones who have already
bastardized this tradition, butnow we've kind of set a rule.
This is what we know, and sodon't deviate from this.
Yeah, it's kind of interesting.
Definitely a king cakeetiquette out there.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
It's almost like a Hatfields and McCoy sort of
thing, right?
Yes, wow, absolutely.
I mean, listen, I wouldprobably look to smuggle my king
cake in somewhere and eat it inthe confines of my home, and
that's what I would probably do.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
That's if you can find it.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
I'm sure I'd find a source.
They don't make it before, thenReally yes.
You'd have to pay a chef, abaker or something on the side.
Get it brought in.
Real hush On the hush man.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Maybe Maybe oh, my goodness.
You saying the word king cakesmuggle kind of reminded me of
something funny that I saw thisyear for the first time, and so
I was on January 6th, I was atDang Phang Bakery, which Sarah
said surprisingly has becomeit's a Vietnamese bakery that's
become the most popular kingcake in New Orleans.
And so I thought, oh, this willbe a good place to get there
(25:17):
early and sell some books.
And so I asked Linh Tran.
I was like oh, when should Iget there early and sell some
books?
And so I asked Lin Tran.
I was like oh, when should Iget there?
And she was like well, we openat eight, but people start
getting there at 4.30 in themorning.
I was like, okay, I'm not goingto get there at 4.30 in the
morning, but I'll get there atlike seven or so.
And it was cold for New Orleans,it was like 39 degrees, it was
(25:37):
chilly and truly.
People had started lining upbefore 5 am, which is bonkers.
Now I was there signing books,it was cold, having a nice time,
though, and this one guy comesup to me and he says hey, can I
buy a book?
I was like sure, who do youwant me to make it out to, and
he was like make it out to the?
And he kind of whispered to mehe's like make it out to the
King Cake Smugglers.
And I was like what is?
(25:59):
He was semi-serious and so what?
These guys?
I figured it out.
What these guys do is sothey're in Mississippi, along
the Gulf Coast, and so they willmaybe even Alabama I remember
(26:20):
someplace in there and they goto Dongfang once or twice a week
and buy as many king cakes asthey can get their hands on,
which you're only allowed to getlike three or four if you stand
in line at a time.
So they just go in line, buyfour, get back in line, buy more
, as many as they're allowed totake, and then they drive them
(26:41):
back home across the border.
So they're smuggling themacross the border and they just
sell them out of bars near theirhometown.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
And they're taxing it too.
You know, they're taxing thatKing Cake.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
For shame, yeah, I guess.
So I mean, they're making moneysomehow.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Listen, Matt, I know that you have a hard cut off
here.
I'm going to ask you a questionbefore, before you go.
I think you have a photo shootcoming up, right?
Speaker 3 (27:01):
I do for the Po'boy book.
Yeah, we're in the middle ofphoto shooting right now.
What advice do you have forfirst-time visitors to New
Orleans on the best ways toexperience this thing that is
king cake?
Yes, that's a very goodquestion, and I feel like if
somebody has just one king cake,I don't think it's common it's
pretty common for them to saysomething like oh yeah, I mean,
(27:25):
king cake was fine, but it'skind of just like a cinnamon
roll, right, and so I think thatthat probably is the very
traditional version of King Cakeand, you know, maybe with no
filling.
That's certainly important totry.
There's so much nostalgiaaround that, but I would say,
try multiple King Cakes, andthere's ways to do that there's.
(27:47):
I think the most interestingdevelopment in King Cake in the
last couple of years is thatthere's all of these places now
that sell multiple versions inone place, so you don't have to.
It used to be that you'd have todrive around from place to
place all over town, puttingmiles on your car, taking a
whole afternoon to try to geteven a few King Cake places.
(28:07):
Now you can go to a place calledthe King Cake Hub and there's
going to be 40 to 50 differentkinds of King Cake in one place.
If you want to just get slicesof King Cake, there's a place
called the King Cake Feast andthe A is in parentheses, so it
could be King Cake or maybe the.
