This is the BIG one!! The one we look forward to as soon as the last one is over! Come one, come all!
ADVANCE ADMISSION:
One Day Pass: $10.00
Two Day Pass: $15.00
Three Day Pass: $20.00
ADMISSION AT GATE:
One Day Pass: $12.00
Two Day Pass: $20.00
Three Day Pass: $30.00
24 HOUR HOTLINE: 954-761-5934
Festival Website
E-mail: Festivals
HOST HOTEL:
Hampton Inn - Cypress Creek 1-954-776-7677
$59.00 Per Night - Ask For Cajun Festival Rates
This dish cannot be prepared in the kitchen. It must be performed in front of your guests. Use a chafing dish, and some kind of portable heat like Sterno. Don't be sloppy, and do keep a fire extinguisher handy. There's no need to burn the house down just for dessert, but this really must be done right.
I learned to cook this dish from Chef Joe Cahn at the New Orleans School of Cooking, and he spun dire tales of what befell those who dared sequester themselves in the kitchen when making Bananas Foster. Seriously, bad gris-gris will befall you if you deprive your guests of the spectacle. Plus, they'll talk for years about how cool you are to have made this for their dessert.
First, you should make some preparations. Peel a thin strip of peel from the bananas, and use your knife to slice the banana crossways into coins. Then replace the banana peel so that it looks untouched (as best as you can, anyway). This way, you can pretend to "peel" your bananas, and dump them into the pot already cut, as if by magic. Cheesy, you ask? Well, it still looks cool, particularly if you're really nonchalant when you do this in front of your guests. If you insist, you can slice the bananas the classical way, quartering them by slicing them lengthwise and then in half. I still think the other way is cooler.
Put your ground cinnamon into some kind of non-standard container, or even a little muslin bag, the better to "convince" your guests that it is, in fact, not cinnamon but voodoo dust, scraped from the tomb of Marie Laveau at midnight on All Soul's Day. Also, I recommend taking a cinnamon stick and grinding it fresh in a spice or coffee grinder instead of using pre-ground cinnamon. Sieve the result through a tea ball strainer to remove the larger pieces which won't grind finely. This will maximize the fresh, aromatic cinnamon flavor. If you use your coffee grinder, it'll also make your coffee taste great.
Now, to business... Melt the butter and add the brown sugar to form a creamy paste. Let this mixture caramelize over the heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the banana liqueur and rum. Heat until the liquor is warmed, about three minutes. Add the bananas, cook for about 1 - 2 minutes, then ignite with a flourish. Here's the best way to do this:
BANANAS FOSTER
by Chuck Taggart
(Editors Note: The following recipe/article was borrowed from Chuck Taggart’s web site, "The Gumbo Pages".
Email Chuck)
4 tbsp. butter (½ stick)
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 bananas
2 oz. banana liqueur
4 oz. dark rum
Ground cinnamon
Vanilla ice cream
Using a long, bent-handled ladle, scoop up some of the warm liquor. Hold it a foot or two above the chafing dish and ignite the liquor in the ladle. VERY CAREFULLY, pour the liquor into the dish. A column of flame will descend from the ladle into the dish, which will ignite with a marvelous *poof*! Keep a pal nearby, subtly wielding a fire extinguisher. Try not to become a human torch in the process.
Agitate to keep the flame burning, and add a few pinches of "voodoo dust" to the flame. The cinnamon will sparkle orange in the blue flame. Let the flames go out. Serve over ice cream if you wish, but some hardcores like me like it just like it is. Yum.
| DATE |
BAND |
TIME |
|
FRIDAY APRIL 9 |
The Porch Dogs |
6:00 PM to 8:30 PM |
|
Kevin Naquin & the Ossun Playboys |
9:00 PM to 12:00 midnight |
|
| SATURDAY APRIL 10 |
Kevin Naquin & the Ossun Playboys |
1:00 PM to 2:30 PM |
|
Rosie Ledet, the Zydeco Sweetheart |
3:00 PM to 4:30 PM |
|
|
Kevin Naquin & the Ossun Playboys |
5:00 PM to 6:30 PM |
|
|
Rosie Ledet, the Zydeco Sweetheart |
7:00 PM to 8:30 PM |
|
|
Mack Manuel, Jesse Lege & the Lake Charles Ramblers |
9:00 PM to 12:00 PM |
|
| SUNDAY APRIL 11 |
Mack Manuel, Jesse Lege & the Lake Charles Ramblers |
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM |
|
The Lee Benoit Cajun Band |
3:30 PM to 7:00 PM |
|
Hotel Information: If you need overnight accommodations, the official festival hotel is the La Quinta located at 7500 Highway 19 N.
Call (727) 545-5611 or fax (727) 544-4202 for reservations. The reservation code word is CAJUN. There is a block of 50 rooms available for $55 per night. |
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