Forget the beads. Forget the parades. When it comes to Carnival season – the prelude to Mardi Gras – it’s all about the food.
Namely, seafood – tons of seafood, harvested along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, which lands on Midwestern plates in classics like gumbo, jambalaya and hand-held po’ boys. And don’t forget the oysters, served baked, boiled or nude on the half-shell, seafood treasures found along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where 70 percent of the nation’s shrimp and oysters are harvested – a fact that draws the seafood-starved South, especially during the winter, to eat along the coastal region of the Mississippi Seafood Trail, where the restaurants serve wild-caught Gulf Coast seafood.
Serious shrimp fans make winter pilgrimages to Biloxi, home of Mississippi’s shrimp fleet, where eateries offer a staggering number of preparations that would make Forrest Gump smile. Here is where shrimp aficionados who crave adventure, along with dinner, can troll for their supper. Just jump aboard a 70-minute Biloxi shrimping cruise, an experience on many a seafaring foodie’s bucket list. Or perhaps, something a little more genteel, like sailing off on a sunset wine-and-hors d’oeuvre cruise aboard an oyster schooner.
Land lovers preferring to stay dockside can hop from shrimp shacks to oyster houses that dot the coastland, such as The Blind Tiger, a favorite with both tourists and locals on Biloxi Beach. On the menu is a local delicacy – Royal Red shrimp, a rare find outside of the Gulf Coast. Royal Reds are deep-water crustaceans, with a sweet lobster-like flavor. Royals have only been available since the 1980s, when they were discovered after shrimping techniques allowed for deeper catches.
Royal Reds occasionally make their way to St. Louis, landing at seafood shops and gourmet fishmongers. Look for them now, during Mardi Gras and Lenten season, when the largest seafood variety comes to local markets. Bob’s Seafood is a market worth checking out. Its operation dates to the 1970s, when Bob Mepham took weekly trips to the Gulf to bring back fresh seafood. Now, instead of weekly drives to the Gulf, Bob’s flies in the latest catches for chefs and home cooks.
photo by Suzanne Corbett
Chefs with an affection for Creole French and Cajun cuisine guarantee there will be an abundance of seafood on the menu. Ensuring the good times will roll in St. Louis beyond Mardi Gras are landmark Cajun-themed outposts like The Broadway Oyster Bar, known by its regulars as BOB. Here, the menu is as spicy as the building’s history, which through the years, served as a home, a Chinese laundry and a bordello. Today, BOB is counted among the oldest St. Louis-area kitchens serving gumbos, po’ boys, and peel-and-eat Gulf Coast shrimp. Order the oysters any time of year – even in months without an r. Order on the half-shell or the Oyster Medley, a combo of oysters àla Bienville, Cardinale and Rockefeller, each sauced, baked and presented nestled on a rock-salt bed. Across the river, check out BOB’s sibling in Grafton, Illinois, the Grafton Oyster House, which sports a similar menu, along with a Mississippi view.
Webster Groves’ Cajun enclave is found at the Highway 61 Roadhouse. Owner Bill Kunz has built a reputation and menu around barbecue and Southern seafood specialties with their own spin. Smothered catfish, draped with shrimp and crawfish etouffee, spicy barbecue shrimp, and shrimp and grits wontons have become Roadhouse signature specialties, inspired by the restaurant’s namesake, The Blues Highway that will never leave anyone singing the blues.
Highway 61 Roadhouse BBQ Shrimp
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 1/2 sticks butter, unsalted
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup shrimp stock
1/4 cup light lager beer, room temperature
1 pound shrimp (21 to 25 count, tail on)
1 cup steamed white rice
1/2 loaf French bread, sliced
In a small bowl, mix all spices together to make seasoning mix. Place butter in a sauté skillet over medium heat. Once butter has melted, add garlic, and sauté until garlic has softened. Add Worcestershire sauce, shrimp stock, beer and seasoning mix. Simmer until sauce thickens enough to stick to spoon. Add shrimp, stirring to make sure all shrimp are completely coated with butter. Cook for approximately 5 minutes or until shrimp become transparent. Mound rice in the center of a serving bowl, and pour shrimp mixture over the top of rice. Serve with French bread to sop up the sauce. Makes two large servings.
Suzanne Corbett is the author of “The Gilded Table,” “Pushcarts & Stalls: The Soulard Market History Cookbooks,” and “Unique Eats and Eateries of St. Louis.” She can be contacted at suzannecorbett@me.com.