Oh yeah, the A is inparentheses, so it's like a King
Cake Fest or King Cake Feast,and they meet up once a week
(28:29):
during carnival season and youcan buy slices from like 30
different bakeries, and so Ithink things like that are a fun
way to really get the scope andvariety of what's out there In.
That variety is where King Cakegets really interesting and
where you see all thesedifferent bakers are making
their own versions, and behindevery single cake there's a
story, not just of thesebakeries but the story of New
(28:50):
Orleans, and I think that's whatI tried to do in the book and I
think that's where the fun inKing Cake is for people coming
to try it for the first time.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
That's so awesome.
Are these guys the restaurantsand bakeries and whatnot?
Are they set up for shipping?
Do they ship these things outof state?
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, they do.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
Many do, yeah, many do.
They ship these things out ofstate?
Yeah, they do.
Many do.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, many do.
I think my all time favorite isTartine, and they are pretty
inexpensive for a, you know, fora King Cake at this point,
especially a King Cake, that'sthis good.
I think it's like 30 bucks or31 bucks, and then you, they'll,
they'll set up for shipping aswell, like they'll.
They ship two or three times aweek.
I think they do plenty ofbakeries do.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
And folks listen.
If you want to purchase the BigBook of King Cake, go to
thebigbookofkingcakecom.
Matt will sign it and ship it.
I would do it.
He's a good guy.
I've seen the book.
It's gorgeous.
Photography's great.
I mean, you know, nothing's asgood as a Hernandez pick, but
I'm just saying he did aterrific.
(29:51):
You know, nothing's as good asa Hernandez pick, but I'm just
saying he did a terrific,phenomenal job.
I had to say that for my boy,john, over here.
Matt, I appreciate you spendingsome time with us today.
We're you and me, or let's getout, let's try to jump on a call
.
I know that you're swamped.
I do want to get on a phonecall with you and let's set some
other stuff up.
I think we have a lot of thingswe can do.
That would just be superamazing for content and, you
know, just getting the word outfor everything that you're doing
(30:12):
and what we're doing.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
And yeah, let's do it If it's.
If it's King cake related, thenwhenever you want, let's make
it happen.
If it's not King cake related,then then I think I'll have so
much more time once the season'sdone, and so you, you tell me,
but it might be it might be po'boy related.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
I'm just saying okay, it might be po-boy related.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
I'm just saying, okay , can I be invited back?
Then I'm down, of course.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
We'll probably have a line of people here that want
to, you know.
Hey, can we get to the studiothat day?
All right, listen, matt, bewell, we'll catch you on the
other side.
Man, be good, okay.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yeah, thank you, and Sarah, sorry.
I an amazing cake today.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Thank you.
Can you give the abridgedversion of how to make a king
cake?
It takes effort and you have toknow what you're doing, but I
think like people can do this athome.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
They can.
It's, it's not, it's really nothard at all.
A very basic, simple king cakeis.
It just takes patience and ofcourse you have to know how to
read a recipe.
But the abridged version of itis you make a simple kind of
(31:24):
brioche style dough.
You know you have to bloomyeast, sugar, milk, egg, flour,
of course, allow the dough timeto rise, roll it out, fill it,
roll it up, braid it, form it,allow it to rise again, pop it
in the oven until it's goldenbrown and beautiful, and then
(31:46):
you, you ice it however you want.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
It's like a four hour process.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Right, you ice it however you want, it's like a
four hour process, right?
Yes, it can take a little bitlonger, a little bit around that
time, depending on yourhumidity level, where you are,
how hot your kitchen is, whetheryou're in the deep South, like
the swamp area, like Louisiana,or someplace like here.
(32:10):
It just all depends on thehumidity that can cause your
dough to rise faster, which canspeed up the process, which
isn't always good, but roughlyfour to five hours john, I'm
waiting to see these picturesalready.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
I ain't gonna lie, sarah.
I mean I'm so happy that youcame out today and I know you
had a little reservation aboutit too our, our boy, sean puge
river Rivera.
Well, you know what, sean?
Why don't you get?
Look at you, get Sean on thephone.
