Y'all come...back to Louisiana with me Trivia Game | Hobbies

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. We were wondering who, if anyone, would follow the old Louisiana custom and "give us a small gift", for having bought something from them. Have you heard about that custom? Do you know what that "gift" is called?

Answer: Lagniappe

This is a custom more often seen in southern Louisiana, and in later years has come to mean "a little extra" in anything, not just from a merchant. As an example, our planned visit to the Chalmette Battleground where the forces under Andrew Jackson beat the British, could be called a "lagniappe" to our "eating trip"; a little something extra for us. A bonus!

2. My friend was talking about the "Holy Trinity". She made me hungry for a dish for which it is the base. It's made with a dark roux, shellfish, tomatoes, and often sausage or ham. It is also been named the official cuisine of Louisiana. Tell us what it is, please.

Answer: Gumbo

Gumbo is Good. Repeat after me! That's the least I can say about it. After the "Holy Trinity", one can add whatever seasoning one wants, like garlic, bay leaf, or red pepper flakes, or anything else that hits your tummy's fancy. After the roux is made, it's really easy.

It should cook for at least three hours. Time to have a nap, even. The shrimp should not be put in until the last because it will get tough if it overcooks. Some people add fil� powder as an additional thickening agent. If that is done it should be used at the very end, off the heat of the stove. If gumbo is good enough for the powers-that-be in Louisiana, it surely is good enough for me!

3. While thinking about the dish referred to above, my friend asked what kind of shellfish and meat I planned to expect in it. I knew exactly what I wanted, shrimp and one of my favorite very heavily-smoked, garlicky, encased meats. Can you guess what it is?

Answer: Andouille

Andouille is a sausage made with pork and pork fat, mixed with cracked black pepper, garlic, usually onions, and other seasonings, depending on the sausage maker. It is very heavily smoked, over pecan wood and sugar cane, and very spicy. Thus, it is very, very good. I prefer it with my gumbo. I also like it simply grilled as the meat dish for a meal.

4. I told my friend that when I had the above-mentioned sausage as an entree, I liked to have a grain-based dish that I'd first learned about in Louisiana. It doesn't have a very appealing name, but it tastes good. She didn't know it, so I told her that liver and/or giblets were mixed with the grain. Then she guessed what it was. Can you?

Answer: Dirty rice

You usually begin, again, with the "Holy Trinity", fried with the raw rice until the rice is brown and the vegetables are softened. Then add the hot liquid and giblets and liver (and sausage if using, but I don't), bring to a boil, cover, turn down heat to simmer and cook for half and hour or so. Easy and tasty, too. Seems to be particularly good with either chicken or pork as the entree.

5. We both decided that the above meal would be even better with a side-dish of a deep-fried green vegetable of the mallow family that originated in Africa and in some countries is called a "lady's finger". What will we be ordering? It's used in a number of ways in Louisiana.

Answer: Okra

The blossoms of the okra plant are lovely, so if you grow your own you get beautiful blossoms before you get your vegetable. Okra should be cooked quickly or it can get slimy. I've been told if you cook it with something acidic that won't happen, but I've not tried it yet. I like it breaded and quickly fried. Just moisten with an egg mix, dredge in a cornmeal/flour mix, and fry. Don't forget to add the seasonings of your choice to the dredge.

The plant is grown all over the world in tropical, sub-tropical and warm temperate regions.

6. We just realized we hadn't ordered an appetizer with our fantasy meal. Well, that's a no-brainer in Louisiana. We'll simply order a simple order of raw bivalve mollusks with a wedge of lemon on the side. What will we be having?

Answer: Oysters on the half shell

I've been known to spend quite some time at Felix's just eating oysters. My husband so enjoyed them. It's worth it, even if you aren't eating them, to at least watch them being shucked. Those experienced shuckers are so fast and put on quite a show. Those who seem to know like their oysters only with a squeeze of lemon juice on them.

7. Oops. We need bread with our Gumbo. Ah yes, the French bread of New Orleans. That wonderful creation that's so crusty and crisp on the outside and soft and flavorful on the inside. The one that doesn't seem to be able to be duplicated anywhere else. How long does that bread stay fresh? I wonder if I can take some home...?

Answer: One day

So much for taking some home. There's a reason this cuisine has so many uses for stale bread. Stuffing, bread pudding, crumbs for breading, french toast, and so on. That's the bread that wasn't eaten the prior day. There is little to no fat and no sugar or preservatives in the bread so it's not going to stay fresh very long.

The exterior crust just bursts off in tiny shards when you break off a piece. The waiters at Galatoire's where I ate the first night I was ever in town would come around with a brush and lidded silver bowl, to brush the crumbs off the table cloth.

It alone is worth the trip!

8. All of this talking about bread made us think of something else we wanted to be sure to have while we were in Louisiana that's made of the same type of bread. It could be called a "Louisianan Submarine", I suppose. It's not, though. We'll no doubt have it for lunch at one of the little spots that specialize in them. What will we be having?

Answer: Po' Boy

The traditional Po' Boy is served hot, with fried shrimp and oysters. I don't know if I just like the baguette in which they're served, along with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise, since it's the same crispy outside, soft inside, as the bread with dinner, but I do know I like them. With the amount of places one can get one, I'm obviously not the only one who likes them.

They come in other "varieties", too, such as roast beef. But I'll stick with tradition.

9. My friend now asked, since we'd obviously filled our lunch and dinner fantasy offerings, what I would like for dessert. My, that's a hard choice since there are a number of things I could choose. Finally, I decided on one that uses up left-overs (I'm thrifty) and often comes accompanied with a sauce made from an alcoholic beverage. It's a well-known dessert of New Orleans.

Answer: Bread Pudding

You can tell I REALLY like that bread in New Orleans, can't you! My grandmother, who was never even near New Orleans, had bread pudding for dessert often. I can assure you hers was nothing like the NOLA offerings. Some recipes even mix some bourbon into the bread mixture before baking, as well as having it in the sauce on the side. I'm sure some places do it, but I've not had it with raisins as grandma always made it. I think that would make the NOLA version even better! Of course, lots of their recipes add pecans and grandmother wouldn't have known a pecan if it had hit her on the head!

10. Due to traffic and some hold ups caused by who-knows-what, we're not going to make it into the New Orleans area by tonight. So we've found a motel and have quit driving for the day. As a treat to make us feel better about not making it into the City, we've decided to take solace in a well-known rum drink that was invented in New Orleans. It's often a pretty pink drink. Could you please order it by name for us while we freshen up? Thank you.

Answer: Hurricane

The story goes that a Mr. O'Brien who owned a tavern had to find a drink to use up the all the rum his suppliers required him to buy in order for him to be able to buy the amount of scotch and bourbon he wanted. So, he whipped up a mixture of rum, grenadine and fruit juice, poured it into hurricane-shaped glasses and gave it away to sailors. That's all he needed to get it well liked and well known! I've only had it in the usual plastic glasses that are used in the French Quarter, but it's still quite tasty.

Source: Author habitsowner

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor WesleyCrusher before going online.
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Y'all come...back to Louisiana with me Quiz

Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to eat all the things we wanted to enjoy on our last trip to Louisiana so I thought we'd go again. We'll just talk about what we'll be having as we drive down there. Will you join us?

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