.History: Mardi Gras
Source of Recipe
mardigrasneworleans.com
Recipe Introduction
Mardi Gras is music, parades, picnics, floats, excitement ... and one big holiday in New Orleans! Everyone is wearing purple, green, and gold; and adorned with long beads caught from the beautiful floats. They sit on the ground throwing balls, playing music, having a picnic, and watching the crowds walk by between parades.
All of the businesses and roads are practically shut down -- people are walking everywhere and meeting new friends. People are dressed in crazy costumes, kids are everywhere, and they love it! How did it all begin, and have the traditions changed?
List of Ingredients
Mardi Gras History
History...
Mardi Gras was celebrated in Europe long before the settling of the New world and the Gulf Coast. The Catholic Church legitimized this pagan, pre-Christian festival as a brief celebration before the Lenten penitential season. The actual date of Mardi Gras is scheduled on a different day each year, occurring 46 days before Easter, and can fall as early as February 3 to as late as March 9. Literally meaning Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras is the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.
Modern traditions have the Mardi Gras season officially starting each year on January 6, or Twelfth Night. Also called the Feast of the Epiphany, this celebrates the day as the one the three Wise Men visited the Christ Child. Hidden inside a King's Cake is a gold baby representing Jesus - the person who found the baby inside his or her piece was supposed to be blessed with good fortune for the following year. In New Orleans, the tradition evolved to the person finding the gold baby hosting the next Mardi Gras party with its own King's Cake and so on and so on until Fat Tuesday. .
The modern era of Mardi Gras celebrations in the New Orleans area started in 1857 with the flambeaux-lit night parade of the Mystick Krewe of Comus marching through the Crescent City streets. In 1872, the Russian Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff came to New Orleans and the city's society geared up for a big show for him. The Krewe of Rex was born to host a big daytime parade. The Grand Duke's favorite tune at the time "If I Ever Cease to Love You" was played that day and is now considered the traditional Mardi Gras anthem, although other, more appropriate tunes are usually played now. It was also at this time that Rex, now the King of Carnival, presented the season with its official colors (which happened to also be the Romanoff family's) of purple (for justice), gold (power) and green (faith).
Recipe
No one really knows where or when the custom started -- and many of us don't care! Some people trace it to the Romans, whose pagan orgies were held during the spring season. A few other places celebrate Mardi Gras, but no one does it like New Orleans -- the City that Care Forgot!
The French in New Orleans were having private masked balls and parties in 1718. When the Spanish government took over, parties and street dancing were banned. It wasn't until 1827, when Americans were in power, that the right to party in mask was restored --I love America! During the 1850's, the city's elite and their elegant Mardi Gras parties were quite a contrast to the wild partying and near-rioting in the streets. It was soon clear that all celebrations were in danger of facing another ban.
In 1857, a group of men formed a secret society called the Mystick Krewe of Comus. They knew that Mardi Gras could be preserved with planning,organization, and management of the celebrations. Comus planned the first parade around a theme and used flambeauxs to light the procession. The Krewe of Rex formed in 1872 -- principally to entertain the visiting Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff of Russia.
Since America didn't have royalty to properly welcome the Grand Duke, the men in Rex created a King "for the day" so the Grand Duke could be royally received. They secretly anointed one of their own (a certain Mr.Halliday) to be the King of Carnival. Mockery is a hilarious characteristic of Mardi Gras! (To this day, many parades keep their King's identity a secret until parade day.) It soon became known that the Grand Duke's reported mistress lover, Lydia Thompson (an American actress and star), was appearing in New Orleans during the Duke's visit. We don't know if having a mistress at that time was to be kept quiet, but the parade band didn't care, and its official theme then became "If Ever I Cease to Love You." Mardi Gras has always been risque at times!
New Orleanians have since formed a lot of secret societies that have served many charitable and social functions. They often help unite the city with their parade's political themes. In 1877, after a brief interruption from the Civil War and the unrest that followed, the Krewe of Momus held a parade with the theme "Hades, a Dream of Momus" to ridicule President Grant and his Administration. During the Persian Gulf War, the theme for many parades and costumes was patriotism. In order to catch Mardi Gras throws, many parade-goers fashioned nets with a cardboard face of Sadam Hussein saying "Hit Me!" Mardi Gras is pretty sassy, too!
Mardi Gras can even poke fun at itself. The blacks of New Orleans mocked the snobbishness and exclusivity of Rex with their own parade. In 1909, William Storey wore an old tin can for a crown instead of the more elaborate crown Rex used. William was crowned "King Zulu" that year, and was proceeded by "Provident Prince" and the "Big Shot of Africa." Donning black face and white eyes is another irresistible pun of the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club. Zulu's parade would meander from barroom to the barroom in junky cars and wagons instead of floats. If you wanted to catch the start of the parade, you had to find the bar that was extending hospitality to King Zulu. This Krewe didn't establish a parade route until recently. Today, Zulu, withits beautiful modern floats, is one of the more popular parades of the season! They are known for their unique, hand-decorated coconut throws. Only a fortunate few are lucky enough to get those!
Most Mardi Gras Krewes developed from private social clubs that have restrictive membership policies. Since all of these parade organizations are completely funded by its members, we call it the "Greatest Free Show on Earth"!
However, in 1991, the New Orleans City Council introduced a parade organization anti-discrimination ordinance; As a result; some of the oldest private clubs;Momus; Comus and Proteus, no longer parade the streets. (Comus is returning year 2000.) The most recently developed parade organizations are open and not secretive: Endymion, Bacchus, Zulu, and some Metairie parades feature superstars on their floats -- and all take place within the few days before Mardi Gras. Don't miss them!
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