Hello, sean, it's Carl.
Walk and talk.
(32:38):
How you doing my man, carlwhat's going on there?
Boy, I'll tell you what.
I'm never going to call youPooch again After what I've
learned from Chef Sarah.
You know I mean I'll still callyou pooch.
We had a great, great featuredguest in Matt Haynes.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
You knew that he was going to be on the show and it
was very entertaining.
I saw him last week at the KingCake the BYES King Cake, King
Cake and Conversation.
He was the main focus of theconversation.
He was a great guy, Always agreat guy.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
He's easy to talk to, he's incredibly educated on all
things king cake.
His new po-boy book is comingout and, uh, I'm kind of excited
about that.
I need some po-boy in my life.
Speaker 4 (33:20):
I don't know when you're getting over here, but
that's what we're going to donext time you come here to the
studio ironically, that's whatwe've been doing all day today
is making plays for all theprivate jet leader pilots that
are coming in town today,tomorrow, all of the above, so
every day.
Right now, we're actually forthe big games.
We are in the preparation, butwe have the privilege of we
(33:40):
gained the contract to do allthe private jets that come in
and out.
So, as much as I want to enjoythe festivities in New Orleans
and all of the hoopla andeverything that's going on, it
is an opportunity to takeadvantage of all the great
contracts and blessings thatcome our way economically.
So we are definitely hustling.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Well, I would go get yourself some king cake and
celebrate.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
I'm already about three or four king cakes deep
this season, so I think I needto cut back on the king cake.
But what's going on, brother?
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Yeah, I heard that.
I mean, I had half a king caketoday myself.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
That's your first time having a king cake, correct
.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Yes, and I got it on video too.
I love it there was almost afight.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
Did the king cake just end?
Speaker 1 (34:22):
It was a fight.
You had a special shout-outthat you wanted to put out there
, right.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
I do, I do.
I want to shout out Eric Cook,the King of Modern Creole.
That's his new book that's outright now.
But he also, his new book isModern Creole.
But he is the King of ModernCreole.
I love him very much, very goodfriend.
We've been in the trenchestogether a long time in this
culinary industry and he isreally exciting.
He's just going bending overbackwards for Stan Hayes from
(34:48):
Operation Barbecue Relief, ericGreenspan from out in LA, who
they've been out there feedingeveryone, whether it be the
firemen who are fighting thefires to the actual people who
lost everything in that horribledevastation out there.
They were out there fightingthe odds, I guess you would say
and feeding all those people.
And Greenspan and Stan, theyhandle everything, everything
(35:10):
from.
They get everything in thehills of Appalachians, where I
was, and then they were down inTampa.
They kind of help out everybody, kind of like how we try to
help everybody out.
But Eric Cook is making sure,bending over backwards to make
sure that we're all accommodatedthis Friday night and he's kind
of throwing a little soireetogether.
I wish you guys could be herejust to kind of honor them and
those guyse together.
I wish you guys could be herejust to kind of honor them.
(35:31):
And those guys are in townbecause they're doing a big NFL
barbecue kickoff thing with abunch of NFL players and stuff
like that.
So it's really really cool,yeah.
But I just wanted to make surethat Eric Cook was shot out
because he is really taking thetime to make sure that we're
accommodated when obviously inNew Orleans, you know
hospitality is the name of thegame, but you know we're more
(35:51):
worried about everyone who'scoming in town being taken care
of rather than our own.
But this time Eric's makingsure that.
You know, I guess I was ratheroxymoronic, because he's taking
care of us but we have guests intown and he's bending over
backwards to make sure thatother chefs that are normally
worried about everybody else.
He's worried about the chefsrather than worried about the
guests.
So the chefs are the gueststhis time.
Should I say?
Speaker 1 (36:11):
The other day I was on the phone with Aaron Robbins.
He was interviewed by OperationBarbecue and it was a terrific
interview.
He's in an area that wasaffected.
Over there, boneyard is hisbarbecue spot.
He's been around for 20 yearsplus.
He's actually a culinarian.
(36:32):
He's got a heck of a bio.
He's going to be on the show.
We're going to do a specialbroadcast for that.
So that's coming up and I guessyou, meeting with Stan and me
with I'd love to give them someas much support as possible.
It's a, it's a great outfit andthey they do a lot.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
They do a lot for everybody.
You know what I'm saying.
Every Greenspan as well.
I mean.
He killed it out there at theworld food championships with
his demos and whatnot, and healways adds a spice of life and,
just you know, humility andhumor to everything he does.
So it's really he's fun to hangwith and it's going to be
awesome.
I have about a five-hour periodto be able to hang out with
everybody and then get back tothe grind of making sure that
(37:18):
these jets, when they leave NewOrleans, are fed, you know, so
we're feeding all the pilots,the stewardesses, the stewards
and the actual people who are inthe airplanes that are leaving
or should I say private jets.
So I have about five hours tohang out and hopefully maybe
consume one or two drinks andthen get back to normal life and
spend the whole night from 7 pmtill 7 am make accommodating
(37:41):
all these jets.
So it's it's pretty cool, it'spretty fun.
At the same time it's thearduous process.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
You know you're fighting the good fight culinary
life you are doing that, I'mfighting.
Speaker 4 (37:50):
A good fight, babe, you're doing a good fight.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
Culinary life you are doing that.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
I'm fighting a good fight.
The energy is real here in neworleans, man, I love it.
It's, uh, it's.
I'm proud to be from neworleans, I'm proud to be from
the hospitality, you know, meccaof the united states and maybe
even the world.
But we're hosting.
We, you know, we hold a recordfor the most super bowls and we
know how to do it.
Well, we're built to host.
That's what we call it.
We're built to host.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
That's what we call it.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
We're built to host.
Who do you got on the game?
That's a tough one.
A tough one.
I tell you what for theeconomic value?
The fact that the Swifties comein town and you know Taylor
Swift and Travis Kelsey and allthat hoopla with.
You know the bandwagon thatthat brings and spends a lot
more money and brings a lot of.
You know we've had a lot ofkind of some bad things
happening down here with the.
You know certain things thathappened on the new year, what
(38:31):
have you?
Everybody reads the paper.
You know that's bringing a lotmore fanfare to the city and I
kind of appreciate that.
Taylor Swiss was here maybeabout a month or two ago, sold
out all three nights at thesuperdome and obviously she's
going to be in town for her, forher boyfriend playing.
So I don't like the fact thatthey're going to three-peat, but
I kind of want them tothree-peat with Kansas City.
But I'm a diehard Saints fan,so at the end of the day, that's
(38:54):
who I really want to win Nextyear, always next year.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
You heard it here, folks Always, next year it's a
true story Always next year.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
Baby, Always next year.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
All right, good to catch you on side B.
Speaker 4 (39:08):
Gotcha.
Love y'all.
Johnny, I love you.
Baby.
Sarah, I'm so glad you were onthere.
Carl, you know I love you, boy,Y'all be good.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
Go get it.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Talk to you soon, all right.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
Sarah, I am thrilled that you made it out here today.
I really am.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
I'm super happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
This was harmless right.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
It really was.
It wasn't as bad as I built itup in my head to be.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
She was nervous.
She was very nervous.
We talked about it.
There was a ledge, brought herback in.
It was okay.
You know, we're still waitingon King Cakes to arrive to the
studio.
We have chef Ricardo Castrohere, local baker and chef that
sent some, and I can't wait.
(39:50):
I saw pictures of what theylook like.
Can't wait for them to get here.
And there's actually a neworleans product I think it's
rendazos.
That's gonna, that's that's dueto arrive as well.
We're looking to take picturesof everything, some really great
king cake photography and, uh,man, I'll tell you what I'm
gonna have some more king cakenow.
How do you like that?
Speaker 2 (40:11):
you want me to cut you a slice?
Oh hell, yeah, okay, all right,listen sarah.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
Again.
Appreciate you, john.
I'm gonna take all the kingcake you're getting.
On, we are out.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com